Photo printer or get them done at Walgreens, etc?

[2angelsinheaven]

I was considering a small photo printer (you know the ones that do the 4x6's) I can get one for a decent price, but it's the paper/ink that concerns me. I looked at one package that said enough for 40 photos (ink and paper) for about $25.00, this comes out to .62 cents a pic, not including the price of the printer... am I missing something... should I just do them at walgreens, etc. Is the only advantage to the at home printing convience?
If it were the same price I'd like the at home printer, but more than twice the price at the store, why print at home???

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I've given up on printing my own photos--I like real photos on real photo paper that won't smudge if a drop of water accidentally gets on them. JMHO.

If you are into scrapbooking or catologuing your photos--have you tried uploading your photos to shutterfly or any of the other reputable places on-line. Hubby found something cheaper than shutterfly, but I forgot who it was.

The turn around on photos is pretty quick--I did one regular mail and got it in about 3 or 4 days...I did one order 2 day express and got it when promised just before Christmas so that I could make a last minute photo album gift for my sister.

We have a Hewlitt Packard printer and we use the photo cartridge and have printed some lovely pics--but I'm not a big believer in the claims of how long the photo can be archived before losing its quality.

You are right on the prices--it's just too darn expensive and cheaper to have someone who spent ALOT more money on their equipment to do a professional job.

 

[elgerber]

We bought a Sony photo printer and I finally sold it on e-bay. We never used it, because even though the quality was good, it was still better at Ritz and cheaper per print. I am using Shutterfly now and I love it.

 

[jrydberg]

.62 per picture is extraordinarily high cost for a photo printer. I have a Canon i950 and the cost is somewhere less than half of that.

 

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

mine go to CVS 1 hour and turn out GREAT. You can even upload at home, though I usually just burn to CD or give them my compactflash card.
Not sure how long the ones you do at home will last. They are fairly inexpensive at the store. About a 1/3rd of what you are looking at!
Try a couple of stores and see who you like! Even the CVS's around here can vary in quality!

 

[dmadman43]

I've given up on printing my own photos--I like real photos on real photo paper that won't smudge if a drop of water accidentally gets on them. JMHO.

If you are into scrapbooking or catologuing your photos--have you tried uploading your photos to shutterfly or any of the other reputable places on-line. Hubby found something cheaper than shutterfly, but I forgot who it was.

The turn around on photos is pretty quick--I did one regular mail and got it in about 3 or 4 days...I did one order 2 day express and got it when promised just before Christmas so that I could make a last minute photo album gift for my sister.

We have a Hewlitt Packard printer and we use the photo cartridge and have printed some lovely pics--but I'm not a big believer in the claims of how long the photo can be archived before losing its quality.

You are right on the prices--it's just too darn expensive and cheaper to have someone who spent ALOT more money on their equipment to do a professional job.

Not sure what type of paper or ink you are using that is causing your photos smudge.

As for the price, well the printer is a one time expense. It's not like you have to buy the printer eveytime you want to print photos. Not sure where the 62 cents a photo is coming from. With my Canon printer, works out to be about .25-.30 cents a print. Plus I don't have to wait, don't end up with prints I don't want and no waiting and no driving to Walgreens. Definately cheaper in the long run.

As for scrapbooking, every printer I've looked at has paper and ink rated for 75 years or more

 

[EsmeraldaX]

You will wind up spending a fortune on ink. It's cheaper as a rule to have them done up at a photo place.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I get mine printed at Walgreens or RitzPix.com. You can upload them at their site and the pictures turn out great. For some reason I prefer this than printing them myself, to me the pictures look better. And Walgreens just had a sale for 20 cents a picture.

 

[arminnie]

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?path=0%3A5426&dept=5426&cat=5426


You can upload to Walmart and then pick them up an hour later. Price is $.24 each.

 

[dmadman43]

You will wind up spending a fortune on ink. It's cheaper as a rule to have them done up at a photo place.

In the long run, from a purely economic perspective (time and money saved) I've not found that to be the case. Maybe from a pure accounting perspective, yes. However, I find that my time saved is also worth something.

 

[Ronda93]

I use shutterfly. I print in waves... nothing for a couple of months then a hundred. Each print run seemed to require new cartridges as something is dried out. I waste paper getting the calibration right.

Shutterfly is cheap (25 cents now?) and I get the photos after a few days. Well worth it.

 

[cats7494]

I got an Epson picture printer for Christmas this year and absolutely love it!
The quality of the print is wonderful..it looks SOOO much better than when I had some printed off at Walgreen's! It is more clear and the colors were more vibrant.
It was an Epson PictureMate Personal Photo Lab Printer.
It is so easy to print from and much more convenient than having to go to the store! (plus you do not have to wait for shipping if you use shutterfly...)

 

[Chicago526]

I just take mine to Walgreens, they take any type of storage media and it's 29 cents a print. I print so few pictures that I don't care if it's a few cents more, Walgreens is 5 minutes away versus Walmart being 20 minutes away!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not sure what type of paper or ink you are using that is causing your photos smudge.

Good ink for my HP printer...I'm guessing the children drooling or other incidental things that I like my tried and true real photos much better.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I am betting the price will come down substantially in the next few months as more and more companies try to compete. After all the money is not in the printer but in the ink and paper. It is kind of like the personal dvd players Last year you could not touch a 8.4 in for under 300, this year I got one for 169

 

[Bob Slydell]

I'm in the "print them at home" camp. With good paper, even a decent printer will give you good quality prints. Plus, you'll have the ability to print off one or two pictures quickly without having to make a special trip.

 

[Charade]

I've done both. Online (Walmart, Shutterfly, etc) and home. The print quality is nearly the same as is the cost. The only difference is the time involved printing them yourself or the waiting for the prints to be delivered.

If your need is immediate, then obviously a printer is the answer.

The only thing I don't like about the 1 hour Walmart prints is they use matte finish paper and I prefer gloss. The printing service from Walmart that's delivered (to the store or your home) uses gloss paper.

To the person who worried about damaged prints from injets...

From my experience, using my Epson photo printers (model 870 and R300) the prints from them are much more durable and waterproof than a traditional photo printing process (which most of those places like Walmart use). I can run a print under the faucet and it doesn't run or smudge. The paper may get a little funny but that's about it.

Around here, the Walmart 4x6 prints are 19 cents for standard service (with glossy paper) and 24 cents for 1 hour (matte finish).

 

[JessetheCowgirl]

I vote for Walgreens, too

 

[SandraM]

My DH works with film, and recently as a test he printed some photos on his Canon photo printer and then had them professionally printed at a Fuji printing centre (we don't have Walgreens in Ireland ).
There was no comparison as to quality - the professional printing was way superior!

 

[MICKEY88]

I use both methods, I have an HP7550 photo printer and the quality is incredible..if you have a properly exposed photo and a decent printer you should be able to get the same quality print as a photo lab, if your photos aren't properly exposed and you don't have good software to correct exposure/color, etc. you will not get a good print at home and the photo lab that makes corrections will produce a much better print..

I like the convenience of being able to print at home, at my New years eve party I took pictures of my 2 young nieces {8 & 3 }and printed them out
they love having their pics taken and seeing the result right away..
for my professional stuff I use an online lab, that is awesome,,,8x10's are 2.50.....50 more for metallic paper which has a luster that makes the colors jump out at you...

I personally wouldn't buy one of the small printers that only does 4x6 prints, you can actually get a printer for less that will do 8x10's...