h00ligan Posted January 9, 2010 Share #1 Posted January 9, 2010 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm really curious as it seems the quality can be even or even better for having it printed. Is it just a convenience thing? Inkjet printing has always surprised me - in terms of the amount of people putting out so much on inks. I am an IT guy, so maybe it's just that I am too focused on cost per copy from ROI reports... What makes YOU want to print at home instead of order? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 9, 2010 Posted January 9, 2010 Hi h00ligan, Take a look here What's the appeal of buying a printer vs paying per print?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
adan Posted January 9, 2010 Share #2 Posted January 9, 2010 Oh, Lord. So many variables, so little time.... Access: I can sit down at 2 a.m. on a Sunday (or 3 p.m. or whenever I like) and get prints from 4x6 up to 17 x 25" in 10 minutes or so. No drives to the lab, no coordinating calibrations across systems - it's right here, right now, just by hitting the "On" button. Cost: I can run off a 17 x 25 (Harman Fiber Gloss, not cheap, Epson 3800 archival pigment ink) for under $10.00 in paper/ink. Costs $68.00 to get a LightJet print 16 x 24 from the local pro lab. Heck, I SELL prints to compadres (from their images) for under half what the Lightjets would cost me, in any size, and make money. There are cheaper print modalities, but mostly limited to a max. of 12 x 18. $58.00 (+ an hour or so of trips to/from the lab to drop off/pick up, and gas, and consultations and such) seems a steep price to pay to save 10 minutes of my time. Assume an average print size of 11 x 14 ($41.00 from the lab), and it takes 30 prints to pay for the capital cost of the 3800, including the first ink load. 30 prints = about one month. How's that for ROI? Control: For 35 years, I've always done my own B&W. Film processing, wet printing until scanners came along, always resented time and money spent on color processing (and loved it when I could start doing my own color printing via inkjet). Love the fact that digital makes me as totally self-sufficient in color as I was in B&W. Letting someone else print my work feels like drawing a sketch on the side of a block of marble and then turning to a guy with a jackhammer and saying "Cut there". Not the "Michelangelo" or "Gene Smith" approach. I can run off "books" with 2-sided printing on Inkpress Duo Luster, and bind them myself. Full control of layout by using InDesign (although I guess it's possible to get prints from .pdfs or InDesign files commercially). Quality: I don't agree with your premise. "If you want something done right, do it yourself" applies in my case. But then I have 2 degrees in photography and visual communications and it is my life. It took 10 years or so of learning, stage by stage, the new techniques of digital on top of 25 years experience with chemical photography - but now it's paying off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delander † Posted January 9, 2010 Share #3 Posted January 9, 2010 All of the above and I want to see exactly what my print will look like in the same way that I like to see my files on the screen. So I tweak the file, look at a soft proof on screen then make a print and look carefully at it. At this stage I often see small issues that I did not spot on screen and I like to make as perfect a print as I can. So correct those and make another print etc until I'm happy. It is a bit like editing a book, go over it many times until you are happy. And then of course there is the pure pleasure and anticipation of watching your creation emerge from the printer. Printing is the final very important step. Whatever the original quality and composition of your image so much can be done in printing to produce a WOW factor. I also use the Epson 3800, favourite paper is Epson Traditional photo paper (aka exhibtion fibre in the USA). Final points. Print large (A3+ or 13x19) if possible, use good paper. Jeff Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
h00ligan Posted January 9, 2010 Author Share #4 Posted January 9, 2010 Thank you for taking the time to explain the benefits Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilfredo Posted January 11, 2010 Share #5 Posted January 11, 2010 If you are serious about photography, really serious about it, you will discover the value of doing your own printing. Remember what Ansel Adam's said about printing, it is the equivalent of playing a musical score, it is your chance to bring to life your photograph as you visualized it. BTW, I agree with all of the above. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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