Do You print? I do.

paulr

I have a Epson pro 7880 which is quite old now. I print sometimes only once a month depending on client demand. The printer is set to nozzle clean every time and what I see on my calibrated screen is what I get on the printer. However there is a local print shop ProAm in Yorkshire who do A3 prints for £1 23. this makes a mockery of self printing. I cannot buy the paper for that.The only reason I do my own printing is just its there and convenient, it is certainly not cost effective.

SouthSideScubaSteve

This is slightly off topic, but in the neighborhood so I'll ask: What's the best option for "frameless" mounting & display of prints ??

I've got local shop that prints at reasonable prices, but they want a small fortune to mount them on what appears to be foamcore board and attach a loop for hanging to the back ....

Any of you do your own mounting? If so, what do you use for the backing and what is your prefered adhesive ?

WestEndFoto

Excellent question SouthSideScubaSteve. I would love to hear what people have to say about this.

WestEndFoto

WestEndFoto said:

Does anybody think that there is a better option than the Epson P800 (that fits on a table)?

Thank you Paulr, that is an excellent point. Your strategy is certainly one of my options. We have a very good printer in Vancouver called Tricera that I go to. Another one called Opus with several locations is Meh.

Does anybody have any thoughts if there is a printer superior to an Epson P800 that will fit on a desk? Perhaps a Canon? Or is Epson is good as I am going to get?

paulr

Looking at the spec of the P800 it looks very good, am I right in thinking 17inch is the maximum width roll paper it can take?

WestEndFoto

Yes, I would like more, but then it seems I am looking at floor standing models. It will take considerably longer however.

The size will accommodate most of my printing. However, I will probably print half a dozen per year in something like 36 by 48 inch.

vtc2002

@SouthSideScubaSteve I use two companies for frameless prints.
FractureMe (fractureme.com) they are located in Gainesville, Florida. They print directly on glass. The glass with the backing to hang the picture is about 9/32 of an inch. The mount allows the photo to be tight against the wall. It has a very clean and minimalists look to it. I get a lot of request for these. You can order a sample to see if you like it before you buy one. I have a business account with them but they routinely run specials where you can get 15 to 25% off. My only issue with the product is that depending on the light you can get glare on the image. I have talked with their R&D department and they are looking into printing on non glare glass. They could not commit to if and when they may offer this as an option.

CPQ (cpq.com)they are located in Cleveland, TN and they have a number of frameless options. They are real easy to work with and if something is not right they will make it right. One that has been very popular and I get a lot of requests for is what hey call a Softwrap. This is a screenshot from their catalog of the Software. The Software Wrap on canvas produces beautiful results.

SouthSideScubaSteve

@vtc2002 Thanks for the referals, I'll check them out...

SouthSideScubaSteve

So, nobody on the Forum is doing their own mounting of prints to substrates for hanging ??

vtc2002

@SouthSideScubaSteve I should have added that I did up until a couple years ago when some of the professional shops prices dropped to the point that factoring in my time they could do it cheaper and it freed me up to spend time with my family or to be out taking photos.

MegapixelSchnitzel

I love to see work in print (especially my own!). A well-executed print has a character all its own. If all you want to do is post to a website or show off a snap on a phone, why even waste money on a DSLR? Even small prints have an advantage: when the EMP comes and all your electronics are wiped, that box of prints will become heirlooms for all of us.

spraynpray

If there are any of us left...

DenverShooter

spraynpray said:

If there are any of us left...

LOLROF

Very Very Funny!

Denver Shooter

Ton14

Yes, with the Epson XP-950 (A3 max). Put them in a 40 x 50 cm (sorry metric) passe-partout. Print direct from LR. Colors are (nearly) perfect, just my own visible check, because nothing is more subjective then color.

For Bigger then A3 prints I have a good studio.

Put them next to me on the wall and the one who last for more the 2 days, well .....

Andrew help me out, what is the difference between "colour" and "color".

spraynpray

Colour is English, Color is the mangled (American) version. Same thing Ton.

DenverShooter

spraynpray said:

Colour is English, Color is the mangled (American) version. Same thing Ton.

LOLROF

Denver Shooter

WestEndFoto

Us Canadian have not modernized either. We us "colour".

donaldejose

Both the British and the Canadians are more civilized than the Americans. But, for some unknown reason which I expect is a genetic selection for aggressiveness due to vast immigration and a non-conformist society, it seems the Americans are the most innovative people on earth. Asians iterate much better than most other peoples on earth but don't innovate as well as Americans. Africa seems to have been left behind which is very odd since all humans originated in Africa so they had the longest time in which to achieve the greatest progress but they have not done so.

Ton14

Thanks Andrew, @DenverShooter I looked up what LOLROF is. @WestEndFoto fun I like 2017 already.

jimmyboy

Once in a great while I'll print. Canon 9000 MK ll bought this model as soon it came out. 2007? Ink & paper is gone out of sight. Keeps on going up & up on price. I've been buying ink on e-bay to save. Even that ain't cheap anymore. I used to buy it at B&H 2 years back complete 8 pack kit for $82.00 now it's $137.00. It really has to be great shot for me to print it, which is far in-between for me.

NSXTypeR

I've always had an HP all in one printer and I have photo paper to print from occasionally. However, I'm fed up with buying inkjet cartridges. I had a brand new black XL cartridge that either dried up or truly ran out of ink within 2 months of use after printing maybe 5-6 pages.

It makes more sense to buy from Snapfish or other online photo printing services and to buy a laser printer for black and white home use. The last laser printer I bought was a Brother all in one that cost maybe $75 after some gift cards, but normally hovers around $100 if it's on sale. If I were to buy a new set of color and black and white cartridges, each time it would cost maybe $40 anyway.

MegapixelSchnitzel

spraynpray said:

Colour is English, Color is the mangled (American) version. Same thing Ton.

We're thinking of changing it to "Kolor" soon.

Snowleopard

I print 16x20's of my top 5 photo's each month. Epson only.

Symphotic

WestEndFoto said:

Does anybody think that there is a better option than the Epson P800 (that fits on a table)?

Yesterday I replaced my Canon Pro9500II with an Epson P800. I just got tired of the fiddling the Canon required to get good color rendition and the price of the Epson seemed to be excellent.

What a difference! The Epson is much easier to use, and seems to give results that look more like my monitor with less fine tuning. I printed some family photos without bothering to recalibrate my monitor before finalizing for print. The skin tones are much more natural than I was getting with the 9500, and the prints looked great on the first try. We are running out of refrigerator magnets to hold the new grandchildren photos.

The Epson is a somewhat larger, but I don't have to put it within a USB cable's length of my computer as it connects through my network, so I am free to put it out of the way.

I haven't done 13 x 19 sized prints yet: that's up next. Then well try the high speed mode for work illustrations.

WestEndFoto

Let me know how you like it.