Cost of home photo-printing

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BlueSpud

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For one of the smaller cheaper photo printers, such as the iP5200 or iP4200, roughly how many 6*4 colour photograps do you get from the cartriges. I know it depends, but for normal usage, how many photograps per set of B/C/Y/M cartriges. I have no idea if this would 10 or 100. I am trying to work out the rough ink cost per 6*4 photograph.
 
I reckon it'd be hard to beat the commercial/online photo printers on price and quality given that some of them can do 6x4s for as little as €0.09 each plus P&P. I did some home tests recently but gave up and decided to leave it to the professionals. There are some good recent articles in some of the PC magazines covering this very issue (i.e. total cost of home photo printing) and the conclusion was that once you factor in cleaning cycles and the like it was not worth doing anything other than the odd home print. I think the best home cost was about GBP£0.50 per print. If I can get specific article citations I will post back.
 
I'd agree with that estimate. Home printing is very handy if you want/need a print in your hands 'right now', but even with good quality ink and photo paper the quality won't match even the cheaper labs (6" x 4" are about 15c each from the likes of www.photobox.ie, and sites like [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] usually offer 10 free prints when you sign up). More importantly, they fade quite quickly and are far less durable — you can't use a damp cloth to wipe off dust/splashes, as you can with lab-printed photos. I framed a home-printed 10" x 8" a few months back and already the blacks are looking distinctly greeny-greyish, even though the print is never in direct sunlight... :(
 
Some of the PC magazines also had articles on the expected lifetime of various digital prints and, as above, they will most likely last a lot shorter time than traditional photos!
 
I wouldnt worry so much about the cost as the quality. If you are printing 10 x 8 " expect to save money as you will pay around €5. in any commercial operation. I have found that if you are doing home printing that the heavier the paper the better the print quality. epson 255 gsm gives great results. With reagrd to the green cast, are you using original inks? If so you will need to calibrate your colour profiles on both your pc and printer.
 
The cost is a major factor for anything other than the odd print. I am pretty sure that home printing will always be significantly dearer than outsourcing it.
 
I`ve used a HP Photosmart 325 to good effect.
Have refilled cartridge a couple of times and got great results.
Have printed at least a hundred 4x6s and going strong.

Now have Canon IP4200.
Will get chip resetter when they become available.
Also bulk ink.Check out BS-print online.
They give instructions and brand compatible ink.

Home printer a big help for current project.
Copying and enhancing 60 to 100 year old family photos using PhotoLightning software.Usual a copy is less than the original but not in this case.
 
Shrek31 said:
I wouldnt worry so much about the cost as the quality. If you are printing 10 x 8 " expect to save money as you will pay around €5. in any commercial operation.
Click to expand...
10" x 8" range from €2.99 for a single print down to €1.49 for 20+ copies on photobox.ie... and their 7" x 5" are a bargain at €0.29! ;)
Shrek31 said:
I have found that if you are doing home printing that the heavier the paper the better the print quality. epson 255 gsm gives great results. With reagrd to the green cast, are you using original inks? If so you will need to calibrate your colour profiles on both your pc and printer.
Click to expand...
I use Fuji 180 gsm glossy, and original HP cartridges. The greeny-grey cast wasn't there originally (but you're right about the calibration thing) — what I meant was that the inks faded/discoloured over time. It's not drastically bad, just noticeable in the blacks, of which there was a lot in the particular print I framed.

[Edit: Hey — what's with the order of posts in this thread...? :confused:]
 
Dedicated home printing will be expensive.
I have a Kodak photo printer, not a PC printer, it just prints photos on proper photo paper and the quality is fantastic
However the cheapest I can print at - ignoring the cost of the printer - is 30 cents per photo.
On-line you can get cheaper, especially with those free prints upon sign-up which are always doing the rounds.
If going bulk then online - broadband required! -, but to be able to print out a photo a minute or so after taking it, be prepared to pay the premium.
Although you can get "photo-printers" / pc printers, they do not IMO give the same result at the dedicated little lads
 
Recent issues (over the past year or so) of either PCPro or PC Magazine carried the articles that I mentioned above on the total cost of home photo printing and the long term quality (or not) of various inks, papers etc. Just in case that's of any use.
 
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