Re: New paper(atten: Jerry Olson and all)

[David Spellman <david@photopro.com>]

    Our lab, Alfa Color Lab in Gardena, CA, charges around $20 for an
excellent machine-type print. The price goes up from there, with custom
features like retouching, print retouching, airbrushing, custom hand
enlargement (burning, dodging), etc, adding sometimes significant amounts.
    Obviously they make a profit on the machine print because the costs of
their materials are fairly low, given the volume of each (paper and
chemistry) that they use on a daily basis, and their efficiency in getting a
good print. Same goes for their labor -- they've invested in some fairly
sophisticated video analyzers that make the likelihood of getting a good
print first time out of the box a lot higher, and the processing machines
run a lot of paper very quickly. That makes for more efficient use of their
labor force.

    The situation and cost would change a lot if were were talking about
someone doing tray or drum-based color processing with only an enlarger,
color head, and a basic color-meter-based color analyzer. You'll have a
higher per-sheet cost for paper and chemistry, and a larger waste factor, as
well as a much higher labor cost per print, since only a single print would
be processed at a time.

    The latter situation would be more analogous to someone making a few
prints on a small Epson. Materials costs (paper and ink) are going to be
higher not only because of the far smaller volume being used, but also
because of the higher levels of wastage due to proofing. The labor factor
will also be disproportionately high compared to what an efficient color lab
can do.
    On the other hand,  I think that you'd find that a large service bureau
running a lot of paper and ink on a daily basis, with a thoroughy dialed-in
color management system and some big, fast, efficient printers, will be able
to offer 16 x 20 prints a LOT cheaper and still make a profit.

    david




Karen Ernest wrote:

> Just curious, what does a 16x20 print at a custom lab go for these days?
>
> Karen
>
> Peter Stewart wrote:
> >
> > Jerry,
> > I'm in your camp; these papers are far and away too expensive. Doing
> > 16x20 photographic prints, I have to make proof prints to examine
> > problems in detail before delivering a final product. At $5-6 per sheet
> > of paper, plus ink costs, it's flat unaffordable; you can't sell prints
> > to customers at high enough prices to justify this.
> >
> > Peter Stewart
>

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