I recently purchased the new Polaroid Grey Label (GL10) Printer for quick promotions and to satisfy the Grandparents hunger for new photos. I know there is a lot of reviews out there, but most of them that I found were very technical, so I thought I’d share my opinion.
The printer is relatively easy to set up. I’ve successfully printed to the GL10 with my cell phone (HTC EVO 4g), my laptop (Windows Vista), and straight from my Nikon D7000.
Android Phone App
The Good: Free, easy to install, and easy to use. Offers a variety of boarders to emulate vintage Polaroid boarders as well as other creative options.
The Bad: Currently the App has limited controls and misses what I think should be an obvious option, the ability to rotate the image. I don’t use the App and prefer to send the image directly through the “Share via Bluetooth” option my phone has. This is because I feel my various camera apps (Vignette & PicSay Pro) do a better job in the effects and editing department.
Polaroid GL10 Application v2.0b (Windows Version)
The Good: Easy to use, same boarder options as the Android App plus the option to create and use your own. More control over the image including rotating, and zooming. Prints jpg and tiff files. This software just plain works, and works well.
The Bad: I found it very difficult to find the software. There is no disk included with the printer, so you are responsible for downloading it yourself. You have to go to, http://www.polaroid.com/en/greylabel and drag the large gray slider bar at the bottom of the page about half way to the right. There you will find links to the Android App, Mac, 32bit and 64bit Windows versions. My only other complaint is the GL10 doesn’t install like a standard printer. You can’t print direct from say Photoshop or an Office program. You have to convert what ever you want to print into a jpg or tiff and then select it using the GL10 Application.
Direct from Camera using PictBridge
The Good: Dependent on the version and options included with the camera you own. The D7000′s installed version has great controls and options, making printing and tweaking the picture extremely simple.
The Bad: Again depends on the version and options included with your camera. Cannot print Raw files, must be converted or shot in jpg. Not sure if a camera that saves files as tiff’s would print or need to be converted to jpg’s first.
Polaroid GL10 Printer
The Good: Small, lightweight, portable, and easy to setup. Prints in less than a minute. Two different USB ports to choose from to connect with. I use the same cord to connect my camera to the printer and my computer to the camera, just so happens all I have to do is reverse the cord. Descent battery life, about 30 sheets are capable of being printed per charge. Recharges fairly quickly, between 1 – 2 hours. No ink to purchase. Shuts itself off after no activity. I can fit it in my camera or laptop bag without to much hassle.
The Bad: Only holds 10 sheets of paper at a time. Adds excessive contrast to the image and the colors are not accurate. Don’t think you are going to color match these prints, the color will even change based on how warm the printer is. Most prints I’ve ran lean towards the warm (reddish color). Black and white prints I’ve tried have blueish tint.
Note: Read the small manual that comes with the printer. I’m a “figure it out as I go” type person and ended up having to read the manual anyway to understand certain settings.
3″ x 4″ Zink Paper
The Good: Extremely durable, I cannot tear this paper with my bare hands. Print is immediately dry to the touch. Larger print size than previous Polaroid Zero Ink camera and printers.
The Bad: Cannot write on the printed side, except with a permanent marker, this makes using the traditional Polaroid borders less desirable in my opinion. Price is on the high side, roughly works out to $1 per sheet at most retailers. Paper curls if left in a humid environment.
Final Thoughts
While the Polaroid GL10 Printer doesn’t provide the best print quality, it is another way to share photos in this age of digital imagery. Polaroid has made the process of printing your images regardless of the source very user friendly. Being able to print directly from my cell phone or camera is a great for providing quick prints to computer illiterate family and friends. It also allows me to leave clients with little mementos from their photo shoot until I have the opportunity to process their pictures properly. The nostalgic Polaroid borders are a wonderful throwback to the companies history, but I don’t feel they are very practical. I prefer that the image bleeds off the edge.
So in conclusion, I recommend this printer as long as you don’t take the print quality to seriously. I’ll try to answer any questions left in the comment section below, and I’d like to hear your thoughts on the GL10 if you own one.
