Printing...do you do your own?

[Swifty]

or do you get it done professionally? I'm talking about getting those larger prints done, and your landscapes especially. After all, looking at them on the monitor is not the same as having a beautiful framed photo on the wall.
I've got a HP photosmart which does A4 with surprisingly good results. Is it worth getting a good A3+ like the Epson 1900 for 13" x 44" (off a roll) landscapes? Does anyone do this (initial investment plus ink costs are a bit of a sting) or are you happy to get them done elsewhere? or just satisfied to look on the screen?

[Drifting]

I do my everyday printing at Harvey Norman and my special jobs at a print shop in Launceston. I don't think a printer is cost-effective, but I would love to be able to print on demand.

[tasadam]

After trying a number of prints at Stallards and Harvey Norman and asking technical questions like colour profiles etc, I used Harvey Norman in Devonport for smaller prints because there was a lady there named Traci that knew how to set up the machine properly and get the colour right. Sad to say that Stallards didn't have a clue here in Devonport.
But Traci has left HN and things are definitely not the same, if I want my photos printed locally by them and get them consistent, I would need to edit my photos to match how they are printing it "today" (which could be different to tomorrow or yesterday).

So now I am struggling to find a local printer that can give me some consistency with the smaller stuff. When you're selling photos, you need to know that your prints are going to be the same as when you had them done last time and that's my problem with local printers.

For larger stuff, I only use professional printing companies on the mainland. I make sure that they use archival quality media and ink. My standard exhibition size is 300 x 450 mm, and I do all my own matting and mounting a picture frames myself. I do not do my own printing and have no desire to, because if I were to, the printer I would need would cost over $8K, which I cannot justify at this time. Though, at least it would mean I could take control of my own colour matching and get things right every time, and be in control of my own quality in every aspect of my work.
I do have a pile of photos that I have had printed that I cannot use because the quality of the printing is sub-par for the quality I want to represent in my work. So in the long term I might just have to fork out and buy a large format printer.

It's not like there isn't enough choice when it comes to online printing, the problems start when you want to find a good one.

[tasadam]

Just did some googling.
Information that I look for when selecting a printing business for my larger work include things like this -
http://www.visionimagelab.com.au/Servic ... ntsdigital
This is a good example, I particularly like the fact that they offer a printer that can handle the Adobe RGB colour space. Lots of professional services available including digital mastering. Might have to try their printing...
It's important for me to know how they want the files prepared for printing, particularly what colour space should be applied to the image. Get that wrong and you get some pretty inconsistent results. It was a learning curve for me when I started printing some years ago, I used a printing company that allowed you to download the ICC profiles of their printers. So I converted my images to that profile and sent them off, only to discover that the profile gets applied when printing and they should have been in sRGB. More wasted prints, an expensive learning curve but at least now I have a good handle on things.

Here is not a good example -
http://www.fujicolor.com.au/brand/conte ... sp?tb=pink
I cannot find anything more than the pricing other than that they use Fuji paper. So they print what they get and you get what you're given, it seems. Fine for happy snaps but not what I look for.
They're pretty expensive too.

[Robatman]

I'm not professional but am very particular when it comes to photography- just upgraded my kit a while ago to 5dII with 24-70L and 70-200L.

I tend not to print many images- got a nice 12" digital frame to show the snaps.

I have an older Epson R1800 (predecessor to R1900) which i think is great. Generally print a few A3's from a photog trip/walk but also probably do 5 or 6 stiched panoramas a year on roll paper- around 1m long.

Its conveneient, though have never really done a cost analysis versus prof printing. I imagine prof printing would come out ahead of buying the printer and ongoing inks. I just think I'd never bother taking my images to get printed when they just end up in a pile anyway!

If I was buying today I'd get the R1900 though at just under $1000 it is a fair investement.

Robert

[Drifting]

After trying a number of prints at Stallards and Harvey Norman and asking technical questions like colour profiles etc, I used Harvey Norman in Devonport for smaller prints because there was a lady there named Traci that knew how to set up the machine properly and get the colour right. Sad to say that Stallards didn't have a clue here in Devonport.
But Traci has left HN and things are definitely not the same, if I want my photos printed locally by them and get them consistent, I would need to edit my photos to match how they are printing it "today" (which could be different to tomorrow or yesterday).

So now I am struggling to find a local printer that can give me some consistency with the smaller stuff. When you're selling photos, you need to know that your prints are going to be the same as when you had them done last time and that's my problem with local printers.

For larger stuff, I only use professional printing companies on the mainland. I make sure that they use archival quality media and ink. My standard exhibition size is 300 x 450 mm, and I do all my own matting and mounting a picture frames myself. I do not do my own printing and have no desire to, because if I were to, the printer I would need would cost over $8K, which I cannot justify at this time. Though, at least it would mean I could take control of my own colour matching and get things right every time, and be in control of my own quality in every aspect of my work.
I do have a pile of photos that I have had printed that I cannot use because the quality of the printing is sub-par for the quality I want to represent in my work. So in the long term I might just have to fork out and buy a large format printer.

It's not like there isn't enough choice when it comes to online printing, the problems start when you want to find a good one.

Sorry to go a bit off topic, and feel free to delete if you wantr, but I've been pretty happy with the printer I've used in Launceston. I can give you their details if you like. From memory they will mail out.

I agree on your take on the local printing Adam

[tasadam]

Not off topic, feel free to post details of the printing shop in Launceston. Link?

[jcr_au]

Living in the bush its hard to get to a reasonably priced lab, so have used snapfish in the past, which is cost effective but not convenient.

I bought an epson 1410 a couple of months ago and I'm happy with it. Its about 1/2 the price of the 1900 and has $120 cash back if bought before midnight tomorrow

I got mine here http://www.scorptec.com.au/computer/22264-photo-1410. No connection but happy with the service

[Liamy77]

Having professionally been in the industry in the past, most of the RA-4 process labs around are setup to RGBs at 250dpi... (and they can print without correction / lock off the scanner too if still using film)
most of the restoration work they do is on photoshop too after all.
Also... stallards might have the Hobart lab running better... they used to courrier down their E-6 for processing we did their digital stuff too - maybe send down a thumb drive for a test print? ( i used to be the lab manager there in hobart about 15 years ago-ish... used to have a good rep then... but then I lived n breathed it and was puttin my own work through it too - keeps you anally retentive )