Stone Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 We need a new home printer. We don't use it much. When we do, it's usually for photos. No need for fax. I've gotten a lot of recommendations for Epsons, and I was looking at this one which prints up to 13 x 19. On the other hand, for the same price, I can get an all-in-one, with scanning, but a smaller paper size (11 x 17). Any thoughts? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony Bonner Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 yeah. Use a third party to print and mail them to you. Much more cost efficient especially if you aren't doing a lot or often. The ink alone kills it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Had an Epson R3000 for a while. Second what Bonner said – they're fiddly, slow, and both ink and good photo paper are extremely expensive. Would not recommend unless you're doing a ton of prints, or are very picky about your choice of paper stock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I agree with Bonner and taion. Making nice prints at home is harder and more expensive than it looks, so I've given up and send everything out now. Sign up for the AdoramaPix email list. They have regular sales on printing and do an amazing job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stone Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Interesting. Never considered that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 The one real caveat I'd add is that if you're planning on using fine art paper for your photo prints, the markup from third-party services adds up extremely quickly. There are some very, very nice inkjet photo papers, and if you're planning on using those, the crossover point for even a very nice photo printer being cheaper is actually not that many prints – so keep that caveat in mind. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony Bonner Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Taion what kind of paper are you thinking of? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 The top-end inkjet fine art papers – the first few that come to mind are the Epson Hot Press Bright, the Epson Cold Press Natural, the Epson Exhibition Fiber, and the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta. At 13 x 19, from someone like Bay Photo, you're paying 56.60$ per print: https://www.bayphoto.com/prints/fine-art-prints/ At B&H, 65.95$ gets you a box of 25 sheets of the EF in that size: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/528345-REG/Epson_S045037_Exhibition_Fiber_Paper_for.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Even at a more practical 8.5 x 11, it's 25.40$ per print v 25.95$ for a box of 25 sheets. The flip side is that you really have no good reason to print on this sort of paper for anything personal. There's just no point; it'd be massive, massive overkill. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 But once you get into the fine papers, you really also need to be doing monitor calibration, adding custom paper profiles, etc. You could luck into some decent prints if all goes well, but to get consistent output, there's a decent learning curve. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Epson has profiles for their papers for their printers. And you should be calibrating your monitor anyway if you're doing any serious photo work Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 That's what I'm saying. We do all that shit for the stuff we print on a film production and it's a pain in the ass. It's not as easy as sticking the Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Baryta in the tray and hitting "Print". I just assumed Stone wanted good quality output for low effort, but I hope he corrects me if I'm wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
taion Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Think of how good your selfies will look on Exhibition Fiber, though! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Stone Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 I want to make nice photos that I can frame and put on the wall. I don't think I'll have a need for high-end paper or $56 prints. Even at the $10 prices from Adorama, I'm going to want to print most photos myself. Is there any way to estimate the ink-cost for, say, an 8.5 x 11 color photo? I need a new printer no matter what, the question is whether I go for something in the $100 range or the $300 range. Is there a noticeable difference in photo quality for the extra $150? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony Bonner Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 Just buy a cheap inkjet for home printing. < 100 bucks an 8x10 on standard paper is 1.50 from Adorama The canon Pixma Pro-100 which is the wirecutter's best budget choice for photo printing is 370. Each ink refil is 107 bucks. An individual color is 17 figure paper is 20 cents a sheet. Figure the incremental cost of the printer is 270. According to these guys the cost of printing an 8*10 from ink is 90 cents for this printer, so a net cost of 1.10 - so you end up ahead if you make 675 8x10s. It'll actually be more than that because they assume 14$ an individual color. Also that assumes your labor is free and you'll never have a misprint. I mean I learned this the hard way - actually even worse because I had a pigment ink printer where they cartridges dried up if they weren't used regularly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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