Kodak Step Printer Review: The Real Office Printer Problem (And the Printer Desk Lesson)

Let me start with a confession. I don't write product reviews. I'm the person who orders the printer, the paper, the toner, and then gets blamed when it jams. As of March 2025, I've been doing that for five years, and I have opinions. This is my Kodak Step printer review, but honestly, it's more about the printer desk than any single device.

Since I took over purchasing in 2020, I've processed roughly 70 supply orders a year for a 180-person company. I report to operations and finance. That means I see both sides: people want tools that work, and finance wants receipts that make sense.

The Problem Isn't the Printer

When someone asks me which printer to buy, I ask a different question: what will this printer actually do? They look at me like I'm being difficult. Print? Not enough. The surface problem is that we treat printing as one category. The deeper problem is that an office doesn't have one printing job. It has a dozen.

You need documents. You need labels. You need quick photos for onboarding badges, event recaps, inventory tags, and quality checks. Maybe you need 3D-printed parts. Those are not the same job. But we keep buying one machine to do all of it, and then we blame the machine when it fails.

The printer desk in our office used to be a perfect example. On top sat a laser printer for invoices. Next to it, a thermal label printer. In the cabinet, an old inkjet that nobody admitted to owning. And for a while, someone put a resin 3D printer right next to the coffee machine. It was a mess. Not because the equipment was bad, but because no one asked which job each machine was supposed to do.

Why This Costs More Than You Think

This isn't just about clutter. A confused print setup costs real money. One vendor I used early on couldn't provide a proper invoice, and finance rejected a $2,400 expense report. That's the supply side. On the equipment side, I've seen people print a single 4x6 photo on a color copier because there was no small photo printer nearby. Do that a few times a week, and the copier toner budget takes a hit.

The less obvious cost is time. When the printer desk is chaotic, people go around it. They buy their own desktop printers, order their own ink, and create a bunch of unauthorized little fiefdoms. Then no one knows where the useful supplies are. It's basically a tax on everyone's patience.

I don't have hard data on how many offices have a random 3D printer sitting in a corner. But based on five years of walking into client offices, my sense is it's at least a third. The surprise isn't that they bought it. It's that they bought it without a safety plan.

The Kodak Step Instant Smartphone Photo Printer

Okay, let's talk about the thing I actually tested. The Kodak Step instant smartphone photo printer is a small, battery-powered printer that uses ZINK zero-ink paper. It prints 2x3 inch sticky-backed photos from your phone over Bluetooth. Setup took a few minutes. The app is fine, not amazing. It's not going to replace your office laser printer, and it's not supposed to.

I went back and forth between a dedicated photo printer and a multi-function inkjet for two weeks. The multi-function made sense in the budget review. But my gut said it would end up in a cabinet with a dried-out print head. The upside was one device to order supplies for. The risk was another piece of plastic in the supply closet. I kept asking: is a $99 photo printer worth the inventory hassle? For us, it was.

What surprised me was how often it got used. It lived in my desk drawer, not on the printer desk. Marketing used it for event photos. Ops used it for quick visual notes. HR used it for onboarding badge pics. Suddenly, people stopped walking to the color copier for tiny photo jobs.

From a buyer's perspective, the Kodak Step printer review is straightforward: it's a small tool for a small job. For reference, commercial print standards generally expect 300 DPI at final size. At roughly 314 DPI, the Step is in the ballpark for a 2x3 photo, but ZINK paper is not Pantone-calibrated. If you care about Delta E for brand colors, don't use this for logo proofs. Use it for the kind of print that ends up on a fridge, in a toolbox, or stuck to a folder.

What About the Bambu Lab H2D and Resin 3D Printers?

I get asked about the Bambu Lab H2D printer, too. Different tool, different job. It's a serious 3D printer, and I'm not going to knock it. But it needs a deliberate setup, not a corner of the printer desk. And if you're typing "is 3d printer resin toxic" into a search bar, you're asking the right question. The honest answer is yes. Uncured resin can irritate your skin, and the fumes are something to respect. It needs a ventilated enclosure, gloves, eye protection, and ideally a separate room.

So glad I insisted on moving our resin printer to a ventilated cabinet. Almost put it under the printer desk to keep the cord reachable. That would have been bad.

What I'd Do Differently

If I could redo our office print setup, I would stop thinking about "a printer." I'd think about print jobs. Documents go to a central laser. Labels go to a dedicated label printer. Small photo prints go to a Kodak Step. Resin 3D prints go to an enclosed, ventilated area. One tool per job.

The vendors who took my $200 test orders seriously are the ones I still call for $20,000 order cycles. Small doesn't mean unimportant. It means potential.

That's why I don't mind adding a $99 photo printer to the mix if it solves a recurring problem. Is the Kodak Step for every office? No. If you're a professional photo lab, you need something else. But for a normal business that needs quick, small-format prints, it fills a gap.

Again, my experience is based on one 180-person professional services office. If you're running a warehouse or a print shop, your setup will be different. But the principle stays the same: don't let one machine pretend to do everything, and don't let a shiny 3D printer sit next to the lunchroom coffee. The right tool for the right job. That's it.