Print from home or use a lab

[MikeB]

Hello everyone, I was contemplating purchasing an Epson r2880. I am looking for consensus on wheather to print from home or use a lab. I have printed very few up to this point but have been getting more requests for hardcopy. If you print from home what are you using? Am I limiting my self to the 13" width of the printer - do clients want wider formats? Thanks

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by MikeB

Hello everyone, I was contemplating purchasing an Epson r2880. I am looking for consensus on wheather to print from home or use a lab. I have printed very few up to this point but have been getting more requests for hardcopy. If you print from home what are you using? Am I limiting my self to the 13" width of the printer - do clients want wider formats? Thanks

Mike, when all things are considered and you amortize the costs of the printer$$$, and the inks and paper involved, you'll probably find it less expensive over time to have them done at a lab. Here are some examples of what I'm talking about:
Our main lab prices for an 8x10 = $2.35
11x14 = $4.35
Costco for quick turn around, and their quality is pretty darn good = under $2.00 and $3.00 for those sizes (prices possibly may vary from location to location) and they will do larger sizes beyond the capability of the Epson

Now, I'm not saying it's not nice to have a printer like the Epson, and they do produce beautiful prints. If money is no object I'd still say get it for just the convenience it offers...but for volume orders I still think the labs are the way to go.

[douglas]

I would agree with AUTO FOCUS
The printer does produce nice prints. As I print only a few pictures I find it so easy to put them on a memory stick and go to our nearest Blacks. There I can print different sizes papers and etc for a dollar or two a print.

[Dodge]

If you can find one, you can pick up an Epson Stylus Color 1150 for about £100 second hand. Today it's still a first class a3 printer but they are becoming hard to track down unfortunately. We've compared the results from ours with lab prints and the only difference was slight colour variations, but nothing to a point where you could say one image was superior to the other. It's a cheeper option to find out if you really benefit by having one at your disposal though.