Printing at Home vs Photo Service

Speaking of printer cartridges in our last topic located here;

http://blog.weber.k12.ut.us/jumcfarland/2008/03/05/running-out-of-ink/

...I've been asked to compare the benefits of printing your own photos vs sending them into a professional service for prints.

I'll do my best to present a fair comparison with pros and cons of each situation. I invite you to leave your input and opinion here for others to see.

First of all, let's talk about the pros and cons about printing from your home with your own printer, ink, paper, and software.

Pros:

• Very fast, limited only by your printer's speed


• You can immediately reprint/resize/recrop if it didn't come out as expected


• You don't have to leave home, very convenient


• You're not rushed to get in before closing time


• You have a better appreciation for your finished product since you created it


• Nobody else has to see your photos (while developing)

Cons:

• Your printer may get jammed or misprint, wasting ink and expensive photo paper


• The ink may smear soon after it prints


• Printing at your own responsibility, you may make a few mistakes


• Depending on your products' source, you may be paying more over the long run


• Wear and tear on your own equipment


• If you do not have a digital camera, you must scan the photo yourself, then print

Here is an example of a lot of ink wasted, and a simple glitch in the printing:



Now let's talk about taking/sending your photos in to be developed.

Pros:

• Fairly inexpensive, many times around $.09 (9 cents) per photo, 4X6 in size


• Professionals are completing the task while you relax or get your own things done


• Guarantees if print quality is not what it should be


• You can email your photos in to many developing services, en route with your errands, and pick them up 1 hour from sending them


• If your photos are not digital, there is no extra work for you

Cons:

• Unless you get them sent to you in the mail, you will have to leave your house to pick them up from development


• Others may see your personal photos (inappropriate or not... don't ask.)


• Not quite as fast as printing them yourself (depending on the quantity)


• Gas money would definitely go into the ultimate cost of getting these photos

Alright, so those are just a few, and there are many other opinions as well. I would love to see you submit them below.

Here are some Walmart links for reference. Sure, there are people that hate Walmart, but Target is similar, so this is just a general figure. This link takes you to WM's pricing page;

http://photos.walmart.com/storepage/storePageId=Prints

as well as these services for 9 cents:

http://photos.walmart.com/borderscreateflow

Here's my opinion, and yes, I'm somewhat biased on this issue. (be warned) ;)



Let's say you have 100 photos. If you print them all at the regular 4"X6" size, let's compare the cost. We know it will be $9 at WalMart for 100 photos. But that's not all. If you join up for a FREE account, you get some bonus free prints. From what I remember, I signed up with a COUPLE of accounts, and was offered 10 free prints in each account. No purchase necessary.

The main variable you must find out is, how many photos can you get from your printer and ink cartridge? If you get a smokin' deal, you can maybe find a photo quality printer for around $50, ink included, and they'll include some of the photo quality paper.

So, how long will that ink last? It depends on what kind of photos you are printing, and the size.

This is the question I cannot answer, it depends on each model. But if you can print 100 full color photos at home without running out of ink, more power to you. You just have to keep getting new ink and paper. If you have an inexpensive source, go for it.

For me, I'm at the store at least once a week. Now, I haven't printed a photo in over a year, (even though I shoot maybe 300 shots a month) I just store them on my PC and on the internet. But if I wanted to develop some, I'd email them in to Walmart, do some shopping, and pick them up.

That's my opinion and preference. You may not like to leave your house, and that's ok. Printing your own photos definitely gives you a sense of pride, and that's great.

Please leave your feedback and opinions here. :D

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