R2K Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 How many prints u guys make on ur lab on a daily basis? I make only <300 prints and i own a drylab : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colopt Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 Not enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philspectrum Posted April 6, 2010 Report Share Posted April 6, 2010 We do 300-1200 wetlab, about 50 dyesub kiosk, and maybe about 5 on our wide format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotovg Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 i do 400 in but days and up to 2000 in good days, normaly is about 1200 per day. and not so many large format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 We have customers that do from 80 000 prints(school/event labs) down to the regular busy lab 30 000 prints and the average labs 10 to 20 000 prints per month. This is based on chemistry consumption they use per month. All these customers also have instant print solutions with a relitively low turnover depending on geographical area/location and if they are located close to drivers license/passport offices. Only a handfull of the labs turn out larger volumes on the large format and or canvas/mugs/tshirts/mouse pads etc. The customers that have a studio combination make a definite profit margin with having an wet/dry and large format as well as alternative services available on site. Photobook labs that make the highest margin use a combination of all the above and Xerox or other general and bookbinding onsite with proper workflow and colour management . Also get to stretch your own canvas onsite for better margins. Peoples perception of needing to print their pictures have changed, your shopping bag that they take home needs to change - forget making profit or a liiving on 6 x 4 prints. March 2010 saw three more labs closing in the area we serve On the plus side there are now many good used digital labs available at prices not imagined before which makes wet lab a profitable option. Ignatius Labcare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEP Posted August 22, 2010 Report Share Posted August 22, 2010 My friends shop have a wet-lab (qss-30001) and do the following amounts (approx.) (It's a one man shop where I may start doing/add a 1/4 to the workforce: In case you're wondering it is a one man shop up until now. Daily figures From negatives: 200-500 (10x15cm / 4"x6") Digital: 500 - 1500 (10x15cm / 4"x6") (from kiosk and sticks) Quite often this will be some of "big" orders anywhere between 500 to 2000. (This is the reason he needs some extra workforce) "Big" prints (in shop max 20x30 cm) mostly 13x18cm and 20x30cm This varies quite a lot and mostly comes in bunches. With a little more effort (sales) he could do more of these. Prints bigger than 20x30cm plus canvas prints goes out of the house (but he still catches a 30% profit on those). He doesn't promote these a lot though. One question though, isn't it OK to make 30 procent on these products even if they're not in house as these products isn't giving him an extra workload ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted August 22, 2010 Report Share Posted August 22, 2010 YEP, those are some pretty good numbers for Film & Digital. If he's averaging those minimum numbers every day, he's doing much better than we are and we're down to 2 employees (me plus one). Average 400 prints / day, with about 2-7 wide-format prints / month Don't feel sorry about 30%. 20x30cm is pretty small (7.8" x 11.8") We sell 20"x30" for $45 and cost (on average) is about 1/10 of that. You tell me if it's OK. :-) Before we got our 24" printer, we'd do 50-60% profit on enlargements. You've got to figure in time to scan/upload/retrieve them. We bought a 24" wide format printer about 2 years ago. With good name brand bulk ink (not OEM) and have been very happy with it. Ink2Image or InkJetMall, they're both very good. We do gicleé and canvas prints on it, and mount or wrap our canvas. I'm very happy with it as we also print our own signage and can also do banners for customers. GET ONE ! Only thing I'm unhappy with is I should have gotten a bigger printer and made the space for it ! I'd like to have a big 40x60" print on our walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jvc1986 Posted August 22, 2010 Report Share Posted August 22, 2010 We do apx 1200-2500 prints per day now in summer season, wetlab, apx 15000 people in town During the slower times (winter, early spring) apx 700-1500 prints per day. Wide format/canvas varies alot, from 0 to maybe 5 a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Noritsu Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Our current average is 2400 prints a day, roughly 60% digital and 40% film. The average is currently growing as our film processing increases. We also got an order today for 8000 6x4 prints from 1 digital file! I widsh there were more of them!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R2K Posted August 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2010 ^^ good god !!!what is it worth? I don't make that much in a month......We survive only on passport photos + photocopy/printing + portrait photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEP Posted September 4, 2010 Report Share Posted September 4, 2010 YEP, those are some pretty good numbers for Film & Digital. If he's averaging those minimum numbers every day, he's doing much better than we are and we're down to 2 employees (me plus one). Average 400 prints / day, with about 2-7 wide-format prints / month Don't feel sorry about 30%. 20x30cm is pretty small (7.8" x 11.8") We sell 20"x30" for $45 and cost (on average) is about 1/10 of that. You tell me if it's OK. :-) Before we got our 24" printer, we'd do 50-60% profit on enlargements. You've got to figure in time to scan/upload/retrieve them. We bought a 24" wide format printer about 2 years ago. With good name brand bulk ink (not OEM) and have been very happy with it. Ink2Image or InkJetMall, they're both very good. We do gicleé and canvas prints on it, and mount or wrap our canvas. I'm very happy with it as we also print our own signage and can also do banners for customers. GET ONE ! Only thing I'm unhappy with is I should have gotten a bigger printer and made the space for it ! I'd like to have a big 40x60" print on our walls. OH he matches the minimums very easily. The shop has the best rep for picture-quality in town (50K+ inhab.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEP Posted September 7, 2010 Report Share Posted September 7, 2010 YEP, those are some pretty good numbers for Film & Digital. If he's averaging those minimum numbers every day, he's doing much better than we are and we're down to 2 employees (me plus one). Average 400 prints / day, with about 2-7 wide-format prints / month Don't feel sorry about 30%. 20x30cm is pretty small (7.8" x 11.8") We sell 20"x30" for $45 and cost (on average) is about 1/10 of that. You tell me if it's OK. :-) Before we got our 24" printer, we'd do 50-60% profit on enlargements. You've got to figure in time to scan/upload/retrieve them. We bought a 24" wide format printer about 2 years ago. With good name brand bulk ink (not OEM) and have been very happy with it. Ink2Image or InkJetMall, they're both very good. We do gicleé and canvas prints on it, and mount or wrap our canvas. I'm very happy with it as we also print our own signage and can also do banners for customers. GET ONE ! Only thing I'm unhappy with is I should have gotten a bigger printer and made the space for it ! I'd like to have a big 40x60" print on our walls. Well P-Spectrum mentions a list of skills/features one should/would like to have around in a shop and my 1/4 effort will provide what he lack at the PC-front all the way and then some. And given it's a fun projects I'm jumping in with my tech and IT skills (hardware as well as software wise). Next on the horizon is to get a nice inkjet ...we're currently keeping an eye on the new 7900/9900 from Epson and some reasonable priced RIP software BTW we have 8000 to 10.000 pictures waiting because of our fun with the paper-advance-unit of the3001. The fun starts tomorrow morning add to that what will come every day the rest of the week on top Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philspectrum Posted September 8, 2010 Report Share Posted September 8, 2010 Hi YEP, we had an Epson 7600 for nearly 9 years. paid for iteslf every couple of months. I made way more profit from it costing 2500 9 years ago than i did from my 3001 costing about 75000 at the same time. Don't think, get one now ! I used to have a RIP - Shiraz, then a Green box from fuji. WE stopped using the Shiraz because the pc was stolen along with the usb dongle. I got my insurance money, and never replaced it, happy to print from Photoshop, Corel, Powerpoint etc using the windows driver. If you are gonna print zillions of prints and need nesting and automated colours and size management and keep it printing all night long then maybe a rip is a good idea, but IF you were gonna do that stuff then you should have got a 24" printer years ago....... Get one now. then you will have a month or so to play with it, do some loverly new shop display and POS and canvas samples and be ready for christmas. This is a no-brainer, you may have bought some crap kit in your time, but a 24"/60cm epson, or hp printer is essential. Personally I think 24" is big enough, as A2 / 18x24 is the most popular size, but some will disagree. Get a new one, use genuine inks and good media, don't even think about Bulk ink unless you know you are doing over a roll of media a week. You will kick yourself for not investing years ago ! Ha Ha ! P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEP Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 That's what I told my friend (the owner of the shop) .... NO-BRAINER. He might go with a bigger one though and the price-tag of a 9900 is a bit more nasty How long is a roll of media ? Sheets matters too, but I've read about a lot of trouble with sheets, what's the story on this ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dave Posted September 9, 2010 Report Share Posted September 9, 2010 YEP, I will have to agree with Philspectrum - Start with a 24" printer with OEM inks. You can decide later if you need bulk inks. Yes, I want a bigger printer, but have NO space for it. I've stayed away from the sheets and bought only rolls. Lower cost per print. Roll lengths anywhere from 60 to 100 feet depending on type and thickness of media. Optional: Get an extra spindle (or 2) to hold rolls so you can change from Photopaper to Canvas and vinyls or proofing papers quickly. (we use cheap single weight matte paper for signage and store displays) Also get a good knife, cutting mat, 30+" cutter and 30+" straight edge/ruler - these make life a lot easier. I have a 24" straightedge and it's pretty good, but wish I had bought the 30". Forget the RIP, We just use Photoshop. Get a ColorMunki (Design edition) and you can calibrate your monitor and printer and not worry about color issues. (In the printer driver setup all your print dimensions for easy printing from Photoshop in all the various sizes you may print). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YEP Posted September 10, 2010 Report Share Posted September 10, 2010 Hi YEP, we had an Epson 7600 for nearly 9 years. paid for iteslf every couple of months. I made way more profit from it costing 2500 9 years ago than i did from my 3001 costing about 75000 at the same time. Don't think, get one now ! I used to have a RIP - Shiraz, then a Green box from fuji. WE stopped using the Shiraz because the pc was stolen along with the usb dongle. I got my insurance money, and never replaced it, happy to print from Photoshop, Corel, Powerpoint etc using the windows driver. If you are gonna print zillions of prints and need nesting and automated colours and size management and keep it printing all night long then maybe a rip is a good idea, but IF you were gonna do that stuff then you should have got a 24" printer years ago....... Get one now. then you will have a month or so to play with it, do some loverly new shop display and POS and canvas samples and be ready for christmas. This is a no-brainer, you may have bought some crap kit in your time, but a 24"/60cm epson, or hp printer is essential. Personally I think 24" is big enough, as A2 / 18x24 is the most popular size, but some will disagree. Get a new one, use genuine inks and good media, don't even think about Bulk ink unless you know you are doing over a roll of media a week. You will kick yourself for not investing years ago ! Ha Ha ! P Well had I been in the picture 9 years ago I would have told him to get one you can bet on that. I have some CAD expertise and certification so if I didn't bring up questions about the pros/cons of RIP I would have failed. Now you guys cleared the path and told me what amount of output would benefit from having RIP around in this context Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.