The Hidden Costs of DIY Printing

If companies like Kodak really want us to buy their printers to make prints, then they're going to have to think a bit harder about making it an economical choice. This epiphany came to me as I sat down to print some family photos on Kodak's new EasyShare printer. Don't get me wrong—the new EasyShare G600 printer is marvelous. It's a dye-sublimation printer that lets you dock your Kodak camera or use a variety of transfer options from USB or memory cards. The printer is compact (it even has a carrying handle and can run on optional batteries) and does simple editing, including red-eye reduction. The dye-sublimation technology prints gorgeous 4x6 photos, and it's a cinch to use.

But if you do any sort of cost calculation, you'd need your head examined to use it.

I learned this the hard way when a friend with a new baby and a new Kodak EasyShare camera stopped by to show off the camera (and the baby). "Hey," I said, "I'm looking at the EasyShare G600 printer docking station for a review right now. I could make you a print and see how it looks." Famous last words. It turns out that I had already made eight prints, and my demo pack and ink cartridge were used up.

Eight prints from one ink cartridge? It turns out that one of the "features" of the new Kodak docking station printer is that each package of paper has an ink cartridge that's good for—get this—just as many pieces of paper as are in the package. My eight-pack was gone, and so was my ink (despite the fact that I had plenty of 4x6 photo paper at home).

You can get larger packs of ink/paper, but because every cartridge and paper pack lasts just as long as the paper, it was easy for me to figure out what a print costs. A replacement Kodak Photo Paper Kit with 50 sheets of paper and the ink cartridge is available for $25. That's 50 cents a print. Yikes! I went to Kodak EasyShare PhotoGallery to check the price of ordering 4x6 prints online, and it was only 15 cents a print. At rival online service Snapfish, a 4x6 print is 12 cents, with the first 20 prints free for new members. At Walgreens, prints also cost about 12 cents each, but if you submit online you can pick up the photos an hour later at a store near you. And in-store kiosks at places such as Wal-Mart and CVS, where you stand at the photo kiosk in the store, insert your memory card, and make your prints, are also under 15 cents a print.

Sure, there are advantages to having your own printer and immediate gratification, but there are advantages to using online services, too, such as sharing your photos with far-flung relatives immediately and getting free storage space. While Kodak's newest printer makes it really simple to print fabulous photos, I'd say the pricing scheme needs further investigation. What about you? Are you printing at home or using the online services or in-store kiosks?

Related Link:

See a review of the Kodak V705 camera and the G600 printer dock.