Q: For some time i have been thinking about buying a photo printer and printing all my photos from home. I have been curious about the quality of the prints that are made from home. I have always been afraid about the smudging. Is this even a problem to worry about anymore? Also, around here (oklahoma) a 4x6 print costs about 20 cents to have a photo developer print them. I have around 500 to print off, and growing! (I had almost 1,000, but went thru and decided which to keep and which to discard). With this amount of photos would it be worth the cost of the printer, ink, and photo paper for me to do everything at home? Will I be sacrificing quality, or are the home printed photos just as good? Is there a brand/model of printer or paper you recommend. Anyone who owns a photo printer, please be sure to include which model you use and what kind of paper, with costs if possible. I already have a regular printer. I am refering specifically about photo printers
A: Hi. I own a Brother MFC 230-c Photo Printer. First off, if youre gonna buy a printer, I would buy the all-in-one that has copier, fax, scan and all that. Ink for my printer is around 50 dollars, im guessing, and photo paper can be found at the dollar store 10 sheets. I was able to print maybe 100 pictures( not all on photo paper) before my ink started running low. So if you're printing large numbers of pics, NO to the printer. Don't waste your ink. Go to the store and print 'em. But still, it's really good to have a printer for an occasional picture or two, or to print reports and such. With ink, the blue dies out first, then yellow, red and black. Buy a printer with individual ink cartridges, not the all in one ink cartridge. So print your 500 pictures at the store, and save the printer for when you need a small print job. The pictures don't usually smudge, just take them out and let them dry. Print quality is a bit lower then at the store, so important pics should be from store. You will have to experiment with your printer and adjust certain settings. Overall, I am glad to have a printer, and everyone should have one for when they REALLY need it.