Cheaper to print photos yourself or online?

LadyMorticia

Hello everyone.

This may sound like an odd question but is it cheaper to print photos yourself or order them online, of course factoring in ink and paper costs and the costs of P&P for online orders?

We have a new printer. It's a HP Deskjet 3050. We also have alot of photos of our little boy that we want to get printed but obviously want to keep costs as low as possible.

Which is the cheaper option?

Thank you.

Lifeforms

My option would be:
If printing 5 or under in full quality, one proper photo paper I would do it at home.

Anything more, online or in store. Frankly with editing, sitting there whilst they print, inputting the paper, waiting for it to dry properly it's a bore, chore, and that's why these places exist!

Nothing to do with cost, but if you have a bunch, work your way through the free or subsidised offers. Especially look for those where you can bulk upload.

Sharon87

I printed off a nice photo I edited together of my sister's wedding for her Christmas, a few years later it faded, I think the photo paper wasn't up to standards. So you need to make sure you have good quality paper and ink to last the test of time. So if you were to print a few photos I'd go with online or in a store, depending on the costs.

TonyMMM

Sharon87 wrote: »

I printed off a nice photo I edited together of my sister's wedding for her Christmas, a few years later it faded, I think the photo paper wasn't up to standards. So you need to make sure you have good quality paper and ink to last the test of time. So if you were to print a few photos I'd go with online or in a store, depending on the costs.

Normal printer inks are not designed to be very long lasting. If you want prints that last as long as "proper" photos, you need to use special archival inks, which are available for most printers but can be v expensive.

Sooler

Sharon87 wrote: »

I printed off a nice photo I edited together of my sister's wedding for her Christmas, a few years later it faded, I think the photo paper wasn't up to standards. So you need to make sure you have good quality paper and ink to last the test of time. So if you were to print a few photos I'd go with online or in a store, depending on the costs.

No too much of an issue if a print of a digital photo fades as you can get another printed anytime.

Even for one photo I'd avoid the hastle of printing at home, - upload to Tesco, collect in an hour. Bliss.

System

LadyMorticia wrote: »

Hello everyone.

This may sound like an odd question but is it cheaper to print photos yourself or order them online, of course factoring in ink and paper costs and the costs of P&P for online orders?

We have a new printer. It's a HP Deskjet 3050. We also have alot of photos of our little boy that we want to get printed but obviously want to keep costs as low as possible.

Which is the cheaper option?

Thank you.

DON'T print them off yourself!
DON'T pay for individual prints!

Somewhere within MSE you will find details of how to have 20/30 sometimes more prints printed off for you totally FREE.

If you can't find the section, google "printing photos" "without quotation marks) and the list is endless, snapfish, bonus print, photobox etc etc, so many companies will print free on the first order. All they want from you is your email address so they can send the odd spam, (which you can dump). If you have more than one email address, you can use the same company again and again.

Never pay for prints, never use your own ink.

neilwoods

islandman wrote: »

DON'T print them off yourself!
DON'T pay for individual prints!

Somewhere within MSE you will find details of how to have 20/30 sometimes more prints printed off for you totally FREE.

If you can't find the section, google "printing photos" "without quotation marks) and the list is endless, snapfish, bonus print, photobox etc etc, so many companies will print free on the first order. All they want from you is your email address so they can send the odd spam, (which you can dump). If you have more than one email address, you can use the same company again and again.

Never pay for prints, never use your own ink.

Works for 6x4, but any other size, you will pay for them.

As for longevity, if you use the original ink with there specified paper, then they should last a good (possible) 10 years.

As said above, if your in no hurry and just want plain standard 6x4, then use the FREE options. Or again, if going to supermarket, upload, print and collect

http://www.free-photo-prints.co.uk/

The quality will vary a lot between them.

LadyMorticia

Thanks for the advice and replies, everyone.

Is it okay to use the same company for prints over and over again if you have more than one email address to get free prints? Won't they get wise to the same name and address coming up again and again?

I'm a Photographer so I have loads of photos that I'd love to get printed but don't want to get blacklisted!

Owain_Moneysaver

neilwoods wrote: »

Works for 6x4, but any other size, you will pay for them.

Although Vistaprint 'Free' (pay P&P and possibly an uploading fee) Vinyl Banners are an excellent substitute for expensive 'canvas' prints.

System

LadyMorticia wrote: »

Thanks for the advice and replies, everyone.

Is it okay to use the same company for prints over and over again if you have more than one email address to get free prints? Won't they get wise to the same name and address coming up again and again?

I'm a Photographer so I have loads of photos that I'd love to get printed but don't want to get blacklisted!

I have to say I have used these companies twice each as I have yahoo and hotmail accounts. Given that the number of prints can vary, 30/40/50/60 even, this has been adequate for my needs. You could set up umpteen hotmail accounts, (but make a note of each one and tick off when you use it for prints so that you can keep a check on them), as for them getting wise, I don't recall anyone ever mentioning that.

I would suggest you make a listy of all of the companies, as per the list /link higher up in this thread and visit each website to see what their current offer is and go for the largest offer.

Someone mentioned these free offers are only for 6" x 4", well that's perfect adequate for most people. None of mine have ever faded.

Coveredinbees!!!!

My Dad has a CIS on his IP4200 printer he prints loads off and done some for us of the kids which we have framed and hung on the wall. They have been up for about a year and haven't faded at all. If you can get a CIS for your printer it works out fairly cheap.