Reasonable price for online large format printing?

Hello all,

I'm wondering what a decent price is for 24" wide printing, using online file submission. I am printing Google SketchUp models (pseudo CAD software) by uploading a .pdf to Staples online print service. I paid $5.00 plus a $5.00 rush fee (less than 24 hour turnaround). The quality was good, which means it was acceptable for my purposes (client presentation of draft information). The final document was 24" wide x 36" long, black and white.

I imagine it will be hard to beat $5.00 for this type of output, but I haven't used this type of service before. Thanks for any replies.

You're not complaining about $5 are you?

Hello false, thanks for the reply. I'm not complaining, unless there is a cheaper avenue available.

At $5, there is no money in doing this... its a loss leader. They are just trying to get you to the store. The paper and ink together cost more than that, much less the labor, upkeep and amortization of the machine, and the overhead. Enjoy it and try not to buy anything else there, its almost all heavily overpriced.

Lenny

Thanks Lenny, this seems reasonable. I sent another print job to Staples for $3 per sheet for a 24x36 output. It was the same job as my earlier experiment, but this time I didn't select "Rush job". I still got the output 18 hrs after I submitted the job. The guys at Staples told me if I walk in with a USB drive I can get approximately 1 hour service if they are not backed up. They have never been backed up when I have visited.

I guess I won't be buying a nice Canon or Epson large format printer any time soon! ;)

I found a local small business that accepts emailed .pdfs and prints black and white output 24x36 for $3.00 each. Seems to be the going rate.

I guess the only thing I would add is that you are looking for some sort of graphic design output. You will get cheap paper and you get what you get.... that is they won't pull the file up in photoshop and make corrections for you.

Most of the people here are photographers. This is entirely unreasonable for photographic output. The paper I would print on might cost $10-20 for the size you are suggesting... and that's for just one, no testing, etc. Most top-level printers would charge somewhere in the hundreds for that size... its much more reasonable for the type of effort that goes into it....

Lenny