I’ve got a multi-color PDF file I need printed. It’s not large, just 8x10. I can do so at home on my HP. However, I’m wondering if I’d get a better print by taking to “Kinkos/FedEx”. Are their printers that much better than a typical “home” printer?
You can be assured their printers will be in tip top shape and do a good job of printing. So if your home printer is not good quality or not in good repair, the better at a print shop.
Also they have big extra-large printers. Even poster size. So they can print things larger and in excellent quality. And they have a choice of papers to print on.
But get out your wallet!
Yes they will produce a better print. But without knowing what you are planning to use it for it’s hard to say whether it’s worth it. What are you planning to do with the print?
Not necessarily.
If you have a good inkjet (I’m not sure which HP you have), you can produce higher-quality output than the quick-copy places, which will be using a color laser. But, it takes good-quailty paper and a printer with no clogged nozzles, and printing at the highest quality (slow speed).
When my ancient 6-color Epson R200 is working correctly (rare), it produces photo-quality output.
It depends on the source for the PDF too. If it was a low res scan, then nothing can restore a high resolution to it !
If is vector format, or higher res than your printer can handle… then using a higher resolution printer can help.
You said its colour… it may be better or worse to have it printed by a laser printer … the copyplace may have a 5 or 6 colour + black printer while yours is CMY +black ? …3 only ?
Or maybe its better to print it to photo paper… where the commercial place can do it much better.
You are absolutely correct that it’s possible to produce excellent quality prints at home with the right equipment, a bit of regular maintenance, and some printing knowledge. All those things are usually available at a printing outfit (although some places skim on regular maintenance) and if the OP is asking the question I suspect it’s not true at home.
I used to do photo printing at home and got great results. But I did so infrequently enough that the cost of inks, regular cleaning, and the cost of a few mistakes didn’t justify keeping that printer. I can send the few images I need to print to the local drug store and pick them up in a few minutes for very little money. I’ve decided that for me it’s not worth keeping the high quality printer at home.
We still don’t know what the OP plans to do with this printed PDF or what kind of image it is. That would be good to know if looking for options.
For what it’s worth, I used to be in the repro business and I recently priced Kinko’s charges. I was shocked by their prices, frankly. I now go to Del Mar Blueprint (since you’re in the area) for services. You might want to check with some other locations, such as this, since you can save a good deal of money if that’s the route you eventually take.
I think you’re asking yourself the wrong question. Of course the quality will be better if you get it professionally printed, but you should ask yourself if printing at home will be good enough. And the answer to that depends upon what you’re printing and what your home printer is. If you have a laser printer then you’re better off printing photos and the like professionally; if you’re printing charts then you’ll be fine at home. If you have a decent inkjet printer then charts may show banding. Photos should look good when printed on proper paper, but you may see banding on large single-colour areas.