Re: Printer and paper advice

Sorry, I've just consulted the 'Unc' and apparently HP Everyday Semi-gloss
is a lightweight photographic paper. See
http://www.pcwb.com/catalogue/item/HPQ5451A?speedtrapid=froogle&lead=froogle

Dan

"Chris Whelan" <cawhelan@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:xNPfi.4391$nE2.1310@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Chris Whelan" <cawhelan@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Daniel Molloy wrote:

Now here's the thing. My uncle has just arrived from NZ with all his
photos cropped and annotated, about 5 or 6 to each A4 page, printed
on
Hp
Everyday semi gloss paper, and neatly inserted into see-through PVC
files
and subsequently put into albums for display.

Up till now, I've scanned and saved all our family photos digitally,
but who wants to pass round a heavy old laptop?

Hopefully, you also have them backed up to an external hard drive, or
to
optical media?

If I wanted to do the same as my uncle, and presumably it would be
more
economical to have an inkjet printer whose individual colour
cartridges
could be changed, what printer would people recommend?

Canon and HP get most people's votes around here. I've always been
happy
with the various Canon models I've had over the years. You will need a
printer that is specifically designed for photo printing; these have at
least six ink tanks.

Bear in mind that if you have more than a few photos, this will be an
expensive enterprise.

I'm guessing you are not looking for archival results. If I'm wrong in
that
respect, you would need to do a lot of research. Some inkjet prints
start
to fade in a surprisingly short space of time.

There are several alternatives to consider. Firstly, you could create
the
A4
print layouts in whatever editor you intend to use, then upload them to
an online printing service. They use a different (better) process to
inkjet, and results are very good. As an example of costs,
www.photobox.co.uk will do A4's for £1.20 a *** if you are ordering
20
or more. I can vouch for the excellent quality and service they
provide.

Secondly, if your intended audience have PC's, you could upload your
photos
to a personal website. If you wanted to create your own personal
website,
it's much easier than might be imagined. For example, you can create a
slideshow with Photoshop Elements. Your ISP might already give you some
free webspace. This is what I do when I have been to a family event. It
became too expensive to distribute hard copies to everyone!

Finally, a company like Photobox will let you store and share your
photos. (There are plenty of others; I only suggest them through my own
good
experience.) Sharing can be either restricted to those you allow, or
to
the rest of the world. Those viewing your photos will have the option
to
order prints if required, all without bothering you!

Presumably, the paper would be easy to source.

Reasonably so, but my advice would always be to use the paper made by
the
printer manufacturer. It's unlikely that third party paper will give
the
best results.

Should I stick this post in any other newsgroup as well?

Only if you don't get the help you need here :-)

Chris


Daniel Molloy wrote:

Chris,
Thanks for the lengthy answer. Much appreciated.

However, if I print 4 or 5 photos on non photographic A4 paper, it
should
cost me a hell of a lot less than £1.20 a ***. It costs my Uncle
approx
$20.00 NZ for 100 sheets of Hp Everyday semi-gloss. I'll take a look at
the archives for printer models.

Dan

Bear in mind the total cost of printing. That is, the cost of the printer
over its lifetime, which can be fairly short where domestic inkjets are
concerned, and the consumables.

Even if you use non-photo paper, the ink cost will still be the same. This
can be considerable if you intend to print lots of A4. I also find I waste
quite a few pages when I start this type of project, until I get the
various settings as I want them.

If I was in your position, I would want to print them myself. Just don't
make the mistake that it will be cheap!

Let the group know how you get on.

Chris

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Remove prejudice to reply.


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