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Buy a cheap laser printer for non-photo printing.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
Keeping the costs of digital photography down, Part 2: Online printing, a small-photo printer and more tips


May 7, 2006

Blog: How a Canon Selphy printer made me a believer in downsized high-quality photo prints


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2006, The Post-Standard

   When I was a kid, I made a camera by poking a hole in an oatmeal box. My pinhole camera didn't take good pictures, but it sure was cheap.
   But that was then and this is now. You don't need any prompting to know those days are over. In addition to the cost of software, which I wrote about last week, you've got to pay for more than just a camera when you take up an interest in digital photography. There are memory cards to buy and, if you want to produce your prints at home, you've got to pay for a photo-quality printer, inkjet ink and photo printing paper.
   Creating your own photo-lab-quality pictures at home can be extremely satisfying, but I'd like to warn you that home photo printing can be an extreme expense, too. It's by far the stickiest part of the wicket if you're trying to keep costs down. Ink is a revenue stream for the companies that make printers, and it's sold at obscene prices -- as much as $3,840 a gallon, as I reported in a previous column (www.technofileonline.com/texts/tec040304.html).
   To hold down the cost of printing photos, here's my advice:
   1. Have a commercial service make your larger prints. Walmart (online or regular stores) does a good job and is usually as cheap as you'll find. Go to www.walmart.com/photo. If you have a modern Apple Macintosh, Apple will print your photos through iPhoto for about the same price as Walmart, with the extra convenience of iPhoto's single-click ordering.
   2. Use a specialty printer designed solely for small prints (4 inches by 6 inches is the favorite size) for pictures you want to print at home. I'm a big fan of Canon's Selphy models, which make waterproof and smudge-resistant borderless 4- by 6-inch prints that look as good as photo-lab prints and last for years without fading. If you buy the Selphy's paper-and-ink packs from a discount dealer, you'll pay about 24 cents per print. The Selphy model 400 printer was deeply discounted at the end of April, selling at such sites as Amazon.com for $39.95. The list price is $149.99. Use Froogle (Google's shopping site) for current discounts. (Disclaimer: I'm a very happy Selphy 400 owner.)
   3. Buy a cheap black-and-white laser printer for stuff you need to print that's not photographic. Good B/W laser printers start at less than $200 -- sometimes, much less.
   4. Stay away from refills. I'm often asked if refilling ink cartridges makes sense. Sure, you save money. Do you get the same quality results? Usually not, especially when you're printing photos. I stay away from them.
   5. Paper can fool you. Cheap photo paper sometimes works just as good as expensive paper. But be careful. My Epson 2000P printer, which makes fade-free prints up to poster size, bleeds ink all over its rollers when I try to use cheap glossy paper. Epson recommends its own specially treated paper for good reason. If you have an expensive Epson, use caution when trying cheap brands of paper.
   To save money on memory cards, here's what I recommend:
   1. Don't buy the largest capacity cards you can find; they're 'way too expensive. Buy the next size down. And shop using Froogle. You'll be surprised at how cheap those cards can be when you get them from a discounter.
   2. Get at least three high-capacity cards (following the guidelines above). That way you won't be tempted to skip good shots because your only card is almost full.