cheaper to print pictures at home or elsewhere?

[xaeniac]

I need a printer for mainly printing documents. I do like to print photos, but think the cost of the ink is a concern. I think it may just be cheaper to print the photos at a photoshop, so I was starting to lean towards a laserjet. What are your thoughts?

 

[CalvinHobbes]

It may cost anywhere from 0.20 to 0.30 per picture to print at home. You can usually find better deals online or during specials at Target, Costco, Walmart, etc. The nice part about having the printer at home is the instant prints. I have the Epson picture mate deluxe.

 

[Rock Hydra]

I find it a lot easier, and more cost effective to go to Wal Mart with my SD card and print out my picures at the Kodak Machine for $.28 for a 4x6 or whatever size it is. My printer blows for pictures.

 

[essasin]

Cheaper elsewhere. I just go to costco.

 

[mrchan]

If you print a lot of pictures at a time, take it to costco/target/walmart/etc, if you only print a couple at a time, printing them at home is much more convienent and worth the (small) added cost.

 

[dullard]

Definately cheaper to print them elsewhere. Inkjet ink typically runs $1 for a full page of color, then you have to buy the special paper, and the ink often fades after a year or so. True, you'll get a few prints per page, but you are still talking about a hefty 30+ cents per inferior print.

If you print in bulk, you can get it for a third that cost and have it mailed to you. Or for smaller batches at almost half that cost, you can pick it up yourself. Last I looked Walgreens gives you your first 20 prints for free. And you can just keep signing up under different names.

 

[zanieladie]

My local Wal-Mart does the digital prints in an hour for 22 cents each. I think if you aren't in a hurry, they are 19 cents for 2-day printing.

My mother was thinking about buying a printer in order to print the pics but I kinda figured that it is cheaper to take them elsewhere. Thanks to everyone's messages, I'll encourage her to save her money.

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Depends on what you're doing. If you're just printing pics from a camera, go to Costco or walmart. If you're editing and making adjustments, it's helpful to see right away the results. In which case, get a decent photo printer. I do a lot of compositing between Photoshop and TrueSpace, and I like to not have to wait for the output.

 

[Vincent]

Over the long run laser printers are way cheaper for documents.

 

[Ika]

Anyone use Snapfish? they say prints are 12 cents a pic...

http://www.snapfish.com/helpordering/t_=0

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Aflac
Anyone use Snapfish? they say prints are 12 cents a pic...

http://www.snapfish.com/helpordering/t_=0

My friends swear by that company. Of course, you need to print in bulk to overcome the added shipping prices.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I've been doing mine at Costco. It's $0.15 (plus tax) per 4x6 print.

It takes them an hour, but I know you can also upload your prints from home/office and just make one trip...