Clapperboard

Good photo printing paper suppliers can supply a profile to suit the paper and particular printers. Really good suppliers will create a profile for you/your printer from a sample print you send them. I have my own printer profiling equipment along with my screen profile kit.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Generally, small prints are cheaper from labs. Big prints are more expensive from labs, IF you have your own printer zeroed in (using the proper printer/paper/ink profile combinations AND working on a fully calibrated and profiled monitor AND using printer profiles as proofing profiles in Lr/Ps or whatever other software will let you do that).

If you use a lab, get their printer profiles for every paper you're going to order prints to be made on.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Yes I print my own..
Yes I use third party inks..
NO do not use a 3in1 ink cartridge and get one with an additional seporate large black, for text use.
Do you want A3 size(which will do A4 or less) or continuous paper roll ? there are lots of choice

There are differences between 'print shops'.....Printing at home means you can 'tweek' your image so that it prints 'as you want it' by doing a 'pre-run' and alter in PP. rather than worrying about paper profiles and calibration.

Go for it and have fun

Heather Iles Loc: UK, Somerset

Clapperboard, can you please share with us what is the name of your printer profiling equipment as I didn't know that there was such a thing to purchase.

Thanks.

Clapperboard

Heather Iles No problem. It's the Datacolor SpyderPRINT, it is made by Datacolor, the same people that make the screen profilers. Mine is actually quite old but still 'up to date' because it is still compatible with the latest Datacolor software.
http://www.datacolor.com/photography-design/product-overview/spyderprint/

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Both X-RITE and DataColor make calibration systems for monitors, projectors, TVs, and printers. Go to their websites for full details.

www.xrite.com and www.datacolor.com

Clapperboard

I haven't seen any reference to the quality of the image. Those that don't print their images may well be fooling themselves as to their quality. Images displayed on screen are shown on a low resolution device. Thus the image could be very good quality. Or it may look good but actually not be as good as it appears. Printers are high resolution devices. Hence an image that may look good on screen may not prove to be so good when printed. For me there is no substitute, I only truly consider the image to be a photograph when I have a superb quality print. And I want the satisfaction of producing the print. Of course when I show the print I stress that I have to take all the blame, as I have carried out all the stages of production.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I worked in a professional lab for 33 years. I swear to you, this is a common misperception.

First, there are many new screens with over 240 PPI resolution. According to Kodak research, that is about the limit of human detail perception in an 8x10 Print, viewed at 12.8 inches, its diagonal dimension.

Second, a 4K, 3840x2160 pixel image can be enlarged to movie theater screen size (and is daily in tens of thousands of venues). If you view it from greater than half its diagonal dimension, you’ll see all the details your eyes can detect. Any more data is wasted... unless you get so close you can’t see the whole image.

Spiney Loc: Reading, PA

I have both the Pro-100 & the Pro-10 Canon Printers. Bought both from Craigslist new on the box 📦 with Ink & Paper. Both came with full ink sets. I use the Precision Color inksets and chip resetter on the Pro-100 with no issues. Savings are great and PC works very hard to provide The Most Compatible ink sets. Constantly upgrading & updating. He also provides ICC profiles. For now I use Canon inks for the Pro-10 for longevity. I would recommend the Pro-10 since the pigment inks are much more permanent if you want to sell your prints. If you use the Pro-100 you can spray them, or under glass or in an album they'll probably outlast us & anyone you sell to. The Pro-10 is better at B&W prints because it has more shades of Black & Grey. For ultimate B&W look for the Pro-1. I've seen them New on EBay for $475.00 They have 12 ink cartridges and I think 4 are for B&W maybe 5.

For regular office type printing we use B&W Lasers. The cost per print is the cheapest and very fast output.

I've personally had bad luck buying compatible inks for both HP & a Kodak AIO printer off eBay. Every time the quality has been poor and the number of pages has not been as much as the factory cartridges.

One note on the Canon Printers even though I use Genuine Canon cartridges on my Pro-100 when I refill them the Canon site does not recognize them as Canon carts. It then prohibits you from downloading Canon software and using their Image Garden software which provides templates for Greeting Cards, Calendars, Booklets, Contact Sheets etc. I found that out the hard way. Luckily my pro-10 is 100% Factory so I can log on with that printer and download those options.

Spiney Loc: Reading, PA

I forgot to mention whether you go with Canon or Epson I highly recommend looking a time the YouTube channel of Jose Rodriguez AKA JToolman He also has a Facebook group for people who do fine art & photo inkjet printing. He is extremely knowledgeable and helpful with the care & feeding of Photo inkjet printers.

Clapperboard

burkphoto Strange then that I've actually seen what I described.

Heather Iles Loc: UK, Somerset

Thank you burkphoto for taking the time to respond. I have followed your participation on here so I am aware of you and your knowledge.

I am not a technical person and am trying to get to grips with the equipment that will help me produce a good print. I bought the X-Rite i1 Display Pro a couple of months ago and am pleased with it, but I assume that it is for calibrating the monitor only. Am I correct in thinking that? From this thread I assumed that there was a calibrator specifically for paper profiling and if that is so, does X-Rite does one?

Thanks.

From a very puzzled Heather

Heather Iles Loc: UK, Somerset

Clapperboard, some of us have said why we purchased a particular printer and in my case an Epson SureColour P600 as it produces good quality prints. I also explained that I belong to a photographic club and enter competitions and it has the extra black inks which produces good B&W photographs too which I sometimes print. From what is mentioned here Cannon does a similar printer so if I was the OP it would be a choice between Epson and Cannon. I only use genuine Epson Inks, but the inks for the P600 are slightly larger so depending on how much you use the printer it is more favourable. Of course there is a later model which is more expensive, but the reviews for the P600 was favourable. Of course I also have the X-rite i1 Display Pro for calibrating the monitor and agree that photography is an expensive hobby, but if you want to compete with those who photos are of good quality that is what is involved. It all comes down to what you want to spend. You can get away with a reasonably good camera, but it is the printing that lets people down and I have seen some awful prints at my club and have hinted that it is either their printer, the ink, the paper that is not profiled or the quality of the paper or their monitor that needs calibrating, but usually it falls on death ears. It all comes down to money, so it is best we get as much information before hand, so that we don't make an expensive mistake.

Heather Iles Loc: UK, Somerset

Thanks for responding and having taken a look at the Datacolour paper profiling it is an expensive piece of equipment and unfortunately not in my price range at the moment. As I have an Epson printer and use their paper, together with my X-Rite i1 Display Pro Calibrator (which was about £186 or there about), hopefully my prints wouldn't be too far out. Gosh, this is an expensive hobby. It is just as well that I am retired and no longer have a mortgage.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

It’s been 15 years, but I once bought a kit from X-RITE that had both a display calibrator and a rig for reading step wedges and color patches from test prints, along with all the software. It was very expensive, but it worked well. It did take us several days to learn it and get our full system calibrated and profiled.