Is it worth owning a small-format printer?

[PSA DC-9-30]

I have several hundred photos from a recent trip to Russia that my wife and I want to print at 4 x 6" size for an album. (We're also doing a few dozen larger prints for the album and larger ones for our walls, but these will be done on a high end injket with pigment inks.)

Anyway, I don't own an inkjet at present and was wondering what the best option for this should be. I could take them to the local lab which does traditional chemical prints, or I could buy a small, inexpensive photo printer. Anyway, I'm aware of high ink costs in small, cheap printers, but some claim to have a unit cost or around 25 cents for a single 4x6.

Anyway, my two main concerns are:

Do you think a small-format four ink cartridge model would give comparable image quality to a traditional chemical print?

Is is possible to get an icc color profile for such a printer, so I can do some kind of reasonable soft-proofing?

[DarkPenguin]

The reason god invented wallgreens was 4x6 prints.  Send em out.  You might even be able to find profiles for some of the online print houses.

(The little dedicated 4x6 printers are quite nice but aren't really meant for mass production.)

[Misirlou]

Lots of 8 1/2 X 11 printers have good 4 X 6 options. I've got a nice old HP 7960 that I normally use for 8 1/2 X 11 black and white, that has a seperate tray for 4 X 6 paper. I just leave a whole stack of 4 X 6 in there for printing color snapshots.

It also has slots for all of the common flash card types, and a little color LCD screen. You can plug the card in and print directly from the printer, without involving a computer. It even allows for some rudimentary adjustments to color, contrast, cropping, etc.

It can be profiled like any other printer, but then you have to print from the computer.

[Ken Bennett]

Send 'em out. Costco, Walgreens, Sam's Club, Wal-Mart. Even some of the on-line options are good. As long as they are in sRGB and you've had a few test prints made, you should be fine.

You may be able to get the paper/ink cost to .25c for a 4x6 printer, but that doesn't include the amortized cost of the printer itself, all the bad prints you throw away, or any of the many, many hours you will spend doing this. My local Costco is .19c per print, and my local "pro" lab is .24c for bulk orders. And I don't have to stand there while they print them.

We're in the process of organizing 20 years or so of family photos, and I have a folder with over 800  4x6 files. You bet they're going out for printing.

--Ken

[fike]

I have small medium and large printers: Epson PictureMate 4x6, Epson 2400 13x19, and epson 7880 24xN.  they look really cute lined up together here. ;-)

I like the control and convenience of the small format printer.  The new ones include a USB2 flash card reader.

So count me as one vote for yes.  I just queue up 20 or 30 images and walk away.  It is also good for small stuff like passport pictures.  When my other printers are loaded with fine art matte paper, I am able to get snapshots out for passing around at family functions.  

minilabs are fine too, but I am a control freak.

[jerryrock]

Printing large numbers of photos on a small format printer is just cost prohibitive. While the printer prices are relatively low, the ink for these printers is extremely expensive. The small ink cartridges with minute ink capacity makes the cost per print 3 or 4 times that of a larger format or commercial printer.

This is not factoring in the learning curve, color calibration and slow print speeds of these consumer grade printers.

[fike]

Printing large numbers of photos on a small format printer is just cost prohibitive. While the printer prices are relatively low, the ink for these printers is extremely expensive. The small ink cartridges with minute ink capacity makes the cost per print 3 or 4 times that of a larger format or commercial printer.

This is not factoring in the learning curve, color calibration and slow print speeds of these consumer grade printers.
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The Epson PictureMate 4x6 prints are about $0.30 each.  It is more expensive, but I like the convenience and control.  We aren't talking about vast sums of money in most households.  I may print 200 4x6 prints a year with this thing.  That is about $60 per year plus the initial price of the printer~$80.  These just aren't the big numbers that make me look to saving pennies here and there.  

What is the expression that describes this...."Don't be penny wise and pound foolish."

On the other hand, with my 2400, I have been spending $500 or $600 a year on ink for larger prints.  Cutting that number in half with a large format printer is worth my effort.

Besides, they are cute little things.

[jjlphoto]

Me spend precious time away from my business and family making piddly little 4x6's en'mass? No way. In my area, I can upload directly to the lab (Fuji Frontier) and pick them up same day or next for .15 each.