STARTING OUT- USE MY PRINTER OR GO TO MY LOCAL PRINT SHOP?

[Former_Member]

Hi all! I'm starting to venture into the digital print world.

I'll be making a few art prints (either 5"x7" or 8"x10") and some greeting cards.


My question:

Should I use my printer or go to a local print shop?

I have a (not so fancy) HP Photosmart printer.

Why I can't decide:

Price; Ink is expensive but color prints at the shop are 40 cents.
Quality; Is the quality of the print going to be better at the shop or on my HP printer?

[MilkandCookies]

Nobody can tell you if the quality will be better on your printer or at your local shop, because we can't see how the prints there turn out. but you can!

Why don't you do a test print on both and see for yourself?

[Former_Member]

Great advice. Order a 5x7 print of an image from the shop, and then print a 5x7 print of the SAME image on your printer at home and compare the two. By using the exact same image and the same size, it will be very easy to spot any differences and make an accurate comparison.

We have a lot of customers that have printers at home, but still choose to use us for their high end prints that they offer for sale, because our prints turn out a lot more vibrant and detailed than theirs at home do. You may be pleasantly surprised what your local print shop can create for you, and it may be worth the extra money to let them do it professionally, but again, you'll never know until you test it out.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

I do both :) What I feel looks good on my own printer, I do there, and what I feel isn't as good, I have done professionally. I have a "fancy" printer, and even then, it's not always perfect.

See FavillePhoto up there? I'm starting to branch into larger prints, which I've gotten through them, and they've looked really great, prices are good, and you can't beat the customer service. Just ordered more from them last night :) www.favillephoto.com

Good luck!

[SMacsPlaceToBe]

Hi - I looked into this quite a bit when I started making prints. I found that the cheaper prints at a shop (you mentioned color for .40?) didn't seem to be what peole are looking for in terms of quality. The words "archival inks (pigment-based) archival paper (especially matte or velvet) are looked for. These cost more to have printed. The cheaper ones were (in my research here) photocopies such as done by Xerox. I have mine done at a local printer who uses a huge professional Epson (Stylus Pro) archival ink, and heavyweight archival matte paper. They are very saturated with color and the colors matched my digital files - I could not be more pleased. That being said, they are costlier - several dollars per print and I usually have 7-8 made at a time to keep the costs down. That's because the paper and printer are very large (sorry - don't know specs) so less is charged per print if you order a few at a time. And I don't have to order the same print! So I'll order a couple of the one that sold and some that I just made and maybe a couple that are popular for stock and for fairs. I know in the long run I want to print at home, but to get the same quality I need to spend 400-500.00 on a new printer which I can't justify right now. Sooooooo - I spend a few $s per print, print in a batch of around 8 at a time, and make sure to include the cost of printing in my final price.

[Former_Member]

Thanks all for your input! Extremely helpful. I don't know why I didn't think of doing a test print (printing at home and printing at the shop an comparing.) Thanks for taking the time to leave a detailed answer!

[Former_Member]

Make sure you specify in the listing which you end up doing. I think it's important for people to know if the print they are getting is archival or not.

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