GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Here’s your title:
“Looking for a recommendation for an excellent home photo printer. ”

From the rules: - Try to use descriptive titles when creating new topics. Instead of something like "Please Help", write a title that briefly states the nature of your post..
Welcome to the ‘hog!

Don, the 2nd son Loc: Crowded Florida

I have printed my own in the past but when calculating the cost ( mainly of ink) it became obvious to ME that sending the file to a commercial printing service was actually far more economical. That works best for me. Just my opinion.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Although the Canon Pro-100 does not print 20x24, it is a nice printer for a nice price, often with huge rebates.

Here you go. You're not going to find a better printer for $160.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/893738-REG/Canon_6228b002_Pixma_Pro_100_Photo_Inkjet.html

Rickyb

Epson P800 (880) no longer made. Can get 800 with Epson rebate. Two problems with 800. One is cost of ink which keeps going up, 2nd is doing matt paper. Changes to mat ink and is waste. Another is front feed for heavy paper. When heads go so does printer.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

If you are doing show prints please, before you buy anything, call Sue at Campus Camera in Kent Ohio. You can email your shots to her and they do send prints. She is excellent and you can have alterations done without issue. She does all of my show prints and has done work for many photographers who show and sell their prints. It is nice being able to communicate directly with the person doing your prints.
http://www.campuscamera.net/

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

Welcome to the Hog Gary, good luck in your search.

1grumpybear

Canon PRO-1000 have had it over a year and 2 PRO-1s for over 5 years. Something that is more important than a high end printer is profiling your printer and monitor. I learned this lesson many years ago when I bought a Canon iPF-8100 and could not print what the computer screen was showing and blaming the printer. I called the company that sold me the printer and told them I was not happy with the printer. They sent out a tech guy and he profiled my monitor and one of the papers I was using. The difference was night and day. I then bought a X-rite i1 profiling system. I profile the monitors every 2 weeks. With the printer I profile the paper and put the print out on the shelf and six months later I rescan to see if there where any changes.

Silverman Loc: Michigan

In this case, would you want to consider having a outside Professional Photo processing company to produce your 16x20 and 20x24 prints. Considering the price of a qualified Printer and the required ink. I have read other opinions that it is cheaper to use a Professional Photo Printing Co. I personally have no experience in this area of Photography Printing.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Skip the home printing and use a professional service. Much less expensive in the long run and better quality.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

To make a 20" wide print (20x24), you'll need to step up to a 24" wide printer. Photo quality printers that size are neither "affordable" to buy nor "economical" to run. They also take up considerable floor space, since you mention that's a concern. Look at the Epson P6000, P7000 and the Canon Pro-2000. They start around $2000 for the printer and use 9 to 12 inks, which will cost a minimum of about $700 for a full set.

Several have suggest out-sourcing your printing and that's a good idea.

If you establish a working relationship with the staff at a local printing service (definitely possible with a pro lab... might be possible at Costco, Staples, Walmart, etc. too), you should be able to supply them with a smaller print demonstrating how you'd like the larger, finished print to look, as closely as they can get it. To produce your smaller guide prints, you could use a smaller format printer.

This can be much more affordable to buy and operate. For example Canon Pro-100, 13" wide to do up to 13x19 print, 8-colors (dye based), currently costs $140 after mail-in rebate and a full inkset for it typically costs around $115. 13" wide printers are still pretty large. The Pro-100 weighs approx. 40 lb. and about 28" long, 14" high (with the top paper feed set up, not counting larger size paper that extends past), and requires about 28" space when the print catch tray is open (can be folded when not in use to save about 10"). It also has an optional straight through feed slot in the back, for use with heavier paper stocks, which would require some additional space (depending upon the size of paper being fed). It's not small, by any means.... but this is fairly typical of printers of this width. Usually the Pro-100 comes with a set of starter inks and a pack of 50 sheets of 13x19 photo paper. AFAIK, there is no option to use it with roll paper.... only with cut sheet.

Incidentally, if you happen to be a Canon shooter and have need for a new camera, there are often "bundles" where the Pro-100 can be gotten for even less. After a mail in rebate, I basically got mine for free when I bought a DSLR a couple years ago. I was in the market for both the camera and a new printer anyway, so that worked out well for me.

coolhanduke Loc: Redondo Beach, CA

Unless you plan on doing a lot of printing I would recommend you just partner with a local lab or an on-line service.

Consider the cost of ownership. Not the cost of the printer.

Stocking paper types. Or maybe you will just use one type of paper.

Ink expense. If your going to be doing photo quality printing you are going to need to use the manufacturers inks more-than-likely. These are EXPENSIVE. If you do not use their inks they will not support the printer if you have issues.

Also, you need to keep the printer running to keep the heads from clogging. Or, do a lot of head cleanings which suck up the EXPENSIVE inks.

If the heads get clogged and you need to replace them, they will more than likely cost more than the printer itself.

I owned a photo lab for almost 20 years and currently still have an Epson 7900 printer, which takes up a lot of space and costs a lot to maintain with inks, so I speak with experience.

So give it some thought and do some research.

rfmaude41 Loc: Lancaster, Texas (DFW area)

Nope: 13" X 19"

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Here's another vote for the P800 Epson. It is excellent.

Of course, another route would be to find an excellent professional color lab and build a relationship with them. If you only make a few prints a month, that could be less costly and less trouble. Photo printers really need frequent use to stay in top condition.

Be sure you have a decent desktop monitor and calibrate it with a hardware/software monitor calibration kit from X-Rite or Datacolor before doing serious printing. Set the brightness to 120 cd/m^2 or less... If prints still come out dark, darken the monitor to between 80 and 105 cd/m^2.

ronz Loc: Florida

I believe I saw FL (Florida) in your name. If so there are some great photo labs here. If you contact a couple you will find the prices are very good and the quality is usually excellent. Bay photo labs are good and Reedy labs would be two places to start....

Bill_de Loc: US

The Epson P800 which replaced the 3880 will do 17 x 22 or 17 x more with an optional roll holder.

There are almost always rebates. Right now the $300 mail in rebate brings it down to $900. It does a very nice job.

A full set of ink runs around $500, but they are good sized cartridges.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?InitialSearch=yes&N=0&Ntt=Epson+P800+Rebate&c3api=4680%2C111338530979%2Cepson+p800+rebate%2Ce&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInZuTkKLx3wIVgYzICh0tpgXuEAAYAiAAEgK0p_D_BwE

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