Affordable Photo-printing.........

[catso]

OK, so since having a digital camera, I have taken 1000's of pictures but printed very few for which there are 2 reasons;

1. Although I have a good enough quality A4 size printer it is a real hassle to use it for photos and the time involved plus paper & ink costs mean it's not really a viable option for anything other than just a few pictures.
2. I can't be ar5ed to put said photos on to disk to take to or send to a printing establishment.

So I'd like to be able to print my own, good quality pics without spending ages preparing and watching/monitoring the progress and without it costing an arm and a leg to do, I don't mind spending good money on a printer as long as the running costs are low and I can 'load' it up with the pics and then leave it to do it's business.

Any advice on what type of printer to get?

[koolkul]

Take a look at this thread for starters - the others will be along in a minute with other suggestions I'm sure.

www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=109&t=230201

[matrs]

Epson Stylus Photo R340 - cost around £130

[ehasler]

How about an on-line printing place like Photobox or Pixum? Quality will almost certainly be better than the small cheap inkjets, and price per print will be less too.

[poah]

buy them on line IMHO. particularly for things like 7x5 they are cheaper to do online

[UKBob]

poah said:

buy them on line IMHO. particularly for things like 7x5 they are cheaper to do online

You also get the added benefit that their £10k fuji machine will print photos which will more likely stand the test of time.

I bought a very expensive photo printer (canon) and paper which said it was guaranteed not to fade for 100 years (canon) and genuine ink (canon) and left a photo on my desk for a month.

1 month of sun tanning itself later, and it was as faded as a couple of family photos which have been sitting on my mothers windowsill for 20 years.

Never again. I'll get my prints done professionally (probably still taking a gamble, though) but canon ink/paper/printer failed to do what it said on the tin.

Just my 2 penneth, praps worth thinking about?

[catso]

So any home printer will not do pics as good or cheap as an on-line service? what sort of prices do they charge and what is a good one to use? this may be a better option especially if all home printers fade (I know mine does), what sort of turn-round do they do?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Snapfish & Pixum are a great alternative to diy. You really can't do it so cheap or well!