HELP: Can you make DIGITAL prints to approach FILM quality?

There are all kinds of posibilities here.

If you want a print size of around 8 x 10, the photo should be something like 2048x1536 pixels (or higher). A camera with 3 megapixels can do this.

The first thing you want to do is make sure that you are setting the right options on the printer.

Make sure that you are using a good grade of glossy photo paper.

Just before you print, a window will appear that will let you check your printer setup. HP has lots of options for printing. You should make sure you are telling it that you are going to be printing on glossy photo paper. That will cause the printer to go into its best print mode for photos.

Some HP printers have an option that will let you adjust brilliance.

If things are set right, it should take several minutes to print a full page photo. If it takes less that a minute, you do not have the printer set-up correctly.

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solely with digital cameras. Are they getting results which are as good, or better, than 35mm film? Of course. If they weren't, they probably wouldn't be using the digital camera.

Are they using a Sony 5meg pixel, point and shoot? No.

As I recall, 35mm film gives you about 15meg pixels. The larger you print (i.e. 8x10), the more you will see the difference in resolution if you look very closely. Most people don't look that closely, and are quite happy. The pros are using 10-11meg pixel and higher cameras. These are DSLR, not point and shoot. They also have very high quality lenses to augment the high quality camera.

Another advantage that film has is that your prints are being made using professional equipment. The equipment probably tweaks the photos for color, saturation, etc., and the equipment is optimized to print the image on the paper you receive. If you simply print what came from your camera, none of this optimization is occuring. You might be able to improve your results by sending, or taking, the digital image to a professional print making operation. Wolf Camera, Walmart, Sam's Club, and a variety on online services are available.

If you want better results on your own equipment, you should probably invest in an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop Elements. That will let you start fixing some of the problems your images have. It will also open the door to creativity with the image.

You might also have trouble matching the color you see on the computer screen with what the printer prints. If so, you will either need to compensate in the editing program, or get into the area of Color Matching.

I hope this gives you some idea of which direction to go.

I would say that your first problem is that you are comparing a print made with ink from a desktop printer to a film print made with a chemical printer.
Although desktop printers do have very good quality, they tend to accentuate the imperfections in digital images, such as grain and pixelation.
Secondly, because I work in a photolab/camera sales shop, I have found that Sony Digital cameras consistently produce lower quality images than all other cameras.
For best image quality, go with a Nikon, Fuji, Canon, or Minolta camera.
I would bring your files into a REAL photolab to see if there is an improvement in the quality; and it costs less per print also.

p.s. check the compression settings on your camera, often the default is the mid-quality setting.

First of all, let's do a little troubleshooting. Does your camera allow you to set different image resolutions? Most do. Check your manual to determine this. If so, set it to a higher resolution. Some cameras, by default, take photos at the lowest resolution (suitable for sharing on the web, but not good enough for prints).
To answer your primary question...this is a topic which is hotly debated...can digital match film?
Well..yes...and no. It depends upon what the end print is used for. It also depends on which film camera you are comparing to which digital camera. Obviously, my Minolta 35mm film camera yeilds MUCH better photos than a very low end digital. My Minolta Maxxum 7D digital SLR, on the other hand, yeilds MUCH better results than a low end film camera--one needs to compare apples and oranges.
As to print quality--I am not at all convinced that any inkjet print has the archival properties and waterand fade resistance that a conventional photographic print has. Try getting a typical inkjet print wet and/or keep it in strong sunlight for a period of time, and see what happens!
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