Out of printer ink AGAIN: I am considering sending my photos "out" to be printed. My HP Photosmart seems to devour the ink and is not cost effective at all. I was wondering if anyone...

taj334 Loc: Long Island

I am considering sending my photos "out" to be printed. My HP Photosmart seems to devour the ink and is not cost effective at all. I was wondering if anyone here had any great places they use or are they all pretty much the same (Walgreens, Costco, etc.). Or, if there is another alternative. I wouldn't be printing anything too big (5x7, 4x6 mostly). Most of my pictures are taken with an SX50 and edited on PSE-13 or Photos for Mac.

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

Just curious, how many redos per pic are you doing?

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

You might try using the Search tool at the top of this page to look for reliable sources of "printer ink cartridges". See also the special UHH forum section on printing and color printers: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-120-1.html

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

I have had HP printers--ink hogs and nothing but trouble. I switched to a Brother--easy on ink and no problems. In my opinion, HP is living on a past reputation rather than on its quality.

Rob Almeda Loc: Gaithersburg, Maryland

Costco has a good quality prints for less.

taj334 wrote:

I am considering sending my photos "out" to be printed. My HP Photosmart seems to devour the ink and is not cost effective at all. I was wondering if anyone here had any great places they use or are they all pretty much the same (Walgreens, Costco, etc.). Or, if there is another alternative. I wouldn't be printing anything too big (5x7, 4x6 mostly). Most of my pictures are taken with an SX50 and edited on PSE-13 or Photos for Mac.

taj334 Loc: Long Island

big-guy wrote:

Just curious, how many redos per pic are you doing?

Mostly I'll be doing single prints. Once in awhile it's nice to have a hard copy of something I've worked on.

taj334 Loc: Long Island

Rob Almeda wrote:

Costco has a good quality prints for less.

Thanks Rob. Will definitely consider them.

taj334 Loc: Long Island

jaymatt wrote:

I have had HP printers--ink hogs and nothing but trouble. I switched to a Brother--easy on ink and no problems. In my opinion, HP is living on a past reputation rather than on its quality.

Thanks for your opinion jaymatt. It's definitely a guzzler. Will look into Brother. Sometimes it's nice to get a quick result to see if what you see is what you get.

taj334 Loc: Long Island

rjaywallace wrote:

You might try using the Search tool at the top of this page to look for reliable sources of "printer ink cartridges". See also the special UHH forum section on printing and color printers: http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-120-1.html

Thanks rjaywallace. I thought the hog would have a special forum for this. Guess I missed it. Will definitely look into it. Thank you for your guidance.

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

taj334 wrote:

I am considering sending my photos "out" to be printed. My HP Photosmart seems to devour the ink and is not cost effective at all. I was wondering if anyone here had any great places they use or are they all pretty much the same (Walgreens, Costco, etc.). Or, if there is another alternative. I wouldn't be printing anything too big (5x7, 4x6 mostly). Most of my pictures are taken with an SX50 and edited on PSE-13 or Photos for Mac.

As has been stated in another post, HP printers are not in my consideration any longer. I've had 4-5 of them and they were all ink hogs and the ink was expensive. Plus, they were unreliable. About 4 years ago, I switched to an Epson. Absolutely the best thing I ever did. (I would also consider a Canon printer.) The ink cartridges (from Epson) are about $25 each and there are 4 of them. I buy about 6 cartridges a year.

In fairness, I don't print all of my photos, and if I'm gonna frame/hang a photo, I send it out to print (at AdoramaPix) as they are usually larger than 8X10. Usually, I'm printing a 4x6 or a 5x7, and then only for friends/family.

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

Last I heard Costco was doing (almost instant) 4x6 prints for $.17. Calibrate your monitor by having some cheap prints made and adjust your monitor accordingly. I gave up trying to print my own years ago.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

taj334 wrote:

I am considering sending my photos "out" to be printed. My HP Photosmart seems to devour the ink and is not cost effective at all. I was wondering if anyone here had any great places they use or are they all pretty much the same (Walgreens, Costco, etc.). Or, if there is another alternative. I wouldn't be printing anything too big (5x7, 4x6 mostly). Most of my pictures are taken with an SX50 and edited on PSE-13 or Photos for Mac.

I use Ink Farm. Less than 1/2 the price than Canon Ink. That's about a $40 savings. I am working on my 5th set of inks. I figure that they have paid for themselves, in that if the printer quits the $200 savings just paid for a new printer. So as far as I am concerned I am playing with house money.

jmcgloth Loc: Ocean Park, WA

taj334 wrote:

I am considering sending my photos "out" to be printed. My HP Photosmart seems to devour the ink and is not cost effective at all. I was wondering if anyone here had any great places they use or are they all pretty much the same (Walgreens, Costco, etc.). Or, if there is another alternative. I wouldn't be printing anything too big (5x7, 4x6 mostly). Most of my pictures are taken with an SX50 and edited on PSE-13 or Photos for Mac.

Mpix has some great prices on small photos and their service is excellent.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Taj, The last thing you might plan on doing is switching printers, but you've been hearing from others who have switched away from HP. I was given a large format HP printer from a friend, and I gave it away to a local university. It had major problems.

For me, I love my Canon, and have been using Canon since 1998. Relative to the ink, if you decide to go that route, send me an PM (think that's what they are called, or is it IM?) and I can tell you how I typically pay about $5.95 for original Canon ink. I've been burned by third party ink, so original is the only way that I go, especially since we don't have to pay retail price.

By the way, in fairness to HP, I think that make amazing laser B&W printers.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

The internet often throws up offers on photo printing. I would select some very different shots ie landscape, single flower, water etc to give you a fair RGB selection. Then send off the same images to the 3 or 4 who have a deal or promotion on. Then see how different each processor produces the same image. If you keep that in mind you could batch your shots to the one that best matches how you like the finished article. By the way, the difference can be quite marked.
have fun