Photo Printing at Home Vs. Printing Online

Just recently I had the chance to participate in an HP photo printer beta test where I had the chance to be able to print my own photos at home. I had always before ordered through Shutterfly (which now you can pick up at Target in some areas), CVS, Walgreens, or Wal-Mart for my photos. The cost of prints usually cost me around 15-19 cents each depending upon which coupon codes I could find. But I was always stuck waiting for my photos and family would ask me for photos of the girls in which sometimes I would forget or just not be able to get it to them within time. Waiting in line at a post office to mail them is kind of hard here in California with two little ones who have a hard time waiting patiently while mommy mails packages to family. But with being able to print my photos at home now, am I really getting the bigger bang for the buck? Is it cheaper to print your photos on your own or have them printed elsewhere? We'll look at the pros and cons of each and see which is more cost effective.

First, let's look at printing your photos at home with a photo printer. The most costly of this at first is most likely the upfront cost of the printer. Generally they will run you anywhere from $100-$250 dollars depending upon which model you get, but even then I have seen photo printers on sale at Target for $60 dollars. Usually with most photo printers, you are only allowed to print 4x6's and 5x7's so if you need anything bigger than that, you will need to still go to a store. Then you have the cost of the cartridges and photo paper. Cartridges will generally run you about $24.00 and according to what HP told me you should be able to get at least 150 pictures out of that one cartridge. This will bring your per picture price to $0.16, but this doesn't factor in buying paper--but wait, HP said they would bundle a package together with the cartridge and 150 sheets of photo paper for $29.99. So how much does that add up to be per picture? That's about $0.20 per print. While I have found that they say at least 150 per cartridge, I was always able to get more (this will vary per person and per picture), generally around 10-30 pictures more then what they specified. If this is the case, then surely it would be just as equal to if not better then printing at a store. Not only that, but the printer in which I have has so many things you can do to your pictures such as creating photo greeting cards, add clip-art, borders, print from videos, and even enhance your photo right from your camera so there isn't any need for you to even hook it up to your computer. Your prints are available right away, no waiting in line, driving to the store only to find the picture didn't turn out right. Sure you had to put that upfront cost of the printer there, but if you add up how much gas you spend getting to the store, shipping, and the time spent waiting in line, maybe a photo printer is better. In summary, the Pros of home printing are available right away, able to edit without having computer, cheap prints, and creative ideas. The cons are having to pay and upfront cost of the printer, maybe having to wait for paper and ink to arrive if you order on-line and only allowed to print 4x6's and 5x7's.

Next we will look at printing on line or store. There are two ways to do this, you can either sign up on-line through a retailer such as Walgreens and upload your photos, choose which ones you want and then pick them up at the store, or you can actually take your card or camera to the store and have them print them right then and there. I have lately seen some kiosks in stores where you actually get to print on the spot and no waiting either for one hour or for them to print and ship. These prints however, are more expensive and will generally run you anywhere from $0.19-0.30 per print . One of the companies that I usually go through to get prints is Shutterfly. They are about $0.19 per print but if you can't find a free shipping coupon, then you are stuck paying shipping on your photos. One time I ordered over 100 prints and shipping was around $12.00 because at that time you could not pick up your pictures at the store. With Walgreens, CVS, and Wal-Mart you can upload your prints on-line and within a hour you can have them available to pick up at the store (free store pick-up). Not only this, but you do not have to pay the upfront cost of a printer so you are free to use that money towards your prints. Secondly, unlike a printer if you run out of ink, you can still print your photos and don't have to wait for ink to come (if you buy it on-line). With printing at a store, you are guaranteed to be able to print and pick them up with an hour if the store hours are in that time frame. The pros of printing at a store are somewhat cheaper prints, no upfront cost of a printer, able to print bigger then 5x7's, never run out of paper or ink. The cons are not being able to have your prints right away, having to go to the store and pick up your items, waiting in long lines, and somewhat more expensive prints if you want them faster.

So let's talk about quality between the two of them as a lot of people thinking printing at a store you still produce much better results then printing them from a photo printer. After my best test, I have to say that you can get just as good quality of prints printing at home as you could picking them up at the store, if not better. The cartridges for the printer are made of special ink which will dry within seconds of being released so once you touch the photo, there isn't a chance for the photo to smear. As long as you use their paper it's made to be water resistant and your photos are guaranteed to last up to 75 years if not longer. With printing in the store, you also get prints that are of great quality and are suppose to last you a long time. Usually there is a guarantee of some sort to have your pictures protected in case of fading.

Which one is better and more cost effective? Well it really depends upon the person and if you want to fork over the money for a photo printer (or if you have the money for one) or go to the store. For each person it's different and every person has different needs than the next person. For me, I would have to say I like printing my prints myself, but I know others that printing them at the store or on-line works just fine for them.