PictBridge
More info
- Creator
- CIPA
- Released
- 2003
- Type
- Standard
- Built on
- USB (PTP)
A standard for printing photos straight from camera to printer over USB, with no computer in between.
Introduced in 2003 by CIPA (the Camera & Imaging Products Association) to solve one nagging chore: getting prints without dragging a PC into it. Camera and printer connect with an ordinary USB cable and talk over PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol); the user picks images and copies on the camera's own screen. The scheme thrived through the compact-camera years and withered once smartphones took over photography and wireless printing such as AirPrint and Mopria became the norm. Many photo printers still carry the logo, mostly as a fossil of 2000s peripherals.