Photo Lab vs Printing at Home | Ask David Bergman

Plus nobody will buy back that printer from you.

Thanks.

I do my own printing. My main justification is that when I send pictures to friends I can honestly tell them "Don't worry, I'm probably spending more on the postage." Especially when I include 11 x 17 or 13 x 19 prints. I just want to share the experience of nice printed images without creating any sense of obligation on their part.

Good Day Sir! Thank you very much for this... i'm a newbie for photo printing machine sir and here's my question sir.... it is good for Graduation Picture? planning to buy a photo printing machine. Hope you read this. Thank you very much Sir!

I require a home/office printer for my business and it is used every other day, sometimes for a day of fairly heavy use. Mainly documents though. But the capital cost of the printer is unavoidable for business and so the whole of that cost is written off against the business. This brings the cost down considerably and so does using non-genuine ink. Still not cheap. Since I do not print photos on a large scale, maybe 100 prints a year maximum, I have no issue with home printing or with using premium paper.
My daughter prints far more photos than I do and she mainly uses a lab, sending the files, sometimes up to 100 at a time, through the internet and getting the prints posted back. She does this because home printing so many would be overwhelming for her. Many of the lab prints are not up to the very best standard though, but mostly acceptable to good. So basically we do the opposite of what David suggests. It works for us. One thing that maybe I would suggest for lab printing is to crop the files to match the desired size of the prints before sending them away, because otherwise the print may not be what you expect.

A photographer friend just gave me her Canon Pro-100 since she had upgraded to a new printer. After cleaning the printhead and replacing the spent carts, I have had a great time fixing up and printing old photos.

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That is total BS I use a lab that prints some of the highest quality prints on high grades paper at 12x18 for $4 and 20x30 for $8 and that is certainly cheaper than printing with a personal printer like a Canon pixma xxxx. Especially if you have prints that kill a certain color cartridge quickly. THE ONLY benefit of printing yourself is not waiting for prints to be printed and shipped to you or for doing test prints. Using a lab, you are paying the average for a print over a vast number of prints so you'll never be hit with the cost off a print killing off a full cartridge.

Lab, I rarely print photos, and cartridges are expensive

Hi there, what about the quality of the image over time? Does the foto last for as long either if printed in the lab or at home? I mean, if I fill an album with photos from the lab and another one from photos from home printer, in 20 years, will they all be equally good? Or will the home printed ones have faded? I am very concerned with that, as I am creating family memories. I own a Brother J1050DW. IS it a good printer for photos? Thank you very much!

If you are a weekend family photographer you need to print 100s photos to save money printing photos.

Thank you. I am looking for a good professional printing service. I like printing my own prints, but I cannot print large photos yet.

For me, the only real disadvantage with a lab is shipping costs. But one lab advantage is "fun" - it just feels more "fun" to send off the order and then have it arrive in the post, especially when it's a professional lab and you know there are experts looking at it. And you still have way more control nowadays shooting digitally, so you're doing your image edits first and the lab is just applying colour correction if you ask them to. They'll also be willing to give you advice. You're still in control: selecting the size, the paper, the finish, mounting etc. I'd also argue that by using a lab you're supporting the photography industry more than by just buying a printer - a printer is more of a commodity, whereas using a lab provides jobs and specialist training for people in printing, colour correction, framing etc. at a time when society has rather lowered its standards with smartphone photography and social media.

Adorama owns Printique. That should be stated right at the top.

Hi David! I've recently started printing my photographs. some photos i print for clients are on Canon photo papers and theres branding at the back. where do you get photo papers without branding behind them? Thanks!

Here I was thinking this was about actually "developing" at home vice in a lab. Why would I want a spiel about difference in a PRINTER location? If it is in my house or someone else's, it is still just one piece of equipment.

Take note, when people ask this question they aren't asking about printing digital files. And the whole: "you can print one at a time at a lab", yeah, if I had a printer or lab in my house I could do the same.

Good job! As usual. Thank you.

I don't do a lot of printing, so for me, a hybrid approach is best. I have a decent, consumer grade photo printer which I use to print out 4x6 and 5x7 prints. It doesn't require much maintenance and makes good prints to share with family and friends. For larger prints that I want to display on the walls, I use a photo lab.

Don't forget the photochemical process. You just can't beat the quality and texture of a silver halide print.

I am a printer. Epson P800. Going from LR Dev to LR Print, I notice a change in sharpness, brightness, detail and color. It isn't the same. Wish you would do more on printing. Very costly to send out. Very costly to do in my studio.

Prints for the win! Thank you for this great inspirational reminder!

Also they make great presents, I have had kids pictures printed on cups and their moms and grandma's love them.

I had a sweet setup of a Canon A3 printer fitted with a continuous ink system. No worries about expensive ink usage after that.

I prefer printing them with a lab, they Quality check them, sign off on them and I dont have to pay for inks or paper,. but its best to find a lab that will give you colour profiles and work with you, also paper quality find a good lab with great paper, some local ones in my city are rubbish but the one in another state is much better

The thing about the Canon printers is yes they do HUGE maintenance cycles if you don't use them, BUT. What I have been doing with my Canon Pro-1000 is since I haven't shot much recently, I've been running off super simple test charts on copier paper every single day without going over 24h between, and each chart takes as much ink as approximately one 4x6 image. It's about $8/mo. And of course if you print your actual work, that eliminates that day's test sheet. The copier paper is negligible cost, cheapest you can buy. The test prints use every single ink tank preventing clogs, and if you don't go over 24h without printing, you won't see an idle cleaning cycle. You also need the Canon printers plugged into a UPS at all times, because if they lose power in a surge, they do huge cleaning cycles. Leaving them sitting on a desk for weeks or months on end is really the one deadly sin of printing. You don't have to print a lot of volume, but the printer does need to run daily.

There really is no comparing a lab to printing yourself with a professional machine. With self printing, you can use whatever photo paper you want. My paper of choice is the absolutely mind-blowing Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta. It's extremely thick, and the color is extraordinary. A lab uses whatever they use, and most labs I've found also print with dye ink printers meaning it's not TRULY archival, and they WILL fade MUCH faster than the 100 years plus you get with a pigment ink printer. Labs say giclee and archival, but they are absolutely lying to you. It's great for people who simply can't budget in a proper printer and paraphernalia needed, and it's great for truly specialty stuff like acrylic, metallic, or overlarge prints if you don't have a Pro-4100. But it's nowhere near the overall quality.

The metal prints from Printique are sweet 👍

I use to print at costco surprisingly good and cheap until they took the photo centers out of all my local stores

Originally, after reading about printing and YT videos, I wasn't going to try to print my own.
HOWEVER, I found one of the periodic sales Canon has...where basically, with the rebate and gift, I ended up buying a package of 13"x19" paper and they threw the printer (with ink) in for FREE.
It was hard to pass that up, Sure it wasn't top of the line, but the Canon Pixma Pro-100...so far, I"m more than happy with it.
I found you can get good deals on paper by ordering samplers, which gives lots of different papers to try....if you order ink from the Canon site, they gift you a pack of 13"19" paper with ink refill orders of $80 or more.
There is ALWAYs something on sale.
I'm also the type, however, that actually enjoys all aspects of photography...shooting, the post processing ( I love to get my hands dirty with Capture One and Affinity Photo).
I found that learning to calibrate my monitor and all was interesting to learn. It isn't rocket surgery, it just takes a little time.
Sure, I send stuff to labs when that works best, big prints, metals, etc...
But if you can score a deal, and they do show up at least a couple times a year....I'd say get a printer for doing your own stuff to hang on walls and for family and friends.
It's fun and you can get some really NICE results.
My biggest thing to learn was how to figure matte sizes for what size prints...getting the tape to mount to the matte.
And heck, you can find Michaels' having wooden frame sales, 70% off, and I always keep a few of those laying around.

I started printing a few years ago, on my Canon Pixma Pro-100. Now, I'm running out of wall space, for my prints.😂 It's been a wonderful experience.

Great video! I am curious as some videos have recommended brightening the photo since we are seeing the photo back lit on the monitor. How much consideration does a photo lab make before printing? Do they consider this and does the lab resize the file if needed for a very large print?

I print my own pictures. Take the picture, do the post processing and print. It's mine, I don't want anyone else in the process :)

Not having a great printer at home, send mine out. Back in my film shooting days I spent hours and hours printing in the darkroom making prints from normal to extreme sizes. There is something to having a print in hand or seeing it develop in a tray.

Thanks David for some of the pros and cons of printing yourself, Would like to know more about the calibration process.

Great information David! Thanks as always!!

never tried large prints... i use canon cp1300.. so far so good.. may be in future would definitely try a large printer..

Dating myself here, but here's nothing like the feeling of pulling a print out of the hypo and rinse, taking it into the light...and realizing I'd done it wrong.

I love doing metal prints, 20x30 and 16x24. I’m supposed to go to Botswana in November and hoping to get a shot that I can do a 40x60 metal print from Printique. I know it will be expensive but I have a perfect spot on my wall for a print that large and I think a shot from Africa would be perfect.

I bought myself an inkjet printer but sold it because:
1.) It consumed so much ink.
2.) Ink jets would become blocked and endless sheets of copy paper and using much ink to unblock them.
3.) Very frustrating when all you want is to print your photo.
4.) Quality photo paper is expensive and mistakes can occur when using it causing you to print again - more ink and paper and money
5.) The adjustment options are too numerous unless you want to spend a week getting your head around all the various combinations of settings.
6.) The printer itself of course costs money too and depreciates over time.
7.) Requires space on the table for the printer and for storing the inks.

For anyone printing only occasionally like me, I’d suggest using a lab 100%
The cost per print is higher of course but the overall cost is much cheaper than the total costs involved in having your own printer.
You get the choice of all the high quality photo papers without having to buy them all
Plus you can print larger than the size limitation of your home printer.
Plus you don’t get frustrated.

What paper did you use for that Central Park photo? If you can afford it, it is worth the experience. Canon printers will exercise so they don’t clog automatically using a lot of ink . Like you said, if you print often, it is less of a use to waste ink ratio. Epson printers you use to have to print about once a week(can be a small print) so the print head doesn’t clog. The new ones might do a exercise to keep the heads from clogging but will waste the ink as it does. It is a very rewarding process that adds to the photography!

In europe it is cheaper to use lab for consumer small prints like 9c each 4"x6" , but since megatank home printers came to market it is really cheap to print at home and quality is good enough!

Awesome answer and advice David! Everything I needed to know. Thank you so much!!!

Great video david. I think my favorite vid you've done. Very well said. Every photographer should watch this. 🤘🤘👊👊

Thank you again David.
Enjoyed that one again, very informative.

I do both. I print small orders at home and anything up to a 13x19 print on regular photo paper. I use either pro luster or pro platinum photo paper on my canon pixma pro-100 printer. It’s an amazing little printer. Ink is on the pricey side but this printer has made 1/3 of my income coming in. When the client wants fine art or matte finishes, or large orders and I leave that to the labs. It was the best decision to get a printer. I plan on getting a larger printer by the end of summer to print even larger prints

No matter where I am I will always look for a small business printer to make any prints I need. We love f32 photo where we live in Knoxville TN. They are such an amazing resource in our community so we want to see them stay around for years to come.

This arrived in the nick of time. Unfortunately, it was so even-handed that still am having a hard time making up my mind. I want the Canon Imageprograf 1000. I've seen it in the past on sale for $999, but that was then. The cheapest I can find it now is $1200. I haven't found any good used ones, refurbished or demo units. I can't justify the cost at present, but I know that I will buy one sooner or later. When I started doing photography (in the late 1960s) I had my own darkroom. Capture One and the Adobe suite of software products satisfies some of that aspect of photography. But nothing compares to seeing the image emerge on paper (or from the printer) and then holding it in your hand. Question: Do you mount your prints on a backing material, such as styrene, foam board or masonite? I've been getting them mounted on styrene from White House Custom Color and I love it for durability.