Need Printing Advice

[jkragins]

I need some printing advice. I have seen some awesome prints from the Canon R2400. Do you make your own prints or use a lab? I know the ink jet prints last longer, but do you find that to be a major factor in selling your prints? If you use a lab, which ones are best? I've heard good things about whcc.

Thanks in advance for your opinions/advice!

[luis_relampago]

I use both a Photo Lab and printer (epson R1900). To decide to print at home or in the Lab It all depends on how many prints I am doing, If I shoot someone portrait and he/she only wants a few prints up to 11x14 in size I print it my self but if I am printing a wedding job with lots of prints and large sizes I go to the Lab.
The quality of your prints depends on various factors like: paper, color management, calibration (monitor and printer) but if you learn to manage those things you can sell your prints with out any problems.

[Slight Clutter]

I use Que Imaging, Houston Photo Imaging, WHCC and MPIX. For prints going into a personal collection, I print at Que. For Portrait and Wedding Clients, I print at Houston Photo Imaging. For test shots and gifts to family and the like, I go with WHCC and MPIX.

All that said, I rarely print my stuff. :)

[haraki74]

You might also try Millers Lab. They are the professional arm to MPIX but do require a tax number to set up an account..

[diannebunch]

Hi! I use a lab for everything. I basically only use one lab, they are in Dallas--www.fullcolor.com. I have always had great service and quality. Hope that is helpful.

[CobyPhoto]

I print close to 75% of my own stuff. Epson 7800 and 4880's. Before that, I used a professional lab. (Still use Miller's for large school orders, etc. where I don't want to print large quantity.) There is no loss of quality utilizing the Epson's and the cost is quickly becoming VERY competitive with the major labs. Though, there are a few caveats with this.

That being said, the key to economical useage of the Epson's is the size of the ink cartridges, a good RIP and thorough color management throughout your workflow. My RIP has excellent qualilty profiles for the inks and papers I use and allow me to get consistent results everytime. Without this, mistakes can get costly and that is on MY dime. That is something you need to consider as well, if you have a Professional Lab print your work, and there are mistakes made (by the lab - your mistakes in photoshop still cost you) it won't cost you! makes mistakes with you own printer and it costs you!

CJ

[jkragins]

Thanks for the information everyone. I'll check out some of the labs you recommended. I may eventually get an Epson printer, but I just purchased a 70-200mm 2.8 lens so I'll have to wait a while for another piece of equipment.