Photo Lab vs Colour Printers

[Julian]

Am thinking of developing my photos but wondering interms of quality and costing, if it would be better buying a Colour Printer ( Canon/Epson ) and print it myself or sent it to a Photo Lab and get it develop.

Inputs anyone ????

 

[phrozact]

I'd go with developing online. Now printing digital photos at photolabs are quite cheap and hassle free with top-notch quality and good paper. Photo printing at home is still too expensive I feel considering the cost of the photo ink cartridges and photo paper.

 

[dampeoples]

I agree with the previous poster to an extent. Why not have the best of both worlds, though? Get yourself a middle-line photo printer, and print the photo's you gotta have right now, and order the rest? With an app like iPhoto (not sure of a Windows example), you can order prints from within the app itself, making uploading prints easier.

 

[nillujube]

I rarely print at home with the colour printer for pics. quality is good with the labs, no need to consider at all!

 

[Julian]

Any good Photo Lab to recommend for Digital print out ?

( interms of print quality )

 

[xieyuqi]

It makes sense to print at shops than home. It is cheaper and better in quality.

I find most nighbourhood photo labs do a good job. Many of them have digital printer already and just as cheap. I dun find a need to travel to town just to print. too much of a hassle.

anyway there are plenty of threads around recommending printers.

 

[Flare]

I think all these goes to how much you print. If you are going to print a lot, use the lab, i can't say what's the price of printing at the lab now thou.

For me, I print less than 5% of my shots, and sometimes, I need the prints for my work or need to produce reports and stuff with images/photos, my printer comes in handy. i.e. The printer isn't just for photos.

So i guess it depends on your needs, and do keep in mind that if you purchase a printer, some has problems of inkhead clotting up if left unuse for sometime (some more than others), thus it could be a hassel. ;(

So, it's up to your personal need. Think about it?