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I'd go with an inkjet if you're just doing occasional printing and don't mind replacing cartridges fairly often. For a small desk, something like a Canon Pixma or HP Envy in the compact size range won't eat up much space and handles both regular paper and photos decently. If you're printing a lot, a laser printer might actually be more economical long-term even though they take up similar space, but honestly for light use the inkjets are hard to beat for the price and they're way quieter.
For a small desk the canon pixma ts3520 or ts3522 is pretty solid. they're like the size of a shoebox and do printing, scanning, and copying which is nice if you need that stuff. prints are decent quality and the ink cartridges aren't ridiculously expensive compared to some of the other brands. been hearing good things about them from people who actually use them day to day instead of just reading reviews.
if you're willing to spend a bit more the hp envy 6020 or 6030 is also compact and has wireless printing built in which is super convenient when you're not trying to deal with cables everywhere. the print quality is really good for color stuff if you're doing photos or whatever. both those options fit nicely on a regular desk without taking up half your space.
real talk though - think about whether you actually need color or if black and white is enough. black and white laser printers are way cheaper to run long term if you're printing a lot, but they take up slightly more room. also check what ink costs before you buy because some brands will nickel and dime you like crazy. read some actual user reviews on amazon or wherever, not just the sponsored stuff, and you'll get a better feel for which one won't piss you off after a few months.
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