I don't own a printer?!

CuppaTia

CuppaTia

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Name
Tia
Edit My Images
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I know prints are how we make our real money but I don't have my own printer! I would love to sell prints but I feel I can't without a printer. I didn't think going to a shop to get images printed was a very good plan seeing as they would work out more expensive. At the moment I give images on a memory stick as people said they preffered them to CD and I was happy for them to print there own images. (I'm just an amateur)

However, everybody wants prints! My college never taught us anything about charges, printing, business, etc.

Advise for a novice?
 
Have a look at these people for a start

http://www.proamimaging.com/

They are very good and cheaper than you can do yourself if you do your own preparation and either FTP or send a disc
I use them now and again but a friend of mine uses them all the time for weddings
 
Have to agree somewhat with Chris, However they are not there when the photos are taken so have to guess at the correct colours-surroundings (for cropping) etc etc, you are. If your doing the editing first then you have already done most of the work, so why not go the whole way
So in this respect printing your own as Chris says, can and would be more expensive, but at least you can produce a photo closer to representing what you took at the time.

I have to say I prefer to print my own photos and to that end just purchased an Epson XP-950 which is new to the market and can do A3 prints yet is the same size almost as my Epson PX-710W. I also have an Epson XP-750 and all 3 produce excellent hard copies.

If you did go down the DIY route I have found the Ilford Gallerie smooth gloss paper produces first class prints ( instant dries) and worth the little extra one pays for them



AS regards print your own costs you have to take into account first cost of printer, then ink then paper (size = cost) and no doubt you already have a decent editing suite+ your time of course.

For me getting photos ready for and printing is the fun part of photography, when you can sit down with a cup of coffee or a pint and get into your own little world without distraction.
 
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realspeed said:
Have to agree somewhat with Chris, However they are not there when the photos are taken so have to guess at the correct colours-surroundings (for cropping) etc etc, you are. If your doing the editing first then you have already done most of the work, so why not go the whole way
So in this respect printing your own as Chris says, can and would be more expensive, but at least you can produce a photo closer to representing what you took at the time.

I have to say I prefer to print my own photos and to that end just purchased an Epson XP-950 which is new to the market and can do A3 prints yet is the same size almost as my Epson PX-710W. I also have an Epson XP-750 and all 3 produce excellent hard copies.

If you did go down the DIY route I have found the Ilford Gallerie smooth gloss paper produces first class prints ( instant dries) and worth the little extra one pays for them

AS regards print your own costs you have to take into account first cost of printer, then ink then paper (size = cost) and no doubt you already have a decent editing suite+ your time of course
Click to expand...


Just an observation and not in any way being picky but Pro Am do say calibrate your monitor and apply their specific colour profile for their printers to the photo then WYSIWYG.
BTW I don't work for them
 
Chris many do say about calibration is necessary etc which is fair comment if you have a cheap monitor and computer not designed for photographic work.

From personal experience I have found the Dell super sharp IPS monitors are ideal for photographic work as the screen stays the same at any angle. My preferred one is the Dell U2312hm IPS monitor. I again realise graphic computer cards etc etc come into the equation to produce good on screen shots

With having a home built computer to my own spec helps for photography, therefore at present I have found no need to do any calibration. Here again I hasten to add that some might find calibration necessary which is fine but I do wonder how good the equipment is they are using for the need for calibration

Also it does depend if you are doing it for business or pleasure, but having shown so some of my work to my clients they do seem quite impressed with my efforts and wonder why I don't sell copies. I have to add quickly some also are complete rubbish.

Going back to the OP post doing it as a business one does need to know a little about how to run a business, even on a small scale. Here I have to say having owned my own business for 20 years I didn't realise how much was involved. Although I am in a different line of business for the first 8 years my wife and I only had about 40 days off in all that time to rebuild a failing business we took over

Apart for the legal stuff like third party insurance- contracts etc -there are accounts-banking -records -tax-earnings , not to mention consideration the equipment and renewal costs- time- transportation- even phone bills just to mention a few . If you have special clothing for shoots or even advertising all comes into the equation.
What happens if you have a contract for a shoot and fall ill? do you have someone to fill in and is that in the contract? Again holidays are self funded as are pensions, can you afford to take time out to go on holiday.
All this apart from normal daily costs such as food- heating rates/ rent and medical/dental insurance. Loads more but these are just a start.

Makes you think doesn't it
 
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realspeed said:
Chris many do say about calibration is necessary etc which is fair comment if you have a cheap monitor and computer not designed for photographic work.

From personal experience I have found the Dell super sharp IPS monitors are ideal for photographic work as the screen stays the same at any angle. My preferred one is the Dell U2312hm IPS monitor. I again realise graphic computer cards etc etc come into the equation to produce good on screen shots

With having a home built computer to my own spec helps for photography, therefore at present I have found no need to do any calibration. Here again I hasten to add that some might find calibration necessary which is fine but I do wonder how good the equipment is they are using for the need for calibration

Also it does depend if you are doing it for business or pleasure, but having shown so some of my work to my clients they do seem quite impressed with my efforts and wonder why I don't sell copies. I have to add quickly some also are complete rubbish.

Going back to the OP post doing it as a business one does need to know a little about how to run a business, even on a small scale. Here I have to say having owned my own business for 20 years I didn't realise how much was involved. Although I am in a different line of business for the first 8 years my wife and I only had about 40 days off in all that time to rebuild a failing business we took over

Apart for the legal stuff like third party insurance- contracts etc -there are accounts-banking -records -tax-earnings , not to mention consideration the equipment and renewal costs- time- transportation- even phone bills just to mention a few . If you have special clothing for shoots or even advertising all comes into the equation.
What happens if you have a contract for a shoot and fall ill? do you have someone to fill in and is that in the contract? Again holidays are self funded as are pensions, can you afford to take time out to go on holiday.
All this apart from normal daily costs such as food- heating rates/ rent and medical/dental insurance. Loads more but these are just a start.

Makes you think doesn't it
Click to expand...

That certainly makes you think! Thank you so much for your reply and help. There are certainly a lot of factors to consider. However, for now I do not wish to make a fully functional business within photography. I'm young and I am still yet to find my niche. Luckily, I have a part-time job as a barista and hours can work around me! Just printing for paying customers would be a big learning curve for me. I'm not sure on what size prints would sell best either? I want them to have choice but not be overwhelmed with decisions and numbers!

Thank you both though. I really appreciate this!
 
There is no reason whatsoever to do any of your printing, in fact if you asked this question in the business section, you'd find the only pro's that routinely print themselves are event togs and the larger studios (who often pay people just to do their processing and printing).

If your monitor isn't calibrated and you can't be bothered with profiles, you've got as good a chance of getting a decent print from someone else as you have doing it yourself.

Doing it yourself requires a lot of work keeping a printer up to scratch, changing profiles if you change ink or paper etc. Using a decent lab requires less work in this respect, is cheaper and if they really mess up - you get them to redo it for free. If you print a load of stuff then realise you used the wrong profile - it's your money you're burning.
 
There is no reason whatsoever to do any of your printing, in fact if you asked this question in the business section, you'd find the only pro's that routinely print themselves are event togs and the larger studios (who often pay people just to do their processing and printing).

If your monitor isn't calibrated and you can't be bothered with profiles, you've got as good a chance of getting a decent print from someone else as you have doing it yourself.

Doing it yourself requires a lot of work keeping a printer up to scratch, changing profiles if you change ink or paper etc. Using a decent lab requires less work in this respect, is cheaper and if they really mess up - you get them to redo it for free. If you print a load of stuff then realise you used the wrong profile - it's your money you're burning.
Click to expand...

We print 99% of our own stuff and don't have a problem at all.
Profiles are a couple of clicks, printers automatically clean themselves, ink replacement takes a couple of seconds., no delivery charges to pay to outside printers.

We can take a snap in the studio, five minutes in Photoshop, five minutes to print the image, frame or mount ready to pop in, wedges fired in frame job done, cash in the till.

The down side is we have to buy the printer, the paper and ink but after a while the printer is paid for, a few prints pays for the ink and a few more pays for the paper.

We never have to replace all the inks at once (there are 11 in total) but if we did 750ml cartridges would cost over £3000 but equate that to the earning potential it's nothing.
 
Printing in itself is a profession. I'd always pay somewhere to do it, as the results will be worth it. The equipment outlay and upkeep is simply too large, especially when the client will be paying all the printing cost and then whatever you add on top.
 
Very contrasting opinions! I will get some quotes on printing from others and I will look into printers and papers too.

Thanks guys!
I don't want to start any arguments! Hehe :)
 
For professionals who need a lot of prints then outsourcing is the way to go. For the occasional print request or for ones own pleasure in photographing right through to the finished hard copy then doing your own prints is, at least for me, enjoyable. Like everything else it depends on work flow and demand, Professionals doing wedding shoots or time related results would turn to someone like Brian who no doubt does an excellent job to get the prints back to the client as soon as possible.

It really all boils down to time-cost- equipment, print for pleasure (small order) or bulk printing. Every photographic request has to be treated individually so there is no set answer
 
realspeed said:
For professionals who need a lot of prints then outsourcing is the way to go. For the occasional print request or for ones own pleasure in photographing right through to the finished hard copy then doing your own prints is, at least for me, enjoyable. Like everything else it depends on work flow and demand, Professionals doing wedding shoots or time related results would turn to someone like Brian who no doubt does an excellent job to get the prints back to the client as soon as possible.

It really all boils down to time-cost- equipment, print for pleasure (small order) or bulk printing. Every photographic request has to be treated individually so there is no set answer
Click to expand...

I best get looking into printers then! :)
 
You don't need your own printer unless we're talking huge volume or events or similar.

But, for your own benefit and to give you confidence going forward, try this. Firstly, make sure your monitor is calibrated for your own purposes.

Then select three print houses - from recommendations.

Then pick three of your images, with varying degrees of colour, density, shadow areas, highlights etc, and send all three to each of the three print houses.

When you have received all the prints back, sit and compare each to each other and to the images on your monitor.

For a small outlay, you will have confidence in the process and will have selected a print house that suits your needs.

Then post the results here ;)
 
iv'e said this before in other threads but hey ho i'l say it again :)

how much are you considering to pay for a printer , inks and paper ?
how many can you have professionally printed for the same cost as the hardware ?
how many are you likely to sell ?

if it's a cost issue and you don't plan on selling that many then it's a simple sum to work out

if it's a convenience thing and the cost isn't as important buy a printer but keep in mind to get close to pro results a cheap printer isn't going to cut it your going to have to spend a bit

printing your own is very satisfying knowing the whole creation from pressing the button to admiring the print is all your own work unfortunately there is a cost involved and the truth is it's cheaper to have it printed if your only printing on a small scale especially small prints
larger prints ( a3 ) could work out cheaper ( just ) providing you get it right first print

the bottom line is what is important to you
cost or convenience

as a side note have you paying customers photographs printed for now and save the profit up until you have enough to buy a printer
once you have a printer the profit should pay it's running costs :)

win win :D
 
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I have printed for an amateur event via photobox pro, so that the logistics are handled
otherwise you can use a better quality option and print via a website (paid license) that you host and then the logistics are handled from a pro level printing service.
 
I have a lot to think about :) I will defiantly keep everything in mind! :)

Thanks everyone :D
 
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