do you print at home?

[raist]

I havent bothered for a few years now, when the wife wanted photos she would take the sd card to tesco's.

now my laser printer has broke I have just been curious and noticed how inkjets have changed. Is it still expensive home printing, especially now inkjets have more cartridges?

[Carlj]

It can be in bulk - the new Kodaks are supposed to  be about 50% cheaper than the competition, so should bring it down to about 12p for a 6x4 - though it's not an exact science.

[Mick]

Very rarely print at all.   Maybe the odd one off.   

That's why my Epson printer ink keeps drying up in the nozzle's, and then it costs me a fortune in ink, trying to clean them. 

[Alfonso_Frisk]

been using photobox and have been very pleased with the results and service.
Had 6x4 (free x 15) and about a dozen A4 done in gloss and matt.
On my last order of 6 A4, there was a print missing so I emailed them. Replied within the hour and they sent out a complete set of the 6 pics next day, so that was 5 for free
RR
Alf

[Colin]

I print mainly just A4 for my camera club competitions.

If I want 6x4 I usually get them dome at Photobox but my last lot from them were very dark. They are re-printing them for me and I am just waiting for them to arrive.

I have loads of 6x4 paper as I buy the HP value packs for my inks as it works out cheaper and each pack comes with 150 sheets of 6x4. I don't think I will ever use it until the price of inks drop tremendously.

[Jonathan]

I have a couple of old school R220s (you can't buy them any more - AFAIK the last unused one int he world is sitting in my loft waiting for one of these to break...).  I use them for leaflets and CDs.  They run off the cheapest ink I can possibly get - one's on a 20 quid CIS and the other's on ink at 40p per cartridge.  I bought soem frames for a project the other day and wanted a snap to see how they looked.  I ran a couple of 6X4s to the cheap cartridge machine and was really blown away by the quality.  I'd forgotten just how good these printers can be.  They cost me about £45 each and at 6X4 looked easily as good as a mini lab.

However, I don't print for clients at home.  Anything that needs to last goes out to a lab.  It's so much faster than using my own printers.  One day I sent out over a thousand 6X4s (3 weddings - a tough weekend).  They came back 3 days later perfectly printed on Kodak Pro paper.  If I had run the Epsons non stop they would still have been going 

BTW Photobox - great customer service but their printing has become increasingly patchy.  Dark prints, funny colour casts etc.  Always fixed but annoying they have to.  But you can get 50 free prints from them, 40 from MyPix and 30 from Snapfish and try them all out (and yes, I get paid for saying that....).  At test I commissioned put Snapfish way out in front as the best budget lab and if you pick the prints up from Jessops there is no postage to pay either

[raist]

cheers guys some places I hadnt heard of to check out.

Wonder if I can get photo paper in the colour laser printers at work 

Presumably you guys have calibrated your monitors? and that this works well with these places

[alan1572]

i have just printed my 1st photo at home and i am very pleased with the reult.

[loveclose]

Bit late on this thread.....

I've given up inkjet printing photos - been through too many Epsons and got too cross with them as a result!  Having said that, I've done a few quick 6x4's on the Epson's replacement - Canon ip4200 and it's now outlived any Epson I ever owned.

I do still print the occasional 6x4, 7x5 or 8x6 on my HiTi 720PS.  I know it's not cost effective, but great for producing good quality prints on and away from the pc when the occasion demands.  And the plug about non-fading prints is more than a plug - it works!  A 7x5 in the kitchen, exposed to all bright light sources and now over a year old is still as it was when printed, compared to an inkjet of similar age that has faded.

[Jonathan]

Mr Postie just delivered a print to me.  It's an A1 inkjet.  It cost less than 30 quid.  The normal lab I use for these only delivers by courier so it's pricey for one print so I took a punt on a new lab.  It's a gorgeous print.  I emailed the bloke to say how pleased I was - he told me they had spent 10 grand on printers and RIPs and getting stuff right.  The theory is that I can order the same print in 2 years and get exactly the same print.

I have no idea what large format paper or ink costs.  I just know that I'd have to make over 3 hundred prints before that was even a consideration.  If the printers ran on air it would still be cheaper to sponsor him to find a place to house a 44 inch printer.  And 300 A1s would keep even me going for a little while.

[pippafox]

do inject inks fade over time?

[skellum]

As long as the ink is of reasonable quality ( & the paper ) and you keep the print behind glass there should not be a problem.
some manufactures claim they will last up to 70 years without any problems arising but I wont be here to prove them wrong.
It will also depend on the quality of your printer.

[northbeach]

I print a lot in 8x10 on an inexpensive Epson I've had for four or so years without a problem  (watch it die tomorrow now I've said that).  I really want to move up to a printer that can give me larger prints but they're a bit too expensive.   

Paper is important I've found.  I print on a semi-gloss or luster paper. 

Sheila

[pippafox]

whenever i've tried printing (epson stylus photo R300) i find the colour is much darker than that of my uploaded pics.   perhapas i need to change settings somewhere??   
on the couple of occasions i've wanted a print i took  a cd with the tiffs to the local printers. cost less than a couple of quid for a good quality print on heavy paper.

[northbeach]

You might need to make sure your printer profile  is compatible with PS and the paper you're using.

I also think it's an inexact science

Sheila