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How many still print?

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Prints from a photo lab have a very long life. A digital file has a short finite life considering how much of the technology goes out of date in a relatively short period of time.

I stopped doing my own in-house printing as the labs use photo paper that is developed and so has greater durability than inkjet ink sprayed on a piece of paper. The photo lab also does the mounting for larger prints so I do not need to provide space for a large mounting press or need to stock large mounting materials, including archival board, masonite, etc. and the prints arriving already matted makes it much easier to handle them and frame them without damaging them in the process.
 
calson said:
Prints from a photo lab have a very long life. A digital file has a short finite life considering how much of the technology goes out of date in a relatively short period of time.

I stopped doing my own in-house printing as the labs use photo paper that is developed and so has greater durability than inkjet ink sprayed on a piece of paper.
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For many inkjet inksets and substrates, and many photochemical materials, permanence is greater with the sprayed-on inks.

If you're talking about durability in the sense of resistance to scuffing, that also depends on the particulars, although some inkjet prints can be quite delicate.

Jim
 
I still print. It's all part of the photography process as far as I'm concerned. I go up to A4 on my inkjet and get some A3+ ones done by a proper print facility. They always look better than on screen.
 
A pigment print from a good inkjet printer, when printed on fine art paper, will last way longer than any lab print. Well over 100 years, as opposed to way less than 100 years for the lab version...
 
Not only do I still print digitally (on an in-house Epson 24" 7880 upto 24x36"), but I also still do wet RA-4 and silver gelatin printing. I sell my prints.

MFL
 
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Gudda said:
I once printed two pictures from Walmart. The ones that look beautiful on my monitor but print came out too dark and with wrong aspect ratio. :-(

How you guys print?
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I have a calibrated wide gamut monitor. I've had several done at Costco and they look very good. One thing to make sure to do is to deselect whatever auto enhance, or whatever they call it, feature they may try to foist on you.

I did try a Walmart once just because, and they were not good.
 
I enjoyed printing for a while even though it was a pain in the .......:-). I was printing 40 x 60 on different media. And it was enjoyable for about 2 1/2 years . I sold my printer in July 2017 because the warranty was expiring and I had just finished a repair. If it wasn’t under warranty it would’ve cost me at least $1500. The demand for prints diminished considerably. Because of my fear of needing another repair I decided to forgo any further printing. I sold the printer and much happier with somebody else printing things up for me . Unless you print a lot not worth it to me
 
I really should print more, even if it's just 5x7s in an album, which I think are so much more enjoyable for people to look at, especially years and years later (bonus points for putting a small bit of text for each photo).

I used to print a bit more a few years back and since I'm into wood-working, I would make my own frames and people absolutely loved them. I even won 2nd place once in a local art contest, then brought the (large) photo back to work and a co-worker paid me $100 on the spot for it :D

I guess I've gotten a little too busy (retiring from the military, starting a new civilian job, etc) to really enjoy it again, but I should make time!
 
Costco does a decent job if they do the prints in-house, but when I need real profession results, I use Adoramapix. There is a slight difference in quality (since paper choices are different and color profiling is probably better), if you needed it. This is for paper prints. I found that when Costco sends out jobs such as metal, canvas, or large prints, their quality isn't good at all, just acceptable (or sometimes near acceptable).

Also, I always resize it to the needed resolution myself (pixel for dpi), in addition to deselect all of the "enhancements" that the printing facility may do.

Yes, a calibrated wide gamut monitor is immensely important to get the print job correct.
 
de2000 said:
Costco does a decent job if they do the prints in-house, but when I need real profession results, I use Adoramapix. There is a slight difference in quality (since paper choices are different and color profiling is probably better), if you needed it. This is for paper prints. I found that when Costco sends out jobs such as metal, canvas, or large prints, their quality isn't good at all, just acceptable (or sometimes near acceptable).

Also, I always resize it to the needed resolution myself (pixel for dpi), in addition to deselect all of the "enhancements" that the printing facility may do.

Yes, a calibrated wide gamut monitor is immensely important to get the print job correct.

--
www.radiantvisual.com
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I'm wondering if different Costcos have different print capability. Mine here will do a 20x30 in-house and it comes out great, though canvas and metal take a few days. I've only done one metal (11x14) but it came out awesome.

I also did one canvas and I was a bit less-impressed with it, though it was okay I guess (especially for the time and cost).
 
de2000 said:
Costco does a decent job if they do the prints in-house, but when I need real profession results, I use Adoramapix. There is a slight difference in quality (since paper choices are different and color profiling is probably better), if you needed it. This is for paper prints. I found that when Costco sends out jobs such as metal, canvas, or large prints, their quality isn't good at all, just acceptable (or sometimes near acceptable).

Also, I always resize it to the needed resolution myself (pixel for dpi), in addition to deselect all of the "enhancements" that the printing facility may do.

Yes, a calibrated wide gamut monitor is immensely important to get the print job correct.
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Yes, I know different Costco's do have differences in quality. I've printed at three different Costco's (in house prints), and they vary slightly in quality. And yes, I use Dry Creek Photo profiles for each Costco.

I just printed 30 8X10 prints from Adoramapix because these were banked prints (and they were expiring). I've also recently printed an 11X14 print from a Costco near me. You can tell the paper difference which made the Adoramapix prints looked better.

Anyway, YMMV. There are enough variations in each situation to make things look more or less appealing to different people. As long as the quality is satisfying to you and/or your clients, then it's good enough.

I wished I had more money to spend on large metal and acrylic prints because they look awesome! Yes, I love prints, in various forms.
 
jl_smith said:
I really should print more, even if it's just 5x7s in an album, which I think are so much more enjoyable for people to look at, especially years and years later (bonus points for putting a small bit of text for each photo).

I used to print a bit more a few years back and since I'm into wood-working, I would make my own frames and people absolutely loved them. I even won 2nd place once in a local art contest, then brought the (large) photo back to work and a co-worker paid me $100 on the spot for it :D

I guess I've gotten a little too busy (retiring from the military, starting a new civilian job, etc) to really enjoy it again, but I should make time!
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I have a short hallway where I have 4... 8x10s that I change after trips or seasons

It keeps my interest in photography alive and is good fodder for social conversations



i-ZVS5wMp-X2.jpg




I tried four metals from an autumn trip and now use them as mountings for experimenting with different prints on different papers.

Rags
 
I picked up a nice Epson 17" wide-format printer when it had 2 rebates.

Since then I have not made a lot of prints, and none for my own walls.

Still, I like to print and I like knowing that the printer is there.

For me, I think the issue is that I do not like that I have to fight so damned hard just to get my printer to output properly. To get the best prints, we're supposed to also shell out money for a monitor calibration device. Additionally, we're supposed to buy or otherwise obtain paper profiles. And then hopefully, all that works. But in the meantime, it requires printing some ugly test print over and over and over again while you lose 10ml of ink across the board, so like $120 for ink and paper just to get the printer to act right.

So I've been using some defaults while I get up the nerve to bother with all this nonsense. I'm really quite surprised that it isn't more automated by now. It's still just such a complete mess just to make a quality print.

So the answer for me then is not right now for myself, but occasionally for gifts.

If I need to print 24" or larger, then of course I would need to outsource that. I thought about getting a mammoth monster printer, but it would end up being so expensive that I doubt it would ever pay for itself. The few walls where I could hang such prints would end up being $1000 prints. I might as well outsource that!
 
I do! It's not done until it's printed, at least for my best shots. I have a Pixma Pro-10 at home that I dearly like, and a good print shop in my state for bigger stuff. I love seeing my prints.
 
ragspix said:
jl_smith said:
I really should print more, even if it's just 5x7s in an album, which I think are so much more enjoyable for people to look at, especially years and years later (bonus points for putting a small bit of text for each photo).

I used to print a bit more a few years back and since I'm into wood-working, I would make my own frames and people absolutely loved them. I even won 2nd place once in a local art contest, then brought the (large) photo back to work and a co-worker paid me $100 on the spot for it :D

I guess I've gotten a little too busy (retiring from the military, starting a new civilian job, etc) to really enjoy it again, but I should make time!
Click to expand...
I have a short hallway where I have 4... 8x10s that I change after trips or seasons

It keeps my interest in photography alive and is good fodder for social conversations

i-ZVS5wMp-X2.jpg


I tried four metals from an autumn trip and now use them as mountings for experimenting with different prints on different papers.

Rags
Click to expand...


Hrm, that's a very cool idea :-) I may have to get a rotation going :0)
 
Gudda said:
I once printed two pictures from Walmart. The ones that look beautiful on my monitor but print came out too dark and with wrong aspect ratio. :-(

How you guys print?
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You could try costco. Its cheaper than printing at home.

If you really want to print at home, you can buy one of those Canon Ultra wide printers from Craigslist. People are always selling those, because of the combo rebates that canon offers with them.

You might also be able to catch some Canon paper on sale from Canon.com. I have found though, its cheaper just to print at Costco.

Here are some links in Northern VA for that Canon printer. All for under $200, there are probably a bunch all over the USA.

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washingtondc.craigslist.org

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washingtondc.craigslist.org

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washingtondc.craigslist.org
 
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My walls are full of prints from 11x14 to 20x30 inches, and I often change out what I have in the frames.

How many other print? I don't know, I would say not nearly enough, but Costco sells a lot of prints so we are not alone.
 
Tony Beach said:
My walls are full of prints from 11x14 to 20x30 inches, and I often change out what I have in the frames.

How many other print? I don't know, I would say not nearly enough, but Costco sells a lot of prints so we are not alone.
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