Printing pictures

Borderfox

Just wondering what everyone print's their pictures out on? I have an old Epson R200 which has served me very well with about 100 A4 prints and countless 6x4. I was thinking about getting an A3 printer to produce prints for framing. Is it cheaper to get them processed in a lab then do them yourself. Just wondering.

rymus

I generally tend to wait until I need alot of stuff printed, then do the whole lot at photobox. That way it works out a bit cheaper. I was going to get an Epson R1800 but after calculating the price of ink & paper I got a rather ominous feeling. I'm open to correction on this but I also think that lab prints will last longer and generally look better than those printed on ink printers.

I'd love to get an epson, but I'd also love if the damn ink wasn't so expensive

Valentia

I have an Epson 2100 and the costs are high. I get my ink from the states and pay duty. Still works out cheaper than buying over here. I have been looking at the Lyson continous ink system It has got very good reviews and dramatically cuts costs. Have a look here for a lot of useful info.

Rymus, these inks actually last longer than a lab processed print...up to 80 years it says but I'd imagine if you stuck around they would last longer

I don't do an awful lot of printing. Just for the special ones. There is some great freeware stuff out there for doing museum quality B&W on the 2100. I love the archival matt paper. I know the costs appear high but I don't think you will regret it when you see the results. There is a bit of a learnibg curve like for colour management and stuff, but once it is set up it's deadly.

Oh and another interesting point, about Camera Mpix. I have the 10D...6.3Mpixels and an A3+ is stunning so unless you want to do one for Tara St. bridge your camera's MPix'ls are not that important.

elven

Well it's something I was wondering about, printing from the 350D... but now I have to figure out this whole RAW malarkey first.

Fajitas!

I have an alrightish Lexmark 4 in 1 combo at home, but in college I have use of huge A0 printers along with others, and can send prints to a lab for Lambda printing if I need. Cost wise isn't too bad. A0's are about 40 quid on Fabrianno paper

Valentia

As a side note, I spent a number of years working with medium format and all my stuff was printed in a professional lab. The prints were superb but I can honestly say that the 2100 prints are just as good, right up to A3+.

And the newer Epsons are supposed to be even better.

rabbitinlights

whats the photo box quality like?

Borderfox

Excellent. Thanks for all the comments. Valentia that sounds really good, I think permajet do an Epson system for continous ink.

http://www.permajet.com/html/products_permaflow.html

Carrigman

rabbitinlights wrote:

whats the photo box quality like?

I find the Photobox.co.uk quality consistently excellent. Their webpage is also very user friendly and their turnaround times could not be better. The only delay is with our own dear An Post whose delivery performance in the last year or so has detiorated greatly.

rymus

yeah.. my latest photobox order took two weeks to be delivered, despite the fact that they actually had it printed and posted the morning after the order went in. Excellent service only let down by our utterly diabolical postal service. Quality wise they're fantastic. I normally get 12x8's which, if I do all the colour balancing and so on properly before I make the order, the prints are always perfect. Having said that, I did think I noticed some dust on recent prints. Can't be beat though.

ladgie353

My wife's camera - wait untill we get about 100+ pics and send to foto.com.
My camera (mostly messing around) - download the pics to the PC and print on an Epson 1270 (A3) when worth it (usualy one out of 1000...:-))

Laurent
Flickr

elven

Two weeks!!!!! I would be jumping up and down! Is it better in Dublin like?

rymus

I doubt it.. an post are diabolical all over the place.

Fajitas!

College printer!

CrowdedHouse

I find the prints from foto.com are fine.
Only 50c for a 12x8 inch its a steal,quick too - always back in 4-5 days.

LikeOhMyGawd!

I use a Canon Pixma 4000i. I find it is great value and the results on A4 are particularly good (too much ink seems to de deposited on anything smaler sized). I've had it for about 18 months now and still haven't needed to replace any ink cartridges.

DrummerBoy

If it's A3 printers that you're looking at the epson R1800 is very good. Also the R2400 if you've got the cash that is. It comes with the K3 Ultra Chrome inks. Or what about the Canon i9550.

ValueInIreland

Lab prints are quick, easy and cheap ( Spectra, Nationwide) are offering 50 6x4 prints for just €9.99. Inkjets come into their own for bigger prints and control to have prints just as you like. Those who had their own darkrooms will appreciate the satisfaction of being able to control every element of the process.
Regarding A3+ printers, Epson have three models, the cheapest being the 1290s - a great all round workhorse, next up is the 1800 which is you man if you want stunning High gloss prints. The dearest model (2400) produces the best B&W and archival prints. If you are worried about running costs AVOID Compatible cartridges like the plague - With a few notable exceptions ( Permajet, Fotospeed & Lyson are Excellent). These Manufacturers also do CIS ( Continous Inkflow Systems) which really save money but require a fairly substantial outlay up front and will require new profiles to be loaded to get optimum results. If you have the volume and don't fancy setting up a printer and CIS set, consider something like the Epson 4800 printer which will also do A2 prints or take a 17" roll for stunning Panoramics but uses 220ml Cartridges instead of the 12-18ml cartridges of it's siblings with ink about 1/3 the cost!
www.permajet.com Great range of papers & Inks
www.fotospeed.com Great range of papers & Inks
www.epson.ie Printers, Scanners, Projectors & Photoviewers
www.barkerphotographic.ie -They stock them all !
http://www.chrismoodycolour.com - Profiling & Photoshop tuition

Borderfox

Thanks again for all the comments, some very good ideas. Fajitas love that college printer!!

boidey

Having tried both 3rd pty photo printing services and printing them myself. Now unless its a high volume run I will print everything myself. If I'm going to transfer an image to paper I want to ensure the results are optimised and what I'm looking for. The photo printing services will always supply a cheaper product and it doesn't compare with what you can achieve yourself by investing some time and money into finding the setup that works for you. Some of the smaller dye sub photo printers produce stunning images that are water resistant, fade proof, and are great to handle. The running costs are bearable and even more so cos you will get your print instantly, no waiting, postage, travel etc.
I use a Hp designjet 130 for my large prints and a olympus p400 for 8x10s and think that both are excellent.
It is unrealistic to think that you can spend much less on printing photographs than what you spent on camera hardware and get acceptable results

teresa-villas

rabbitinlights wrote:

whats the photo box quality like?

Very good I've found.. the paper could be heavier maybe