Hello all, I have been thinking about getting a photo printer for quite some time. The time is right to buy as there are some significant deals available. I have never printed before and it can seem intimidating. How difficult is it to get great quality prints without knowing much about profiles, monitor calibration and what papers to choose? Would I be better off spending the money to have a lab print my work compared to the learning curve of setting up and maintaining a printer? Looking for advice from members who have taken the plunge and how they feel about it. Thanks for any input.
I feel you are either all in to printing your own photos which includes calibrated workflow or just get them printed at a lab. Trying to skip the required work will just disappoint you.
Why do you want to print?
If you are doing it to save money-- you likely will not save a lot printing yourself. I suspect it may actually cost you more than using a lab.
How many images are you going to print a week?
If you are printing 1-2 images a month- just find a good lab.
If you are printing 1-2 images a week, think about printing for yourself. But that is 100+ images a year.
If you get into printing- you will need to calibrate your monitor even if you use a lab for printing.
If you do not want to be bothered with profiles, etc--- just let a lab do your printing.
Are you presently printing a lot now?? If not, set a goal of getting 10 images a month printed in a good lab. If after 6months you still want to print- look into it.
I personally run 3 printers- canon 4100, canon 1000, epson 8550. I have printed about 1000 prints this year. I love to print. It is actually pretty easy most of the time once you have your workflow figured out.
If you still want to play- get the epson 8550. Inexpensive to print with. Learn with inexpensive inks and papers. If printing becomes important to you- you can wade into deeper water like 12 ink pigment printers in the future.
mgmonster wrote:
Hello all, I have been thinking about getting a photo printer for quite some time. The time is right to buy as there are some significant deals available. I have never printed before and it can seem intimidating. How difficult is it to get great quality prints without knowing much about profiles, monitor calibration and what papers to choose? Would I be better off spending the money to have a lab print my work compared to the learning curve of setting up and maintaining a printer? Looking for advice from members who have taken the plunge and how they feel about it. Thanks for any input....Show more →
You can start with an inexpensive but decent printer like the Epson XP-7100, sizes up to 8.5 X 11. But make lots of 4 X 6 prints to start and to learn your way cheaply. You'll quickly see whether you love it or hate it.
Printing your own images will make you pay more attention to post-processing and that is all to the good. There is nothing like a well-done print to give a sense of satisfaction for having made a good photograph. And you can give prints away to others, which many people will like.
Sending images to a lab means delays and redos and more delays. It takes a lot of the fun out of getting a print. Once you have your printer set up, it is actually more work and trouble to send a print to a lab than it is to print your own. And, there is nothing like the immediacy of a printer and the immediate chance to make an adjustment and see the difference in the result.
If for some reason you hate the process of printing, you won't be out much money. If you do like printing, as I suspect you might, you can keep the XP-7100 for small snapshots and still get a better and more expensive printer. Or you can give the XP-7100 away. Or, you can happily keep the XP-7100 for a long time and use it to learn all the finer points of using a printer.
And at any point in this process of learning, you can get into the world of profiles, different types of papers, and monitor callibration, all of which the XP-7100 will support, just like any other printer. But you can go through the initial stages of learning without doing those things--they'll become more desirable to do as you acquire more experience. You don't have to know how to do everything at first and at once. You'll get some very nice prints anyway with a bit of trial and error.
The prints will be worth having. Prop the best ones up around your home and get your eyes away from the screens. You'll see your images differently and better.
Thanks to all who have replied. I am about to pull the trigger on a less expensive printer (I was looking at the Canon pro 310/1100). I have been binging on Keith Cooper's videos on Youtube. I will take Chiron's advice and tiptoe in. If it goes well, I can always upgrade later. I have been an avid amateur photographer for almost 50 years so I have lots of images to play wiith.
I purchased an Epson XP-15000 ($300) a few years ago. Will print 13" W X 20"+ L with fairly decent results. I use 8.5x11 Red River luster for 90% of what I print (I call them 'test prints'). Anything larger or something I might frame I send to a local lab that typically prints uploads within 24 hrs. Ink Cartridges are on the pricey side, but prints seem to be more or less equal to lab costs. It's been a great learning printer.
I have a number of 12 x18 prints from 4 yrs ago (and more recently) that still look fine in their frames.
Bill_A wrote:
I purchased an Epson XP-15000 ($300) a few years ago. Will print 13" W X 20"+ L with fairly decent results. I use 8.5x11 Red River luster for 90% of what I print (I call them 'test prints'). Anything larger or something I might frame I send to a local lab that typically prints uploads within 24 hrs. Ink Cartridges are on the pricey side, but prints seem to be more or less equal to lab costs. It's been a great learning printer.
I have a number of 12 x18 prints from 4 yrs ago (and more recently) that still look fine in their frames....Show more →
Yes, the XP-15000 is one step up from the XP-7100 that I used for a year to learn on. The XP-7100 is available for about $150, but doesn't print as large as the XP-15000. They both make sense to me as an initial printer to get someone started and that still make very fine prints.
I just pulled the trigger on an Epson ET-8550. On sale at B&H and 20% back for using Paypal. I went ahead and bought the two year warranty for $39 to ward off evil spirits. I usually don't buy warranties, but online info made me cautious. Now shopping for monitor calibrator. Thanks to all who chimed in.
mgmonster wrote:
Thanks to all who have replied. I am about to pull the trigger on a less expensive printer (I was looking at the Canon pro 310/1100). I have been binging on Keith Cooper's videos on Youtube. I will take Chiron's advice and tiptoe in. If it goes well, I can always upgrade later. I have been an avid amateur photographer for almost 50 years so I have lots of images to play wiith.
Since you are digging around Keith Cooper's site, you may as well dig into his Epson ET-8550 reviews. I've been playing with Canon printers for a good bit, and have finally found satisfaction with their Pro-1000, but that Epson would be compelling as a first photo printer, and all around workhorse, if I was starting over. Love the concept of bulk ink refills. Tiny cartridges, loaded with uber expensive ink, are enough to turn most off from home photo printing.
I was late to this thread, but you will not regret following Keith Cooper's strong recommendation for the ET8550.
I also recommend you further follow Cooper's advice in keeping your processing simple. You do not need to buy highly expensive rag art papers. I have been extremely happy with relatively low cost Ultra Pro Satin from Red River. The paper is not archival but will last for many decades instead of 200 years. Instead keep the process simple, print a lot and fill your house with your artwork and rotate it often. In addition to the enjoyment, viewing your prints will lead to even better photography.
