Home printing...

[Codebreaker]

Let me just clarify the situation in respect of monitor calibration and profiling. Whatever you calibrate your monitor too will have no direct affect on your print. You do not print what you see on the screen but from the data held in the computers memory. In other words if you print an image directly that you have not edited in anyway then the screen settings have no affect on the result.

The importance of calibrating and profiling your monitor is to accurately render on screen the image, consistently, so that you can then make a valid judgement about what needs adjusting, if anything. If you make adjustments, e.g contrast, brightness, hue/saturation etc without setting up your monitor accurately you may well be editing screen problems rather than image problems.

Second point to remember is that the colour range of a screen may well be different from that of the printer/ink/paper you use. Same image on different papers can appear quite different. Also add to this the fact that screens transmit light and prints are viewed by reflected light and if the light source is too dim or bright or the wrong temperature this can affect the appearance.

In respect of home printing, I long ago gave up on labs and prefer to print my own. Ok, I'm somewhat a control freak but I find that I can control the consistency of the results. I view prints under a 65K lamp with CRI of 95% and they pretty much match the screen. But I don't get hung up on the screen v print match in respect of colour as long as I like the result. After all I'm never going to match the two again once printed.

Downsides of home printing is that unless you print regularly the printer can get clogged and can be expensive; in terms of ink, to clear. (A situation I'm currently in :-( ). Inks can be expensive but I use Lyson inks in my R2400 which are about 1/3rd the price of the Epson originals. It pays to get custom profiles for your printer/ink/paper combo and if you use lots of different types of paper this may also incur extra cost.

In summary, once you get the 'formula' right for printing at home, in my opinion its much better.

[Ianhoward]

Chris
this conversation thread is so old now that my penny-worth of in-put has doubtless been devalued even further. However, printing your own pics offers a degree of satisfaction that would be totally absent if a lab. or anyone else carried out this task. And this counts for me.
Cost of ink is an issue - but I find my Epson 1500W produces satisfactory prints using CIS refillable bottles and are MUCH cheaper than Epson inks.
As for monitor calibration - this does need to be carried out, and I do so every couple of weeks - but then the printer also needs to be calibrated.
Howard

[Clactonian]

Manfred's advice is spot on and I would only add that the joy of achieving a beautiful print at home is only matched by watching an image appear in the developing tray in the wet darkroom. It is the part of the process that squares the circle. Yes the learning period can be expensive but once you have achieved the skills, and it won't take long with all the good advice on this forum and on the web generally (look on YouTube) it is not too expensive but oh so rewarding.
It's at that point that the real fun begins, experimenting with different papers, not just matt, gloss or satin but from different manufacturers, you'll be amazed how different an image can look.

[DanK]

Manfred's advice is spot on and I would only add that the joy of achieving a beautiful print at home is only matched by watching an image appear in the developing tray in the wet darkroom. It is the part of the process that squares the circle. Yes the learning period can be expensive but once you have achieved the skills, and it won't take long with all the good advice on this forum and on the web generally (look on YouTube) it is not too expensive but oh so rewarding.
It's at that point that the real fun begins, experimenting with different papers, not just matt, gloss or satin but from different manufacturers, you'll be amazed how different an image can look.

I completely agree. Another serious amateur I know put it simply: it all depends on whether you find printing your own to be frustrating or gratifying. I found it frustrating for a short time, but since I got the hang of it, I have enjoyed it, and I haven't used a lab for years except for things I can't do myself, e.g., metal prints and books.

Once I had figured out how to make my printer work, how to use ICC profiles, etc., I bought sampler boxes of different papers from two good companies, Moab and Red River. I had a great time experimenting with different combinations of paper and type of image. You are in the UK, so you may not have those specific options, but I would hope that at least a few reputable vendors have have sample packs. If not, you may be able to work out something with a local club, or with friends, where you split up a few boxes of paper.

[Manfred M]

I would only add that the joy of achieving a beautiful print at home is only matched by watching an image appear in the developing tray in the wet darkroom.

Unfortunately, that only holds true for B&W prints, as the photo papers are orthochromatic and are insensitive to the red / yellow end of the spectrum. This is of course why safe lights were red or amber coloured.

Colour negative and positive papers are panchromatic (sensitive to all wavelengths), so that meant working in total darkness when exposing the print. Processing was in drum processors (I started with manually agitated ones and eventually bought a mechanical drum agitator that did the rotating for me). There you only saw your results after the print was processed and dried (wet paper had a colour cast).