[MSL]

I could use some input try to resolve a few household and personal needs where one even ties into printing photographs

I have a house full of semi-dead inkjet printers where despite repeated cleaning, the print heads no longer print one or more of the colours. This could be due to infrequent use, the use of cheaper inks etc. But I'm at the stage where I think it best to replace them all rather than tinker. One reason to replace is my kids needs for occasional colour prints.

But I am also thinking about printing some photographs larger (maybe up to 16x24). And that made we wonder two things. 1) How much can you proof a photo on a home printer before you send it to a commercial outfit for printing on metal, canvas, or even a high quality paper? I would guess you could look at things like edges / sharpening / overall contrast, but less so colours or colour accuracy. But I have no experience to go by and 2) Which printer type would be best for occasional home photo printing up to 8x10, occasional kid use, and potentially proofing parts of photos headed for enlargement? Are these needs in conflict with each other?

I guess a broader question from someone who hasn't done any large prints since my film days, is what things should a newbie think about before sending the first image off to a lab for a potentially expensive enlarged print?

[Bob 256]

I have an old Epson which does beautiful work. Epson has discontinued the carts so I fill my own and still get really good results. I have a Canon waiting in the wings when this printer gives up (and it is my second, by the way, after the head on my previous identical model gave up).

Relative to your question, I prefer long term prints to be done with photo-chemical processes because of longevity issues with inkjet dyes (although many inkjets now use pigments with much better results but not quite the same looks as transparent inks). For this reason, I farm my wall prints (some pretty large) to a lab (Nations Photo Lab - no connections to this lab - just one I use). Interestingly, my inkjet prints compare very well to what I get back on their prints so you might consider my printer a means for "proofing" before I commit to a more costly alternative. This works for larger prints that I can't do with my printer so I can look at the smaller output before sending it out for printing in larger scale.

You might run off a "proof" with your printer and then shoot the file to one of these labs for a smaller print and see what and if any differences result. If few exist, you can use your printer as a proofing machine (as long as it continues to work), and you can probably rely on bigger prints being similar to your proofs.

Just the process I so and some food for thought.

[MSL]

You might run off a "proof" with your printer and then shoot the file to one of these labs for a smaller print and see what and if any differences result. If few exist, you can use your printer as a proofing machine (as long as it continues to work), and you can probably rely on bigger prints being similar to your proofs.

This is my thinking, but it ties into my second question as to what type/model of printer might work best for my occasional and diverse needs (my kids don't need photo quality prints all that often )

[UncleVanya]

I have two inkjet printers at home. A dedicated photo printer and an all in one. I wouldn’t do it any other way. The all in one I isn’t great on photos and has limited paper handling. The photo printer is too expensive to run for occasional jobs. My all in one is a Brother. My photo printer is Canon.

[dms]

I had (for 10 years) an epson printer w/ their clara (6 dye) inks and it did very nice prints--actually as good as top end pigment epson printers. Major issue is apparently print longevity, but I have prints 10 years on the wall behind glass and they seem fine.

Epson and Canon make nice printers, but you need--no matter whether the printer is pigments or dyes--to do a test print every 2 weeks or so, to avoid their clogging. I went 10 years w/o a clog, and had my first one about a year after getting a larger pigment ink printer--likely because I let a month go by w/o printing something. Also the pigment inks may be more likely to clog.

I cannot say whether I was just lucky, but that was my experience. I now have my iphone give me a reminder every 2 weeks to do it.

---------- Post added 12-31-20 at 12:52 AM ----------

I don't use (well I did once, no so good) outside printers. When I need larger than I can print I have my college print shop print a slice of the image and I compare to my printer output. They are always essentially the same. I would think you could do the same in your area--find a good print shop and ask them.

[TonyW]

.... One reason to replace is my kids needs for occasional colour prints.

An all in one or better yet a dedicated A4 printer from Canon, Epson etc. will serve very well for most print jobs including the occassional photo quality print. Be aware that the cost of replacement inks can easily be as much as replacing the printer. Ideally look for one that has seperate cartridges for each ink colour e.g. Black, Light Black, Yellow, Magenta and Cyan, as they can potentially save some money on ink when one runs out. Most printers of this nature use dye inks which in theory should potentially be less prone to clogging.

But I am also thinking about printing some photographs larger (maybe up to 16x24). And that made we wonder two things. 1) How much can you proof a photo on a home printer before you send it to a commercial outfit for printing on metal, canvas, or even a high quality paper? I would guess you could look at things like edges / sharpening / overall contrast, but less so colours or colour accuracy. But I have no experience to go by and 2) Which printer type would be best for occasional home photo printing up to 8x10, occasional kid use, and potentially proofing parts of photos headed for enlargement? Are these needs in conflict with each other?

Proofing to a home printer in hopes that the lab will give the same result will require you and the lab to have a fully colour managed workflow. In short calibrated and profiled monitors, software that is colour savvy such as Lightroom or Photoshop and accurate colour profile for your printers and papers which must be the same.

or
Calibrate and Profile your monitor and use soft proofing and output the file from the ICC profile supplied by your lab to make your judgement on monitor.
or
Forget about any pretence of ICC colour management and just send your lab the file type they ask for, most often sRGB sometimes Adobe RGB.

I guess a broader question from someone who hasn't done any large prints since my film days, is what things should a newbie think about before sending the first image off to a lab for a potentially expensive enlarged print?

Hopefully it has been touched on above. For really accurate results you should aim for the second option and you should find that knowledgeable labs have profiles for all the media they use including metal and fine art papers. Many satisfying prints have and are being produced without any attempt at ICC management

EDIT: Although I have not tried them Costco offer what appears to be a colour managed workflow by providing ICC profiles for their printers and papers and I believe ask for the image files to be tagged with the profile

[Alex645]

1) How much can you proof a photo on a home printer before you send it to a commercial outfit for printing on metal, canvas, or even a high quality paper?
2) Which printer type would be best for occasional home photo printing up to 8x10, occasional kid use, and potentially proofing parts of photos headed for enlargement? Are these needs in conflict with each other?

I guess a broader question from someone who hasn't done any large prints since my film days, is what things should a newbie think about before sending the first image off to a lab for a potentially expensive enlarged print?

From years of printing both at home and at labs, both film and digital:

Unless the lab is using the exact same printer, paper, and ink as you are at home, proofing at home cannot be matched in most ways to what is done elsewhere with a different printer, paper, and ink.

With that said, some labs/custom printers will accept a hard copy proof from you as a reference to your expectations in terms of color balance or levels. That's as good as it gets in terms of using a home printer for proofing. The best will then return to you a proof (or two or three) for your approval and this goes back and forth until you approve.

At home (and at work), I've used Epson printers for over 20 years, and have yet had one require repair. Some were heavily used and others only on occasion. Epson makes a huge gamut of paper choices, and of course, you can use third party papers as well. The only con I can think of is the cost of OEM ink, and the game with third party inks trying to keep up with the firmware upgrades that, for the most part, I'd recommend not doing (don't update the firmware other than perhaps when you first buy the printer).

The least expensive model I'd consider is the Epson Expression Photo XP 970:
Epson Expression Photo XP-970 Small-In-One Inkjet C11CH45201 B&H

I use higher end models either for larger print sizes or bigger ink capacity, but they come with a bigger footprint as well.