| Author | Thread |
|
|
07/11/2003 12:51:52 PM · #1 |
Has anyone done any comparisons on cost of printing digital pictures at home on good paper and with a good printer versus uploading to the web or taking to a local photo store?
I am getting a new computer and want to get a photo printer if the cost savings is justified.
Any thoughts? |
|
|
|
07/11/2003 01:03:30 PM · #2 |
It probably costs me just under $3 per 8x10 that I print at home on an inkjet printer, but I have complete control over the quality. It is also more labour intensive to print at home.
Basically I find it is worthwhile for one or two good 8x10s to do the work at home, and for larger prints or larger volume of prints I use external labs. |
|
|
|
07/11/2003 01:10:45 PM · #3 |
It totally depends on what you want to print. For convenience sake, I'd much rather do it at home than take it to Walmart or something where I've been hearing stories of certain images not wanting to print. I think it only costs about $0.29 to print a 4x6 picture. 8x10's are right around $3.00 or so. 4x6 papers are about 15-20 cents a sheet and 8-1/2 x 11 sheets are around 25-30 cents a sheet. Honestly the ink is what's going to keep costing and I have no idea on how to break it down per picture.
Photo printers that do a good job are getting cheaper and cheaper. Its the ink that's expensive. I think Gordon has a printer(Epson) that goes for about $50 and he's really happy with it. My HP7150 goes for about $150 and I've very good luck with it. The HP5550 fetches around $100 and does a great job too.
The factor that may sway you is the quality and longevity of the prints. If you just want to show some people and don't care if it doesn't last for 20 years, printing at home is probably more convenient and cheaper. For more archival quality, your best bet is to send out for it at dpcprints or at snapfish or some service like that. If you can get your pics to work at Walmart, then that's even better. But I've heard numerous people have had problems.
I don't know if that helps at all, but thats my input. Good luck. I'll sway you to go buy a printer, because really they aren't that expensive for normal size printers and they serve the instant gratification types like me.
Bob
|
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/27/2025 03:44:14 PM EDT.
