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Cost of Printing
#1

I'm currently looking through some material published by HP on inkjet printers and running costs. They claim:

HP now offers the low price of 24¢ per 6 x 4 inch photo (U.S. dollars), equaling the latest low price of retailers but with the added convenience of home printing. And with larger prints, the savings from HP increase (a 5 x 7-inch print costs 81¢ from HP vs. $1.47 from retailers; an 8 x 10-inch print costs $1.49 from HP vs. $2.84 from retailers). When you take a closer look, HP offers more choices with greater value.

I'm wondering - when you print - do you consciously think, "there goes another dollar and fifty cents..." or does it just hit you when you run out and go to buy more ink cartridges? Do you even keep track of your printing costs?
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#2

Absolutely, I never did to begin with I trusted the judgement of reviews and the supplier but it is very inaccurate, stay tuned I'm doing some price testing on it now as I'm rather unhappy!
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#3

When I did the cat show recently I had a lab do all the prints. First off, I wasn't impressed with the two labs I tried. Sure, the prints were great but with a close comparison to my own they were no better. As far as cost goes, it seemed pretty cheap to have 130 images printed out at 28 cents a piece for 4x6's. For a 120 pack of Canon 4x6 photo paper plus is $39.99. I've yet to try comparing anything larger.

Sit, stay, ok, hold it! Awww, no drooling! :O
My flickr images
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#4

See my comments on print durability in another thread....


Use the lab, Luke.....
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#5

I can get 4*6's cheaper at the lab 19c versus around 23c if I print my own..... anything larger I make a 50% or greater saving on. I'm not worried about durability, I am shooting "art" prints for competition, not something I want to be viewed by my great, great, great nieces and nephews.
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#6

Ahhh, but who knows if images stored on a PC can be viewed in 30 years time.

Anyone in here got access to a 5.5" floppy drive?

Is electronic storage going to last that long or will the JPEGs all be lost as HD fail completely.
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#7

mic Wrote:Ahhh, but who knows if images stored on a PC can be viewed in 30 years time.

Anyone in here got access to a 5.5" floppy drive?

Is electronic storage going to last that long or will the JPEGs all be lost as HD fail completely.

I can use a 5 1/4' yes but not a 5.5.

The problem that many miss is that from an inkject the prints are not archieval, from a lab they will still be around in your album for 40 years, from your printer they may start to fade in two years.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm
not sure about the former.

Albert Einstein
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#8

Maybe I got the size a bit wrong, but can you see where I'm coming from?


Who's to say we'll be able to read a JPEG file in 30 years.

How long will a CD last?

Best we print what we shoot.
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#9

No, I don't have access to a 5 1/2 inch floppy drive, but I did use them, and the the files I had in that format were transferred to a 3.5" when I upgraded.... and those 3.5" files, are now on CD.

As for archiving home prints.... Epson are claiming in excess of 80 years for their prints when protected from UV light. This is for their pigment based inks. Canon are lagging behind at only in excess of 20 years.

IF you protect one of these prints in teh same way you care for normal photographs they are going to last much longer. I do print on archival quality paper for the most part.

Both of these figures are far in excess of 2 years. I have prints in an album I printed on a HP820 in 1998, and they atill look as good as when they were printed. Prints left in a frame and allowed to be in light from then have faded.
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#10

mic Wrote:Maybe I got the size a bit wrong, but can you see where I'm coming from?


Who's to say we'll be able to read a JPEG file in 30 years.

How long will a CD last?

Best we print what we shoot.

Okay I was being silly but I will put my house on the fact that we will read jpeg's in 30 even a hundred years.

I went to a birthday party last night, gave the birthday boy (43 year old BIL) a small album with some photos I had taken of him over the last 30 years, not the same impact with a CD.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm
not sure about the former.

Albert Einstein
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#11

Peted,

I think we're singing the same tune but in a different key. Smile
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#12

My calculations are not accurate because I lose a lot of paper and ink because of bad prints and garbage coming from the printer. Curses. I get cartridge refills for about $16 each for colour and black. Black lasts 3 times longer than colour. Paper varies but usually about $1 per sheet. I do as little printing as possible.

--Don

Nikon D3100 with Tokina 28-70mm f3.5, (I like to use a Vivitar .43x aux on the 28-70mm Tokina), Nikkor 10.5 mm fisheye, Quanteray 70-300mm f4.5, ProOptic 500 mm f6.3 mirror lens. http://donschaefferphoto.blogspot.com/
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#13

I work in a photo lab and the quality we produce from the frontier machine just cannot compete with any at home printing pay the extra and get it done in a quality lab! Smile
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#14

I totally agree hails. All work I do that I sell is printed professionally.
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