# Very, very good but cheap Photograph printer?



## Amberly001 (Dec 21, 2013)

Our regular printers which print paper mostly, don't work to well when printing photographs to sell.
Does anyone know a good printer dedicated to printing professional photographs that isn't too expensive?
I don't know if it is possible but I'm hoping to find one under 200$ I am paying with my own money and I don't have a lot.
thank you so much!!

I am selling my first two photographs for 10 dollars for the both of them - as a Christmas special all my prices are half off.

Thank you again!!


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## tirediron (Dec 21, 2013)

Printing at home, unless you have a particular need to either produce a certain type/style of image or something that's not readily available isn't generally a profitable way to go.  Chances are, there is a professional lab in your area that can do the work for you at a reasonable price.  My lab typically has a 2-3 day turnaround and offers both drop and return shipping for a flat-rate.


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## Amberly001 (Dec 21, 2013)

The closest place that does great printinfs is an hour away and the only one that does decent printings is 4 bucks for one 8x10 photo versus 13 cents a photo for the on an hour away.

I want to print at home because it would just be easier for me and I am interested in doing so. Thanks


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## 480sparky (Dec 21, 2013)

Truthfully.... if there really were such a thing as a 'very very good cheap' *anything*, it would be the only one on the market.


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## hamlet (Dec 21, 2013)

Amberly001 said:


> The closest place that does great printinfs is an hour away and the only one that does decent printings is 4 bucks for one 8x10 photo versus 13 cents a photo for the on an hour away.
> 
> I want to print at home because it would just be easier for me and I am interested in doing so. Thanks



Just make an account in this place: Online Photo Books, Prints, Calendar, Digital Photo Printing Services - AdoramaPix. Give them your pictures and a dollar amount and they will mail it to you via postman Pat.


If you really insist on doing it yourself then here is a top 10 photo printers you can check out, they will give you the pros and cons of the printers.


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## Derrel (Dec 21, 2013)

"Costco".


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## Amberly001 (Dec 21, 2013)

Thank you, hamlet, I will take a look!

And at derrel - costco was the one that was an hour away.


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## KmH (Dec 21, 2013)

Very, very good, but cheap - is an oxymoron.

Mpix.com charges $2.09 for an 8x10 print on matte finish paper.
You upload photos, they print them and then ship them to you, or directly to your customer.
Photo Printing, Photo Cards, Holiday Cards, Announcements, Photo Books : Mpix

There are others, like Nations Lab, Bay Photo, WHCC. WHCC has a lab in Fresno,CA.
Inexpensive consumer grade, all-in-one inkjet printers that only use 3 or 4 color cartridges are designed to print a wide variety of things and use inks that may not be the best for printing high quality photographs.

To make professional quality prints of photographs yourself generally requires a prosumer grade, dedicated photo printer that has a 13 or 17 inch carriage and that has 9 or more pigment based ink cartridges..
The Epson Stylus Pro R3000 has a 13 inch carriage and the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 has a 17 inch carriage.

Epson Stylus Photo R3000 Review & Rating | PCMag.com
Epson Stylus Pro 3880 Review & Rating | PCMag.com


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## Amberly001 (Dec 21, 2013)

Thank you all!
I think I found one I might go with. 
here is a link.
Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : PIXMA PRO-100

I think this one is pretty good and I will go with this one!
But the thread is still open to opinions on what you think is best!!


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## gsgary (Dec 22, 2013)

Have you looked at the price of inks, if i was getting a home printer in would be epson with a PermaJet Eco-Flo Ink System for Epson R3000 | PhotographyBLOG


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## KmH (Dec 22, 2013)

Yep. You will be paying less now, but paying more later in the form of ink cost.
Ink cost of the Pixma Pro-100 is 33% higher (x8 colors) than the ink cost for the Pro-1. The purchase price of the Pro-1 is 2x more than the Pro-100.

Plus, the Pixma Pro-100 uses dye-based inks rather than pigment based inks. Generally, pigment ink prints last longer and are more durable than prints made with dye inks.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417036,00.asp


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## CCericola (Dec 22, 2013)

The prints from the Canon Pixma fade pretty fast. I have a 5x7 that is color fading of my nephew my sister sent me. She has since thrown the Pixma away and bought an Epson.


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## Newtricks (Dec 22, 2013)

Canon Pixma Pro-10, $699.00 retail, less a $200.00 instant rebate, less a $200.00 mail in rebate, plus free shipping and 50 sheets of canon Plus semi-gloss comes out to $250.00 out of pocket (at B&H Photo). The ink cost, $135.00 for a ten cartridge set. Red River Paper did a cost per print analysis, the Pixma Pro-10 uses $3.47 worth of ink to print a 13 x 19" print, while it may cost more per print than sending photo's out to a lab, what is gained is total control over how the final print looks. I've done my own printing since Beseler, Ziess and Kodak graded paper where the standard, I wanted the same control when switching to digital. The quality of the prints (to my eye), is close to if not the same as prints from a lab, and there's the option of changing settings when the print doesn't match what we expect.


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## KmH (Dec 22, 2013)

CCericola said:


> The prints from the Canon Pixma fade pretty fast. I have a 5x7 that is color fading of my nephew my sister sent me. She has since thrown the Pixma away and bought an Epson.


It's not the printer, it's the type of inks the printer uses.


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## CCericola (Dec 22, 2013)

KmH said:


> CCericola said:
> 
> 
> > The prints from the Canon Pixma fade pretty fast. I have a 5x7 that is color fading of my nephew my sister sent me. She has since thrown the Pixma away and bought an Epson.
> ...



Doesn't matter now. It's in a landfill in Florida


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## tirediron (Dec 22, 2013)

CCericola said:


> Doesn't matter now. It's in a landfill in *Florida*



*Looks at Christina's location*  Wow... when you throw something out, you THROW it out!!!


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## bratkinson (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm only an amateur that gives away prints from my Epson printers. One of the things I and those who have gotten prints have discovered is that the ink used is water soluble. Even 1 raindrop fall on the picture and the colors run.

If I were to want professional grade prints, I'd definitely opt for a printer that uses 'high grade' ($$$) non-water based inks. As such, I have doubts about 'low cost' printers claiming ultra high quality. 

As KmH mentioned above, the cost of the ink can be a major expense. Even my $175 Epson R580 printers cost about $85 for a set of 6 color ink cartridges. Fortunately, I've found ebay sellers with genuine Epson cartridges for $40-50 for a full set. Then I go to Staples and pick up a couple of the 2 colors I use most. I've tried 'compatible' and 'remanufactured' cartridges and they refuse to recognize almost 2/3 of them! And, of course, I almost ALWAYS run out of spare <whatever> color when I'm in the middle of printing 30-40 pictures (or CDs) at 2AM!! So I try to keep at least 2 of each color on hand, but still get 'stuck' occasionally. Fortunately, I have 2 R580 printers, so I still have one to 'finish the job'.

Edit: One more thing...be sure to calibrate your monitor AND the printer(s)!  In addition to the 2 Epsons, I have an HP printer which has slightly different renderings of the same photograph as my printers are not yet calibrated.


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## KmH (Dec 23, 2013)

Yep, we never even got to discussing calibrating and profiling the devices involved in editing and printing the photos.

While a computer display can be calibrated using a colorimeter, profiling a printer requires a more expensive spectrometer.
Fortunately a spectrophotometer can also calibrate computer displays, scanners, and projectors so you only need 1 device.
Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

Many professional image editors and print labs recommend - X-Rite CMUNPH ColorMunki Photo


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## Snapitjack (Dec 24, 2013)

Epson Stylus NX430 is what I use. Not a pro printer but less than $100.00 (I've seen them as low as $50.00). Great prints with quality photo paper. No fading, yet. Ink is reasonable. To be honest I was very surprised at how good my prints look.

I calibrated my printer and monitor with my ColorMunki Photo and it seems spot on. The only difference in the print as opposed to the monitor is that the printed photo is a little less brilliant. After all the print isn't backlit like the monitor.


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