Home Printing / Printing in a lab?

tony64

tony64

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Tony
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Hi

I am starting to produce work that I would like to print A3 size. At preset I have an all in 1 print that produces average photo prints unto A4 (but the printer was not brought as a photo printer). Am I better off sending my images off to a professional lab like Pro Am where I can get my A3 print for just over £1 an image but I need to order a number of images to justify the postage cost, or look at investing in an A3 photo printer? If the latter can anyone recommend a reasonable print solution?

Tony
 
The odd 6x4 I print at home on a Selphy dye-sub, but everything else I send out (DSCL). I don't make larger prints or bulk print frequently enough to justify the time, paper and ink required to keep a printer calibrated and working smoothly. It really depends on how frequently you'll be wanting to print and to what standard.
 
I would hesitate hugely before buying a photo printer for occasional personal use. It would be an economic sink hole in terms of capital depreciation and running costs. Consider that it's working lifespan might only be a few years. And then what? There are environmental issues connected to all the equipment we use (to do with manufacture and disposal).

An A3 for just over a quid sounds so cheap to me that I can't imagine why you're fussed about the postage.

I'd try a few images here and there and find a lab you like, get a workflow going and settle down with it.
 
Ink and paper is going to cost you nearly a quid, so unless you plan on printing quite a few a Lab is probably a better option. I bought an Epson 2100 A3+ printer some years ago when I was printing a lot, a full set of 7 ink cartridges (Epsons) costs around £100 a time
 
droj said:
I would hesitate hugely before buying a photo printer for occasional personal use. It would be an economic sink hole in terms of capital depreciation and running costs. Consider that it's working lifespan might only be a few years. And then what? There are environmental issues connected to all the equipment we use (to do with manufacture and disposal).

An A3 for just over a quid sounds so cheap to me that I can't imagine why you're fussed about the postage.
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artyman said:
Ink and paper is going to cost you nearly a quid, so unless you plan on printing quite a few a Lab is probably a better option. I bought an Epson 2100 A3+ printer some years ago when I was printing a lot, a full set of 7 ink cartridges (Epsons) costs around £100 a time
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Just wanted to agree with the above.

I have an A3 Epson R2880 and it goes through ink like a mad thing. The advantage is though that you have control over quality (maybe) and time. I mention quality because the one time I paid someone to print one of my pictures they turned a sunny day shot into a glum evening shot and of course if you D.I.Y. you have control and you don't wait days for useless print, if something is wrong you put it right and print again.

Assuming that you have a good company to reliably print your images the other major factor for me to consider would be time and if you can wait for the pictures to arrive at your door I suppose home printing looks ever less attractive.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice. My main reason for asking was I normally only want to print a few images at a time. To make it feel cost effective I need to wait and batch up 10 - 20 print to justify the £8:50 delivery charge. There is also the beauty of being able to get an instant result. I am just weighing up the options.
 
Something like a Canon Pixma iX6550 (which won't break the bank might and costs no more to run than yer normal printer) might be worth a look if you want to make A3 prints now and again. It can be used as a bog standard printer for letters etc. and is plenty good enough for photos.

No doubt there'll be plenty of people to shoot this cheap option down, but it's an option.
 
If you can afford the initial purchase cost and the ongoing running costs (ink and paper are not cheap), then printing your own is a great option.

The key thing for me is control - I can get what I see on my screen (more or less) and adjust instantly when I don't. The feedback loop for a print lab is much longer! I like using different papers as well. Worth noting that I print for exhibitions, competitions and portfolios so I probably more demanding than most about the quality of output.

The pitfalls are the cost, but also the associated colour management headaches as well. It depends on how discerning you are and what the prints are going to be used for.

Costs can be kept down by using third party inks and cheaper papers. You'll get as many people advocating third party inks as you do OEM Inks (I fall into the latter category) although cheaper paper rarely yields good results in my experience.
 
Sometimes it is annoying re: post costs - order fro 8 prints with DSCL the other day and they were less than postage was. That said, the quality is spot on and far better than buying ink and paper. Would recommend the supplier route.
 
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