Is it worth while to print your own pics??

toe_knee

Hi everyone. A few questions.
1. Is there anyone out there who actually prints there own photos at home?
2. Is it cheaper than getting them done online?
3. If so what kind of printer would you recommend and where is the best place to get the paper and other supplies?

Thanks in advance

Tony

AnCatDubh

Assuming printing for personal enjoyment rather than professional prints for sale it's probably not a great idea for any great quantity of photographs - the mini labs will be able to do it much more cost effective for you. Although it can be handy if you want to run a limited batch or an A4 or A3 special print.

I saw a photo pack in Harvey Normans the other day which I think had paper and ink and it was going to cost nearly twice the equivalent mini lab price. It didn't stack up from what I could tell and at that it didn't include your time.

My advice would be to find a good developing lab that you are happy with for the majority of your work and perhaps have a decent inkjet printer and some quality paper for limited / special runs.

tombull82

toe, ger was tellin me about a fairly decent epson one that does upto a3 which would be grand for home use. He reckoned the prints come out very good for the price of the machine. Its was about 250 i think. Give him a shout for model etc.

smelltheglove

Depends on your printer and the quality of finish you like.

you can buy some good dye sub printers for less than 2k that will print up to 8x12, there is one on the market for less than 1k which I have used before that prints good quality, Mitsubishi brand. Using the mitsubish I used the cost was less than €1.50 per 8x10 as opposed to the average €3 from teh lab, however the lab price goes up when you consider the time and journey there. There is a more expensive mitsubishi around 1700, and it will print for less than €1 per 8x10.

I use a wide format printer and get my 8x10 prints in the lab. Cost wise it is dearer to get in the labs but I like the finish. One day I will invest in a cold laminator and a dye sub and do it all myself.

tombull82

Sorry double posted..

CabanSail

I think that it will almost always be cheaper to get them done by a lab than at home, after you consider all the costs involved. Then there are printers & then there are printers, once again you will get what you pay for. If you go to the lowest bargain offers then the quality can often be mixed. The online labs will send work off to different places depending on capacity & workloads. You will probably not have anyone actually overlooking the process. This may be fine for general holiday shots etc.

If you want to have someone who knows what they are doing & to stand by the quality of the photo's then you will pay a bit more, but many here feel it's worth it.

Printing yourself at home has the advantage of time in that you can print it when you want it. You can get away with colour prints with a much cheaper printer than if you are doing B&W. Also remember that if you are looking at an A3+ printer then you need the resolution to feed it. Have seen a lot of prints recently printed at A3 which should not have been that size as there was quite a bit of digital artifact.

Anouilh

Printing is to photography is what singing is to music, I think, an opportunity to express yourself.

I went through several phases of printing my photos and learned such a lot about rgb, cymk, cropping, composition and calibration that my photography improved a lot. My printing is never as good as the professional work, but the old Epson Color 440 I use gives some truly individual effects that please friends... a bit like being given a pot of home made jam, I suppose.

It's very well worth the effort to learn the basics. Also,modern printers give spectacular effects and are quick to use.

DaireQuinlan

Anouilh wrote: »

Printing is to photography is what singing is to music, I think, an opportunity to express yourself.

I went through several phases of printing my photos and learned such a lot about rgb, cymk, cropping, composition and calibration that my photography improved a lot. My printing is never as good as the professional work, but the old Epson Color 440 I use gives some truly individual effects that please friends... a bit like being given a pot of home made jam, I suppose.

It's very well worth the effort to learn the basics. Also,modern printers give spectacular effects and are quick to use.

funnily enough, I used to get prints done from my pictures for my mother. She used to reciprocate with pots of home made jam. Maybe I should have told her I just got them all done in photobox. She'd probably retaliate with tescos own brand strawberry jam (may contain strawberries)

On topic though, currently I see no point in not getting them done in places like photobox. Excellent quality, proper optical prints on Fuji archival paper, and you're entirely divested of the space taken up by and the hassle involved in trying to get your inkjet running consistently. I don't even have a printer. I farm out all my photo printing to photobox, batches of shots every few months for myself, or if relatives/friends want prints I can either share out the shot on photobox for them to print it themselves, or do up the print job and have it sent to their address. Trouble free.

32finn

have to say i agree with cabansail on this one. with online stores you never actually know what your going to get cos you dont know who is actually doin the work.
i always use my local lab and always know what im going to get. also the more prints i ask for the cheaper each print becomes.
my advice is to check out some local labs and see which one gives you what you want

Anouilh

Learning how to print well means you have more options... DIY and sending work to the professionals.

stcstc

there are various options for printing

1: at home with an inkjet or dyesub printer - expensive (more than online stores) but the satisfaction of getting it there and then is good

2: online places: quality can be hit and miss, but very very cheap

3: local lab - more expensive than online, but generally you get more consistent quality

4: pro lab (like me) more expensive, but generally larger gamut to prints, higher level of both finish and customer service, ie if its something not standard like 10*8 etc will discuss and work out best options, lots of different papers and finishes available

if your gonna do it at home, up to a4 you can buy a decent epson or canon printer and buy some decent paper and you can produce very good results

if you want bigger than a4 you need to jump to some of the more expensive canon or epsons, not the lower end ones (wont generally do good b&w)

hope this helps