Alfer
New Member
[AWD:01]Founding Member
Posts: 20
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Post by Alfer on Oct 18, 2012 12:36:53 GMT -5
Good Day. Just like to know your thoughts on this subject.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of printing your photos at home vs the Lab
Any recommendation on good professional quality printer.
I will be printing mostly 8x10 photos. Currently printing at costco but the color calibration at costco are just too far off so just thinking about having one at home to be more accurate. But thinking also about the cost on printing at home.
Hope to hear from you guys.
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Post by Karl Wertanen on Oct 18, 2012 13:08:09 GMT -5
I'm sure the answer is different for everybody because not everybody has the same situation.... I guess I would say it depends on how much you plan on using it. I have a canon pixma pro 9000 MKII and it makes amazing prints up to 13x19." I paid around $400 for it when it came out (its probably much cheaper now). I use it a lot now and will use it probably twice as much in the coming year, so it is totaly worth it to me. If I only used it once a month it probably wouldn't make much sense for me to have it (unless I had oogles of money). I would actually like to get a bigger one so I can make 30" images but those are pretty expensive... Until I can find a deal on a used one in good working order, I'll keep farming out my bigger prints over 19". If you have a home printer you need to make sure your monitor and printer are calibrated to match otherwise you'll get the same irratic color changes you get when you farm it out to whoever.... But since I use it often, I'll be using it more, I can have total control over my images all the way to the end and it saves me money, its worth every cent for me to have a home lab.  Just depends on your situation... |
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Post by Karl Wertanen on Oct 18, 2012 13:13:07 GMT -5
If all you plan on doing is 8x10 or 12", you could probably find a more affordable printer and spend a lot less in ink and paper. The only problem is... After a while, you will want to go BIGGER!!
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Alfer
New Member
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Posts: 20
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Post by Alfer on Oct 18, 2012 14:02:00 GMT -5
thanks Karl. Im only planning to print 12" max so i think canon pixma is a good recommendation.
Im just really having problems with printing on lab. it really is 1-2 stops darker than what my monitor is showing.
can someone also recommend a good local lab or online printing site they are using? maybe i'll try it before investing on home lab.
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Post by CalvinDigital (Charles Calvin) on Oct 18, 2012 14:09:03 GMT -5
Costco does good and cheap printing.
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Post by Karl Wertanen on Oct 18, 2012 14:18:53 GMT -5
Costco does good and cheap printing. I've heard that as well.. |
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Alfer
New Member
[AWD:01]Founding Member
Posts: 20
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Post by Alfer on Oct 18, 2012 14:31:45 GMT -5
it's just a hit or miss for me in costco. about 20% rejection rate for me but it is definitely affordable.
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engineerd
Junior Member
[AWD:01]Founding Member
Posts: 64
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Post by engineerd on Oct 23, 2012 8:17:16 GMT -5
That brings up a question...where is a good place to order prints from? I've had decent success with ordering from Photobucket, but have had lousy prints when I order them from Walgreens/Costco/Meijer.
In other words, should I stick with ordering from Photobucket or is there a better place to go to?
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