Is it cost-effective to print at home?

[Heika Werner]

I'm worried at how much I'm spending on ink and other print-related materials, so I pose the question to those who may have considered this: Is it cost-effective to be printing at home vs sending the prints out to a service?

[photosbymorgan2]

I have found that it is more cost effective to send my photos to a pro lab than print them myself.

The cost of the printer can be around 100.00 or more, then you add the cost of each cartridge which can be around 10.00 or more per cartridge. Plus add the time you spend printing each photo.

It is just cheaper and faster for me to send in a lot of photos to print and my time is saved plus I do not have to deal with faulty ink catrtridges and my photos are printed on true photographic paper for cheaper than it would cost me in paper and ink.

[JDArt]

I'd have to agree with photosby, but I do often require or want the instant gratification that comes from printing at home, so I use both methods.

[mikej]

I've not used a lab since I bought my Epson 2200 a couple of years ago. For large quanities, no, it's not cheaper than a lab, but it's a lot more convienent, gives me more control and a lot better quality control of the final output.

Mike

[ohenry]

Cost effective? Probably not, but it sure is fun to finish the product from shutter button to framed. My printer will only do up to 8X12, so I'd have to outsource anything larger.

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by Heika Werner

I'm worried at how much I'm spending on ink and other print-related materials, so I pose the question to those who may have considered this: Is it cost-effective to be printing at home vs sending the prints out to a service?

I don't think it is, and the more you print at home the less cost-effective it becomes. But then again, it's probably not cost-effective to buy and shoot with something like a Canon 5D (fill in your own latest and greatest DSLR here) compared to a top quality film SLR - yet we still do it .

[Kevin Barrett]

It can be. Your time is worth something and the "near" instant gratification is nice. I have an Epson R800 that does a pretty good job. However, a good photographic print done at a pro lab still looks a bit better to me.

[rpcrowe]

My local lab (Digi-Dog Photos) in Escondido, CA does a wonderful job printing my photos. However it is not inexpensive at $4.50 to $5.00 per 8x10 or 8.5x11 print.

I have tried one or two Internet sites for printing at a cheaper price and I can really do a better job at home with my HP 7960.

Does anyone know of a digital lab that can do semi custom printing at a reasonable price. My images are very good and I have enhanced them with PP in Photoshop 7.

I sell my prints and would like to increase the margin of profit slightly. However, I don't want to degrade the final product with mass or inferior printing.

[Blinky]

Strictly in terms of cost? No way! I do all my own printing though. I like the control and ability to choose my paper.

I hate doing it though, I almost never get the print I want on the first or even second try.

Chip

[Mr. Pickles]

I know lots of folks have used MPIX and WHCC with great success. I know WHCC will give you a "profile" to use for their stuff. I believe MPIX is straight sRGB profiled images. Their prices seem reasonable.

At home printing is as Blinky described. Rewarding, but it costs more.

[JKSeidel]

I found this article on Luminous Landscape about the costs of running an Epson 4800 an eye-opening and wallet-closing essay: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/es...tracking.shtml. Just cleaning one clogged head would make me dive for a second mortgage.

[Blinky]

If you want a color profile for a place like Costco, Wal-mart or anybody using Fuji Frontier or Noritsu Digital printers check this out...
http://www.drycreekphoto.com/Frontier/

Dry Creek provides free custom color profiles for downloading for hundreds of printers across the US. They apparently are responsible for profiling and calibrating fuji frontier and Noritsu printers all over the place. The site also has lots of easy to understand info about using color profiles and digital color management. Worth checking if you use a third party for digital printing. You can look up your lab by location.

Chip

[paulhodson]

UK figures

for 6" x 4" Canon paper (top quality Photo Paper Plus )is 35p per sheet
for 6" x 4" Canon paper (normal quality Glossy Photo Paper) is 16p per sheet

Photobox on line printer - decent quality 6" x 4" prints 5p per print if you order a credit of 250 prints



I used Photobox for some holiday shots downloaded 250 by 4:00 pm one afternoon
4:45 pm despatched
8:00 am received

I like to do my own if special but let me work that out...

[Paul Shields]

Originally Posted by paulhodson

UK figures

for 6" x 4" Canon paper (top quality Photo Paper Plus )is 35p per sheet
for 6" x 4" Canon paper (normal quality Glossy Photo Paper) is 16p per sheet

Photobox on line printer - decent quality 6" x 4" prints 5p per print if you order a credit of 250 prints



I used Photobox for some holiday shots downloaded 250 by 4:00 pm one afternoon
4:45 pm despatched
8:00 am received

I like to do my own if special but let me work that out...

I agree on those differences Paul. I've also used Photobox in the UK and found them to be fine (I did a post on them a while ago [iurl=http://www.photocamel.com/index.php/topic,2807.0.html]here[/iurl] showing the different images/costs). They've recently started doing fully bound albums - 20 perfectly bound pages for £19.99. That can show between 20 and 77 images. Not a bad deal at all.

[paulhodson]

And of course the figures do not include the coloured liquid gold you buy in those little plastic bottles every few weeks

[Sidebyte]

Because I live one hour from the closest lab, it's almost a "no brainer" that I print at home up to 8 X 10....above that, I have the lab do it. It's not only cheaper but they can go up to full poster size at a fraction of what a poster size printer would cost me.

[JohnJ80]

Since when is ANYTHING about photography 'cost effective.'

Consider 3rd party inks. The cost saving is substantial.

8 sets of Epson R1800 cartridges - about 8x$12x8 or $768 (give or take). Same amount of ink (Mediastreet) $159. Results about the same with good profiles.

J.

[TonyK]

Too much cat hair for me to get good prints.

Originally Posted by B

Strictly in terms of cost? No way! I do all my own printing though. I like the control and ability to choose my paper.

I hate doing it though, I almost never get the print I want on the first or even second try.

Chip

[happusa]

I have been using 3rd party inks for awhile now in my Epson R2400, and get excellent results ( eink4u.com ). The reason for change was cost. eink4u is half the price and inks are equal to or excede manufacturers specs.

As far as paper goes, make test strips. You can get six or eight on an 8.5x11 page .

[paulhodson]

Originally Posted by happusa

I have been using 3rd party inks for awhile now in my Epson R2400, and get excellent results ( eink4u.com ). The reason for change was cost. eink4u is half the price and inks are equal to or excede manufacturers specs.

As far as paper goes, make test strips. You can get six or eight on an 8.5x11 page .

Interesting - which specifications do the original manufactureres publish which they equal or exceed?