A quality inkjet printer

[flibbit]

Okay, so I've just purchased the Kindle version of "Fine Art Printing for Photographers" and will be delving into that this weekend. But I'd like to know what inkjet printers folks here would recommend for professional quality printing. I'd really like to begin to keep hard copies of my photography for my own enjoyment (I don't know, there's something about seeing a photograph in person as opposed to on a screen...).

All recommendations are very much appreciated!

PS: Mods, please move this if I've managed to put it in the wrong subforum. Thanks!

 

[Helen B]

Could you tell us a little more. What is your budget? What size do you want to print? Colour or B&W or both? Matte, or both glossy and matte?

 

[Tony S]

Sending out to a lab is way less expensive than printing on your own. Unless you are looking for custom printing of specialty papers you get way more for your time and money going through a lab for printing needs. And the papers and ink for printing are expensive too.

I have two great printers sitting here, one dedicated to B&W printing (Epson 2200) only and another for color (Canon Pro9500) I hardly use either any more because of the time and expense. I do like the results from both when I do use them...

 

[flibbit]

Could you tell us a little more. What is your budget? What size do you want to print? Colour or B&W or both? Matte, or both glossy and matte?

Well, as far as budget, I'd like a nice balance between quality and economy. I'm not planning to make a purchase immediately; probably within the next couple months. I'd like to print both color and black and white, and probably mainly glossy-- although being inexperienced in that area, I could well want an option for matte. Not sure.

Sending out to a lab is way less expensive than printing on your own. Unless you are looking for custom printing of specialty papers you get way more for your time and money going through a lab for printing needs. And the papers and ink for printing are expensive too.

I have two great printers sitting here, one dedicated to B&W printing (Epson 2200) only and another for color (Canon Pro9500) I hardly use either any more because of the time and expense. I do like the results from both when I do use them...

At present I wouldn't know what company to send them to. We don't have a Kinko's and the last website I used online, I wasn't able to see the quality of the product until it arrived so as to determine whether the size I had selected would work well with the photograph. In short, I would like to purchase my own out of laziness. To continually send to a lab, I could imagine my motivation declining to do so consistently. But to have a printer(s) at home, I would be more inclined to print out the hard copies. For now, they just sit on my computer and some I showcase on Fotocommunity.com, but other than that, not much.

As an alternative though, perhaps you could recommend some online companies which ship. One big issue with a lot of my photographs is that I've cropped them and they aren't a standard size.

 

[KmH]

When an image has been cropped to an uncommon aspect ratio, you can put the image on a standard aspect ratio white canvas to facilitate getting a custom size print made by an online lab.

Most online labs, like Mpix, MpixPro, Miller's, Nations, Bay Photo, WHCC, etc, will trim the excess for you if the print size ordered is wall size.

If I was ordering a print to mat and frame, I always put it on a larger, un-trimmed canvas to facilitate mounting and matting the print.

 

[flibbit]

When an image has been cropped to an uncommon aspect ratio, you can put the image on a standard aspect ratio white canvas to facilitate getting a custom size print made by an online lab.

Most online labs, like Mpix, MpixPro, Miller's, Nations, Bay Photo, WHCC, etc, will trim the excess for you if the print size ordered is wall size.

If I was ordering a print to mat and frame, I always put it on a larger, un-trimmed canvas to facilitate mounting and matting the print.

Ah, thanks for the recommendation. That sounds very useful.

 

[daza]

Sending out to a lab is way less expensive than printing on your own. Unless you are looking for custom printing of specialty papers you get way more for your time and money going through a lab for printing needs. And the papers and ink for printing are expensive too.

Yeah I agree, I was going to buy a printer myself until I worked out all the costs. Getting a lab to do it for me worked out far cheaper.