Printer

If you need to print (upto) A3, the Canon Pixma iP8750 is good. I've had one for about 15 months and very pleased with the quality of the results.

Phil

Depends on your interpretation of cost effective.

When we did the sums 2 years ago, it's not cost effective to run an A3 printer when you can get an A3 print for £1.10 at DSCL (£1.15 at todays prices!). It's just not possible to match that price with home printing.

We currently run an iPF6450 24" roll printer and it only becomes cost effective at A2 or larger or with fine art papers such as Hahnemuhle etc. where an A3 print is £11 at DSCL.

The main reasons I can see for printing at home are convenience or 'being in control'. As soon as cost becomes the primary motivator as you've mentioned, outsource it unless you go large or use fine art papers a lot.

If you don't want to go through the hassles of printer ownership and want to be cost effective, don't buy a home printer!

Have a look at the HP Instant Ink deals I'm on the £1.99/month deal where you get 50 pages and ink cartridges sent whenever you run out, for printing A4 photos it's cost effective. Anything over A4 I use DSCL.
I got the Envy 5546 with 9 months free ink.

I've always used Epson for up to A4 printing and have been delighted with the results. Whether or not it is cost-effective depends on two factors:

1. What paper you use / where you buy it

2. What inks you use / where you buy them

For paper up to A4 I use either the Epson Premium Glossy, or some paper from a job lot I picked up on Amazon which is of German manufacture, not sure of the Brand but I got a box of 2000 sheets for about £20! It is heavyweight, twice as heavy as the Epson paper, is glossy and does the job. It's not quite as colour accurate as the Epson paper, having a slightly 'warm' tinge, but it is certainly good for A4 prints.

For ink I NEVER use the genuine Epson inks, there is simply no good reason to do so. I buy ink from ebay from a manufacturer called 'Signal Inks', this is dirt cheap and comes with refillable cartridges. It is colour accurate and every bit as good as the original ink as far as I can tell. I have some images on my wall at home that have been there for 3 or 4 years now with no colour degradation or fading. Of course, it depends on where you hang pictures, if they are in direct sunlight they will fade, no matter what ink is used.

I find the most important factor for printing, whether you 'do it yourself', or whether you use an external provider, is to set the image to the correct colour profile before printing. This will ensure the image is as accurate to the original as possible. Whether or not it looks similar to what you see on screen depends on whether your monitor is correctly calibrated, but that's a whole different topic.

So, for my printing up to A4, it is definitely cheaper and easier for me to do my own. My current printer is an Epson PX720WD, several years old, but still as good as new.

Hope there's some useful stuff here.

Regards
David