Print at home or in store

Scott UK

Scott UK

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Scott
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Guys

A simple question I hope,

Is it cheaper to have your prints processed in store, or at home?

It would seem on quick check places like Tesco and Asda etc. are so cheap you couldn't possibly match the prices doing it yourself with the prices of paper and ink. Or am I wrong (won't be the first time)

Thanks
 
Its going to depend on your costs.. printer.. how much your paying for paper (quality, bulk buying) same for ink .. genuine or?

other things... I can do A3 cheaper at home than I can find elsewhere..mainly because of the delivery cost to get it to me... but I can't do 7x5 cheaper..


its not such a simple question IMHO :)
 
as Tony says some sizes are cheaper online than at home but you also have to consider the initial start up cost of the printer and ink etc.
 
Printing in store you don't need to worry about spoils and tests
I do all printing out makes life very easy, comes in no time
 
im a print outside person too. Tried online retailers who are cheap like photobox and snap fish but the colours/blacks/exposures are poor. Snappy snaps are high street and the quality is top notch. Makes no sense in my eyes to buy a printer, paper, ink and then print them at home although it is tempting!
 
I think it depends on the size. For anything say 10x8 or larger I would print at home. But only if I had all of the equipment already. If you don't have the printer etc, then I would give consideration to how often you are going to be doing larger sized prints.

If you just want some 6x4's or 7x5's every now and again then I would get them printed in store.
Some places have offers on for free prints + p&p. Check http://www.freephotoprinting.co.uk/offers.php
Printing small prints at home, I don't think is worthwhile.
 
Thanks for all he info, I have quite a few 12x10 to do I have an all in one Canon, but I think a printer solely for photos is in order.

Can anyone suggest one that does not cost the earth But does quality prints.

Cheers
 
Nope cause there is no such thing
Click to expand...

Once again Mr. POAH more arrogant crap from you.

There are lots of options of printers even in the budget range that can produce acceptable output for someone not looking for exhibition prints.


Have a look here for some ideas and prices
 
For an a4 printer and value for money I find the canon ip4700 fantastic
 
snapalot said:
Once again Mr. POAH more arrogant crap from you.

There are lots of options of printers even in the budget range that can produce acceptable output for someone not looking for exhibition prints.

Have a look here for some ideas and prices
Click to expand...

Having tried a few cheap printers the quality is low and they take forever to make a print. You can't go cheap and get a good photo printer. Obviously this is just a personal opinion remember.

P.S. next time use the correct salutation when addressing me please.
 
thanks for all the useful responses, so maybe cheap is not the way forward.
But surely there is a good quality photo printer for home use?

Cheers Again
 
Most of the photo printers are ok (read ok not great). They are cheap, and normally expensive to run. You can buy a 10x8 print from DS Colour Labs for about 60p. My sheets of paper pretty much cost that before factoring in ink costs.

Having a printer at home is very useful but to get accurate prints you'll need to get/use a proper profile and be careful with how you print. Then you get the odd messed up print so it costs you double to print that one image.

How many prints do you plan on printing?

If you plan on printing a 12 x 10, you'll need an A3 printer as A4 is smaller than 12x10.

Most A3 printers are better and you can usually find some good second hand models around going cheaply. But again ink is very expensive.

You can buy a 6x4 on Photobox for something like 10p (maybe less) - I can't buy the paper that cheaply!! As you get bigger you start to save on the print cost when printing at home but you still have the outlay of the printer itself to take into account.....

I use an Epson R2400 and have ahad it a few years and it still produces fantastic prints on a variety of media. Not the cheapest to run so I bought a CIS system a few years ago from Fotospeed - That has cut my ink costs by about 80%.

Another thing is don't use cheap rubbish paper that doesn't come with a profile. You will likely be disappointed.

It really depends on your level of what quality is. Some people demand higher quality than others.

Cheers
Jim
 
Checked out DS and their prices are extremely good.
This does seem the best option

Many Thanks yet again
 
For large quantities of holiday snaps etc, I just zap them to Tesco online and go pick them up at my local store the following day, or sometimes Photobox as they tend to be better quality. For anything larger than that, it's DS Colour Labs, who are significantly cheaper than most other places up to A3.

I do have an A3 printer, but the running costs are damned high, so I only tend to use it for one offs or when I want a print that is exactly what I see on my screen.
 
I do the occasional print on my Epson photo A3 printer. The results are now spot on to my eyes. I say now because it must have cost me a small fortune getting the results that I wanted.

Wasted ink, wasted paper, profiling the moniter, profiling the printer, buying this gadget and that gadget to achieve said profiling, all adds up.

However it's been worth it, when I can take a decent photo, print it, and frame on the wall in less than a day.
 
I get a lot of satisfaction printing my own, I like gloss paper and retailer prints are a bit Matt nor me.

I run a Canon 9100 with ciss and watch out for offers on Epson paper.

It's good fun but I do profile monitor and printer with a ColorMunki.

Allan
 
+1 for DScolourlabs Eg: 18" x 12" £1.20 Snappy Snaps 18" x 12" £17.49 yes you read it right £1.20 compared to £17.49. 12" x 10" 70p compared to Snappy Snaps £11.99. I have used DS may times and been impressed with the quality. Snappy Snaps prices are nothing short of a joke!!
 
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