Can you use any Zink paper with Polaroid Snap?
- mar
- 12
Best answer: No. The Polaroid Snap Camera is designed to hold 2-by-3 inch paper so you'll need to make sure you have the right size.
- Buy the Snap: Polaroid Snap ($79)
- Grab some paper: Polaroid 2-by-3 inch Zink Paper ($10)
All you need is the paper
Zink is the company behind the technology and the paper that's often used with modern instant cameras. However, you need to make sure you have the right size to fit your camera. Zink paper comes in a variety of sizes but the Snap camera is designed 2-by-3-inch paper so if you don't have the right size, it won't fit...go figure.
What is ZINK?
Zink Zero Ink technology is a method of printing photos and other things that use, you guessed it, zero ink. It's pretty cool how it all works. In the world of traditional printing, printers spit out ink in specific combinations of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black to make your color image. If you have ever heard the terms "C-M-Y-K" (cyan-magenta-yellow-black) or "R-G-B" (red-green-blue), they are referring to the color combinations being used. R-G-B is used for digital images that will only be displayed on digital screens and C-M-Y-K is used for printing images.
Pretty much every office or desktop printer you have ever come across uses ink or toner to make the image. With Zink, all the coloring is done with just the paper without any need for ink or toner. Every piece of Zink paper contains billions of cyan, magenta, and yellow dye crystals that are arranged into the separate imaging layers which are placed between two outer layers with an inner layer separating the layers of crystals.
When the image prints, a thermal-controlled printhead applies just enough heat at just the right intensity and duration to melt the exact right combinations of crystals to create the color needed for that part of the image. I know, I know — it sounds complicated, but in theory, it's quite simple. The colors cyan, magenta, and yellow can be combined to create millions of colors so it's just a matter of melting the right crystal combo to get the color you need for that set of pixels. This incredibly cool technology is what allows all those instant cameras to help you capture those perfect moments.
Science is awesome.
Our pick
Polaroid Snap
Pictures in a snap
The Snap Instant camera offers a 10mp lens and Polaroid's famous instant print technology so you can instantly share all your special moments. You can print in three different color modes and you can save your pictures to a microSD card if you don't want to print right away. You can get it in eight great colors to perfectly match your style.
Extra paper
Polaroid 2-by-3 inch ZINK Paper
Print it out
The 2-by-3 inch ZINK paper is perfect for the Snap camera.