Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

The $400.00 range printers have expensive ink cost (Small cartridge size and about $20.00 @) In my mind I like the Epson 430 the best, I now use a more expensive Canon one with larger cartridges.

EDF Loc: Arvada Colorado

I print many of my own images at home with my Epson Pro 100 wireless printer. Yes, ink is expensive, but if your a little bit handy you can refill your cartridges yourself using refill ink from precision colors. http://www.precisioncolors.com. It's really not that hard to do and can save you a lot of money. However if i have a lot of printing to do that does not need to be of the very best quality, then Costco is not a bad choice at all.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

This is the best answer I have ever seen on this issue, and also something that I have accepted intuitively as a given.

JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore

First, all in one "anythings"--SUV with a pick up bed, motor sailboats--not auxiliaries, printers, even cameras--are compromises designed to do most things you would expect, but none of them as well as something designed for a primary use.

Second, They are designed to be cheap, sell at low price points, have lower or less quality components and less versatility. When one part of the system fails, generally the entire system is 'toast' and has to be replaced. Like your computer hard drive, it's not a question of 'will it fail' but 'when'.

rmm0605 Loc: Atlanta GA

Good photo printers are expensive. Maximum size of print is a determiner of the size and cost of the printer. I have an Epson Purecolor 800 which can print up to 17" by 22." The inks are expensive, although they do last a while if you are making 11x14 or lesser size.You are correct that, with your own printer, you can control the entire process of printing, whereas when you turn a picture over to someone else to be printed, you are relying on them to make all the micro-decisions that affect print quality. There are many printers cheaper than mine that are also good.

aphelps Loc: Central Ohio

It's all about the cost of the product. An all-in-one has to make quality and durability concessions on all functions to be competitive. Manufacturers of photo-only printers do not face those kinds of tradeoffs and can devote more resources and attention to making a better printer for a single function. Think of an all purpose tool compared to a single purpose tool.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

The reasons you point out for owning your own printer are all valid. In the long run, it's probably cheaper to just have your prints made at a lab but if you own the printer you have much more control. You can choose the paper, the size of the paper and the type of paper, you can print when you like and have instant gratification, and if your print doesn't come out the way you like you can see what went wrong and make necessary changes so that the next print comes out better.

In my opinion the best printer for the money is Canons Pixma Pro-100. You can buy one from most places for $400 and get a mail in rebate that brings the price down to $150. They use 8 different color inks, and print up to 13x19 paper and are wireless.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

As others have pointed out, the size of the prints is one determiner of the cost of the printer. And the larger printers come with larger ink cartridges which are more economical when you figure price per mL, but they come at a higher price. Choose between Canon and Epson, they make the best printers and the most advanced technologically.

To see information on printers, go to the manufacturers' websites. To compare printers, go to a site such as B&H with a compare function and see them side-by-side. Red River Paper has done some excellent reviews and comparisons as well, which you can read on their website. I recommend checking them out.

Decide what size you want to be able to print and shop accordingly. Right now I can only print 8x10 at home, so I get larger images printed by Adoramapix. But having the printer [and a calibrated monitor], I can do "test prints" to make sure there is not something I have missed, or something that will make the print look better. One common thing I have needed to correct was a slight blue color cast, which can be hard to see consistently on the monitor. Another is brightness - if your monitor is too bright, the picture will look great, but will print darker.

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

Highest quality, lowest cost printing for me is the Canon pro-100. I think B&H has the current discount available - purchase at $379 and has a $250 dollar rebate. Quality is unmatched by anything else on the market. Non-Canon ink is also available at around $6 per cartridge (rather than $16 from for Canon brand replacements). The third party cartridges from LD Products (https://www.ldproducts.com/) are high quality and I can't tell any difference at all from the Canon Cartridges. Seems the discount is rotated between major retailers and sometimes includes 19x13 paper for free.

I purchased from Adorama in the spring and got the discount along with 50 sheets of 19x13 paper free. Also found Costco has good quality glossy photo paper for around $20 for 100 sheets. Third party ink and papers look good so far - watching for fading colors and so far no fading occurred.

tommystrat Loc: Bigfork, Montana

I purchased a Canon Pro-100 on a sweet deal - $395 with a $250 rebate! Came with a full set of starter ink cartridges, and after a bit of researching on YouTube I can now easily and satisfactorily refill my own ink cartridges with replacement inks from Precision Colors. If you are looking for an inexpensive and quality alternative to high-end photo labs or going the Costco or Walmart route, I can highly recommend this product. If you are looking for the highest quality and resolution you can obtain to sell or market your work, a pro photo lab is usually the best choice. But for printing your wall-hanger photos and displaying them in your home or providing them to friends, the Pro-100 is a great little printer. Enjoy!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I always print my own, I have only twice used a lab for printing and I never liked the results! At least when printing your own, you know you'll get good prints and its way cheaper as well, in short, can't beat that. I've been using the Epson 3880 Pro for many years and I'm happy with it!

Clapperboard

I have been printing, and printing my own images, including my wife's wedding photography images, for years.
Several things to get to as basics. DON'T buy an HP printer for your images. Photo prints use much more ink than text and general prints. HP printers give excellent results but the print head is mounted on the cartridge. Thus replacement cartridges are fiercely expensive. Sadly, avoid HP printers for photos.
Buy a printer that has a supplier of GOOD QUALITY RELIABLE alternative COLOUR MATCHED inks so you're not forced to pay over the odds for original manufacturers ink, but the replacement inks will work just the same as the OEM. There are probably others but Marrutts is one supplier I can recommend. I am in the UK so I use Marrutts in the UK but no doubt Marrutts USA are just as reliable.
Epson make superb printers. If you buy an Epson printer be sure to check that ALL the facilities are working before the warranty expires. I have (with other printers) an Epson SC P800. It gives fabulous results but from new the roll feed DID NOT WORK. I hadn't tried it until the printer was almost out of warranty. Although it did not work from new Epson would not have done anything to fix it or help me if it was out of warranty. In fact even with it still in warranty they treat the customer as if it is a great favour they are giving you for them to fix it. No chance of an apology for supplying a faulty printer.
I love the results the printer gives me but Epson are awful to deal with if you have a problem. I'm so glad I am not having to keep buying ink from them. Nothing wrong with their ink but it would irk me to pay their prices after the treatment when the printer did not work properly.
If you want to make prints to frame and display on your walls you need to print with Pigment Ink so you need a printer that uses pigment inks. Dye inks will fade and discolour when exposed to the UV in normal daylight/sunlight when constantly on display.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

Again, The Epson 1400 is wireless connection and works of 4 of out computers, it is in the $400.00 range does 4X5 to 13X19. You can get on the Epson web site and get sails on the ink. They ship with no tax and I got them in 2 days.

Clapperboard

speters Using the Epson 3880. I haven't used the 3880 but I gather it is a superb printer.

jeryh Loc: Oxfordshire UK

Whatever you do, do not get an all in one ! To print photos you buy a photo printer !! If you knew the number of people who have complained to me about poor images= `' have you got a proper printer? "Oh no. I use an all in one !!!! horses for courses , that says it all.