One of the questions one has when they acquire a digital camera is "how do I get prints?" All of us are accustomed to good quality photographic prints from our film that we used to get processed and when we move to digital photography we still want to have decent prints.

One of the most popular methods is simply to send the picture file to
"print" on your computer and it then sends the file to your attached printer - probably an economical ink-jet model. The results in most cases are not as pleasing as one might have hoped for. That probably means that one would put a photo quality printer on their Christmas list or spring for one with their Christmas gift money, but what should you buy and what is it really going to cost you to make those prints?

Many people have opted for the ink-jet photo quality printers on the
market. There are a number of them available now and they are designed for the person with the digital camera who wants prints now, not later. The quality is reasonably good but the cost is expensive. Some run 80 cents to $1 per print and we must remember that these are still ink-jet prints and they are not guaranteed to last for a long, long time.

One of the reasons you make pictures and get prints is to preserve the
moment for your personal history. I am sure many readers have enjoyed a look through the old family photo album or a box of old prints your parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents left behind. Certainly you would like your photographs to last as well so your descendants can look back and see the images you captured.

Ink-jet and laser prints are not guaranteed to last so they will serve the
purpose for now but not for eternity. That means you have to find a way to make more permanent prints if this is a concern for you.

One of the best quality home-produced prints is with a dye sublimation
printer. These units come with paper and a special ribbon that winds through the printer as each print is made taking the color dyes from the ribbon and transferring it to the paper. A heat process "cures" the image making it permanent. Some dye sublimation printers make prints up to about 4 by 6 inches and cost a couple of hundred dollars. I had one for a school class I taught in photography a few years ago but the drawback was that each print cost about 80 cents to produce. The quality was extremely good but that cost was a killer!

I now use a Kodak professional dye sublimation printer that makes slightly larger than an 8 by 10 inch prints but while the quality is fantastic, the cost is about $4 per 8 by 10 print. The printer sells for about $600. Not everyone is going to be interested in machines that cost this much to buy and to operate.

As you can see, the cost of print materials is a drawback to good quality printers that you can use at home or the office. What then is the answer?

You may be a bit surprised by my answer but what I now do for regular 4 by 6 inch prints is put my digital images onto a CD and then take them either to a local camera store or to Costco or Sams Club and have them make photographic prints for me.

Camera store prices can vary from about 50 cents down per 4x6 print but Costco and Sams seem to have settled on a price of about 19 cents per print for roughly one-hour service. Remember too that these are photographic prints on regular photographic paper that will last just as long as your other photographic prints.

So what is involved in getting prints this way? Nearly all the locations have terminals that will accept your camera card or a CD but one should be very careful not to place your only copy of your pictures into a machine that might foul up and ruin one or more of your picture files or at worse the entire card. Take your camera card home to your computer and download your pictures into a folder on your desktop. I just date the file as "PhotosJuly106" After printing I put all the "Photo" files in one folder and I can find things easily by date. You may want to adjust your pictures once they are downloaded and that is one of the major advantages of digital photography, but even if you don't want to make any adjustments to your pictures you can then burn a CD of that
file or files and then take that CD into the store where you will get your
prints. In this way you have your pictures secure on your own computer and if something happens at the photofinishers you can still get your pictures from the file at home.

When you get to the store you insert your CD or other media into the
terminal and it brings the images up on an index on the screen. You then check off the images you wish printed, the number of prints of each etc. You have selected print size and whether glossy or matte finish if that option is available at that particular location. Once finished the terminal sends your file to their photographic printer and prints you out a slip of paper than tells you the number of prints etc. and your total cost.

In most cases you then take this to the attendant and finalize your order.
When you come back at the appointed time you get a folder full of bright, permanent photographic prints that will probably make you very proud and the cost is very reasonable. Cost is a major factor for many people when it comes to prints and the life of prints is becoming a very important aspect to many as well. This method rates high in both areas.