Printer Options?

[macmclean]

So!
I was just told today that I was allowed to begin converting our storage garage into a portrait studio. I’m about to graduate to graduate in college on the 31st so this is really big for me. I’ve been in Yearbook for all four years of high school and been the Photography Editor 2 of those Years and Editor in Chief this Year so I’ve been doing for the most part basic portrait photography, and friends (seniors next year) have started asking me to do their portraits for them for the yearbook. Coincidently this is a perfect opportunity! But I didn’t want to tell them yes until I knew I had a really good printer I could purchase that would be great quality to purchase, similar to that of the company the school would offer. The biggest print I would be printing would be an 8x10. If anyone knows of one could you please give me some ideas? Thank you!

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

Honestly, you best option is probably to use a professional (or at least a good consumer) print lab.

Printing at home/office can be convenient, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. A good printer can set you back a couple hundred bucks, but decent paper is probably around $1 per sheet. There there are the inks. Sure there are ways to skimp with cheap inks but it's still an annoying cost...and running out of ink when you really need a print, is not a nice feeling.

A lab on the other hand, has professional equipment which they (should) maintain and test regularly. A good lab should give you consistent, high quality prints. And really, it's very competitive out there right now, and prices are really good. An 8x10 from a good lab is only going to cost you a few dollars....which should be a very small percentage of what you're charging people anyway.

Printing at home has the benefit of giving you full control over the process, but honestly, it's a lot of work to get and maintain a quality that may or may not be higher than a good lab.

 

[KmH]

Printing requires technical knowledge and skills separate from doing photography, another reason to use a pro lab.
There are several print finishes - matte, semi-gloss, glossy - many types/brands of print paper, and several printing technologies - chromogenic, inkjet, off-set press.

Another service portrait photographers provide is print presentation. Prints can be presented in a frame with or without a mat, as a standout, as a gallery wrapped canvas, on metal, on acrylic, etc.

In between tripping the shutter and making the print another skill set has to be learned and developed - image editing.

The Digital Print: Preparing Images in Lightroom and Photoshop for Printing
Fine Art Printing for Photographers: Exhibition Quality Prints with Inkjet Printers

Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop (Voices That Matter)

Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

Business acumen is necessary to start and keep a retail photography business going - marketing, salesmanship, accounting, planning, promotion, etc.

Photography Business Secrets: The Savvy Photographer's Guide to Sales, Marketing, and More