Technobabble

Digital Photo Printing Realities

Posted by on Oct 27, 2006 | One Comment

We have an inexpensive digital photo printer in our house, but it doesn’t get much use these days. After experiencing the painful economic realities of photo ink cartridges and paper, printing photos at home just doesn’t make sense … except for those rare occasions when we need a photo printed immediately. At those times, unfortunately, we always seem to be out of either paper or ink or both.

Where’s the closest source for supplies?

Why the local chain pharmacy, of course …

and where does the pharmacy stock those pricey consumables?

At the counter for the in-store instant photo-lab …

Do the math while you’re standing in the checkout line and you’ll quickly realize how much cheaper it is to have those digital photos printed professionally.

You may have caught my article on digital photo printing prices in the Windows Fanatic earlier this month. To recap, online digital photo print prices have dropped a respectable 12% in over the course of 2006. Printing with the right online photo lab can save you a considerable amount of money. If you haven’t had the chance to read the article, consider this your invitation to sit back and watch it … on my new Digital Photo Printing Report.

[tags]digital photo, photo printing, photo labs, online photo printing, photo kiosk, photo ink cartridges[/tags]

  • R Kimbro

    If you purchase carefully, you can print at home for about the same as a mail-order digital photo lab. My setup includes a Canon PIXMA iP4000 printer (was $99 at Buy.com), Clickinks.com ink refills ($45 for 3 sets of refills, buy 2 get 1 free, I get about 4-500 prints from these 3 sets), and Costco or CompUSA paper 200 sheets 4×6 $10. Spreading the cost of the printer over about 1,000 (yes 1k) prints I have made so far brings this to about $0.25 to $0.30 per print. If you add the mail-order print cost plus shipping, cost is pretty close. At home, I get the prints instantly. Just another thought ….