Print yourself or use someone else?

[Faintly Vivid]

I'm just curious if you print pictures on your own home printer or if you send them to be printed at a lab? My biggest question is which method is cheaper?

[Anke]

I find the lab much better as their printers cost tens of thousands so the quality is likely to be higher and they buy ink by the gallon so will be cheaper to print. Buying in bulk saves on postage too.

[Faintly Vivid]

Thanks Anke, can you recommend anyone online? And how many prints is your typical purchase?

[Anke]

Thanks Anke, can you recommend anyone online? And how many prints is your typical purchase?

Don't know what country you're in but I use photobox in the UK. Just try and order as many that makes the postage costs reasonable per print i.e. ordering two prints at 4p each and then paying £3 postage isn't right ;)

[sapearl]

I use both methods.

I do my own fine art work and experimentation on my home printer. But there's no way I would even attempt my wedding and event volume on a home inkjet - I'd be bankrupt in no time at all.

The cost of paper isn't too bad - you can always find it on sale somewhere, but ink is through the roof, My pro lab proofs and finishes all sizes of work faster, cheaper and better than I could.

[Faintly Vivid]

Thanks again Anke. Sapearl, do you use an online service or a local lab?

[sapearl]

Hi vivid - I previously used a local ma and pa place until they stopped taking film about 5 years ago. That was a good thing though because it forced me to start migrating to digital which I completely did 2 years ago.

Now I use an online place that is about 50 miles from my home:

http://www.buckeyecolor.com/

I'll PP all my RAW files after a wedding or event, and then ftp the proofs them. UPS brings me prints a couple of days later, and then the client will make their final selections for the album and loose prints.

Thanks again Anke. Sapearl, do you use an online service or a local lab?

[photoguy6405]

I am just starting to get into this and I'm going to use my local place.

One side question... if you use an outside printer, do you order prints just for yourself as a proof, or do you trust that it will be ok? I'm thinking at least an occasional proof would be a good idea.