Comments on: Saving Pennies or Dollars? Home Photo Printing

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:11:44 +0000

In my experience, most ink cartridges cost significantly more than yours. Mine are more than double what you’ve stated here.

That makes printing at home the more expensive option (for me at least)

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:37:33 +0000

I don’t think I have paid more than $0.15/print in over 5 years. I usually do bulk prints (100+ photos) to walgreens or Costco. I wait for sales and get $0.05 to $0.09 per photo for 4×6. For $0.25-$0.50 you can get larger sizes. You should recheck your pricing estimates.

Also, your print quality must be rather mediocre on the equipment you’re using, or your digital images weren’t so great if you can’t tell a difference. My step-dad prints photos at home that are often higher quality than what you get at a retail facility like Walgreens and he’s paying about $0.35/print.

This is one place where quality counts and you may just have to pay more.

There are two more benefits you didn’t mention of outsourcing this task: you save time and you save space at home.

By: par717

par717 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:44:51 +0000

More important than money in this case (since you’re only saving pennies) is the fact that printing at home on paper is simply ink on paper. Real photographic prints will not fade, smudge, or disintegrate over long periods of time.

Those photos you found of your great-grandfather with your grandmother on his lap? Well those were developed on photographic paper. Your printout of you and your children printed on your $70 printer will last a few years and then start degrading. They will not survive 100 years.

Photos need to be developed, not printed.

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:48:25 +0000

Note that ink does sometimes dry out if you only use the printer a few times per year. I think for the infrequent user printing services are definitely the better option.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:36:46 +0000

Tom, #12 – I was going to ask the same thing last night but got sidetracked by a rerun of Big Bang Theory….

By: Janna

Janna — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:27:02 +0000

I just had Christmas photos printed at Costco for about $.13 each.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:04:45 +0000

Another vote for Costco. Best print quality. Way cheaper than doing it at home. And more convenient to me, personally.

By: jim

jim — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:39:13 +0000

I figure for occasional misc. prints of 1-2 photos its easiest to do it at home. But online services end up cheaper.

Printing photos uses a lot more ink than normal print outs. With a picture the entire page is covered in ink but normal prints with text mixed in only a small % of the page is ink. Canon’s own data states page yield for 4×6 photos of 122-144 for one of their printers using the 211XL. That would make the ink cost more like 13.8¢ per page.

By: KC @ PsychoMoney

KC @ PsychoMoney — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:22:31 +0000

Very interesting. One thing to keep in mind though is you get what you pay for when it comes to printing. My wife does a lot of printing of your photography business and if you want the good archival prints, that are the right colors, you have to spend a bit more.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:09:11 +0000

Can’t you print two 4×6 on one sheet, so it is 9 cents per photo? Or did I miss something on the calculation?

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 02:12:43 +0000

I like using the sales at Snapfish, while my husband likes MPix or Winkflash. You can find some great deals that can take your per print cost down below nine cents a print if you’re willing to wait a few days to get the pictures.

By: christine

christine — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:45:34 +0000

Do you not have Walgreens near you? I’ll wait and print my pictures there when they are 10 cents each. I don’t mind picking them up because it’s on the way of other errands.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 23:33:31 +0000

I agree with the commenters – even adding sales tax, you can get a lower rate than $0.18/print from Walgreens and Target when they have sales. And even if you include shipping, Snapfish and Shutterfly, to name two, have regular sales which would beat the price (although you have to wait 5-7 days for delivery).

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:00:15 +0000

If I need to print more than a single-digit number of pictures, snapfish or one of their competitors is going to be far cheaper. I rarely or never have to print a single-digit batch; If I did I would use whatever local store was closest (or that I was already going to be visiting).

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:35:49 +0000

Thanks for doing this research, Trent. It confirms my preference for printing via professional services or kiosks.
If you buy photos in bulk, at 100 at a time or so, you can easily get them around 9 cents a piece. I usually take advantage of snapfish sales where they give you 50 free prints and you pay for shipping…usually about $3.99, which is around 7 cents a photo. They end up great…much better than doing it at home, in my opinion.

By: Riki

Riki — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:05:05 +0000

I find home-printed photos don’t last as long. They fade quickly in the sun and never have the same longevitiy as professionally printed images.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 21:01:11 +0000

Costco is 13 cents and I’ve always found the quality to be better than what I’ve gotten at Walgreens or Target.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:35:06 +0000

Maybe it’s just me, but I always have issues printing at home and it’s never worth the hassle. I’d much rather order prints and have them delivered, or get them printed at the Walgreens 4 blocks from my house. Is it cheaper than printing at home, I think so, is it easier than printing at home, much.

By: josh

josh — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:24:13 +0000

snapfish.com and artscow.com are typically WAY cheaper than $0.18/print. And you don’t have to refill ink or maintain equipment.

By: Baley

Baley — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 20:18:48 +0000

The regular price at Walgreens for a 4 by 6 print is $.19, but they have sales frequently. I’ve gotten emails advertising free prints or $.10 prints regularly. My printer (and ink) costs more than your calculations, so I would easily save money by ordering online if I use coupons/sales. Actually, even at the regular price I think I would come out pretty evenly in cost but have a better quality photo.