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September 7, 2005

Printing Your Photos

For a long time, the hold up with digital photography was the quality of the cameras; it just wasn't there. Now, you can buy a digital camera that will give results as good as an equivalent 35mm camera. That is if you have the proper equipment to print those photos? Or should you even worry about printing them yourself? There are three options you have to get a hard copy of your digital photos. Print them at home, send them to an online photo-finisher, or use a local photo finisher.

Printing at home is by far the most convenient way to get your photos. But, it is also very expensive (paper alone can run more than $0.75 per 4"x6" print). A quick look at the photo paper isle at my local supply store showed photo paper ranging from $0.25 per print on the low end to as high as $0.77 per print on the high end. Depending on your printer, you may get varying quality in your prints, from not at all acceptable to excellent. The best printers use pigment inks, which produce brilliant prints with archival life, but also cost substantially more to replace the inks when they are depleted. If you are looking for large prints (larger than 11"x14") than investment in a large format printer is necessary but they usually can handle today's better (pigment) inks and will provide wonderful results.

Online photo finishers on the other hand produce excellent quality repeatedly at very little cost (as low as $0.10 per 4"x6" print) but they usually have a delivery fee added to the cost. Prints may be delivered next day, or up to two weeks later. your are printing a large number of prints and you are not in a hurry to get them back, there can be substantial savings for you with this option.

Compare those to the cost of local printers who will print your digital images to real photo paper (as do online photo finishers). Those prices range from $0.20 at my local Wal-Mart to as high as $.50 at some photography stores. Many big box stores offer services that let you send them your photos over the internet for same day pickup. I can get one hour service on my digital photos at most local stores and I am always happy with the results. Not quite as convenient to printing at home, though significantly cheaper and in most circumstances with better quality prints.

In summary, for most printing (typically 4"x6" prints) I recommend your local photo finisher, whether they are a big box store, a drug store or a dedicated photo store. If you are still looking for smaller prints, but don't mind waiting for them, online is the way to go as it will save you a bundle of money. If you need immediate results or want to print larger images, than printing at home is the best option (though more and more local stores are offering large size printing, so keep up with what your shop offers).

I have been asked what equipment I use and to discuss the various options for digital camera's. We'll look at those next week.

Posted on September 7, 2005 03:11 PM | Permalink

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