20x30" Print on an Epson 7880 at Costco for HOW MUCH?

I just had a print done at the Costco in Scottsdale: 20x30" printed on Fuji paper (possibly 270 satin) on an Epson 7880. They actually have a 7880 there, got it 2 months ago... stopped me in my tracks when I saw it! The print I had done as a test of this new marvel at Costco (of yesterday's sunset with silhoutted saguaros and a sliver of a moon) came out surprisingly good print-wise! Costco does give you the option of turning off their auto-destruction settings. But the most amazing part of this equation: the print cost $8.99. That's almost a joke! OK, it's true you have no paper choice, no hands-on control, and unless I missed it, no way to get the printer/paper profile. But to get a huge Epson inkjet print like that for some need-it-now situations, WOW, nine bucks. The have to be losing money on that I would think.

Anyway, I did some searching and found out that Costco made a contact with Epson, and Fuji for the paper and will be eventually installing 7880's or similar models in all locations.

This is a GREAT way to make a proof before sending an image off to one of the pro print shops who do offer paper choices, etc.

Nine bucks. Wow.

Hey Paul, I own the 7880 and the epson sales guys told me it runs about a dollar a square foot for paper and ink, so theres about six square feet, so it cost them about six dollars, or maybe less if epson gives them a better price on inks. Thats a great deal.

Sounds good, but without profiles, and any artistic control, it seems like a waste of a perfectly useful large printer. Why would one, after maintaining a color managed system and spending hours tweaking a print file to perfection, print on a system of unknown results and no color control?

Paul,
Though I've never used Costco for printing because I own my own lab equip., they are highly regarded in the industry and consistently rank ahead of some big name labs. A company by the name of Dry Creek profiles there Fuji printers and probably will be doing the Epson's as well.I would check with them for profiles.
Neil

Can't beat that.

Thats a good price but I don't think I print often enough to make the $50 membership fee worthwhile. Maybe once I have a bunch of little ones running around I'll have more reason to shop at costco and cheap prints will be an added bonus to the 30-pack of english muffins and 50-pack of toilet paper.

Costco 7880 profile info:

http://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/

CA Fields

http://cafields.com

The profiles are slowly making their way on to drycreekphoto.com. From what I've heard, they should all be on there eventually.

Sounds like I need to get down to my local Costco and check it out, thanks for the tip.

Sams club has the same offer. Fuji paper printed on the 7880 . They also print 11x14 on the same printer. You can get an 11x14 print done as a proof for a couple of bucks and then do your 20x30 for under 9.00. The sams technician will also turn off all the gadgets you don't want on were I shop. They will also let me go back and screen proof stuff. Pretty good deal.
If you have a business membership is only 35.00.

I've used the Costco 7880 here in Denver and have mixed results. On the one hand it's $9, thats just almost too cheap to pass up. I've printed about 15-20, 20x30 prints. The problem is that 75% of the time there is something wrong with the print. I've compared the exact same prints from CostCo against WHCC and West Coast and would have to say it's hard to tell them apart 75% of the time. On shaded areas I've seen horizontal lines in the CostCo prints. More than likely they just aren't running the 7880 through the clean cycle enough.

The biggest issue that I have had is that 75% of the time there is either a bend, a scratch, etc on the print. The personnel just really don't take good care of the prints and they roll them up, and most likely are not letting them dry long enough which is causing most of the scratches.

My first 4 - 5 prints came out perfect as I don't think very many people knew of the large prints. I think I was one of the few people who knew about it. As time has passed every time I go in there I see the 7880 printing. I just don't think they are keeping the heads clean, nor are they allowing the prints to dry. I'm sure each store is going to vary.

I still use them for testing prints. Some people say print out a 8x10 proof, but some times a 8x10 just doesn't show all the little imperfections that a 20x30 would show. I don't mind blowing $9 away on a test and once I get it to my liken, I send it off to WHCC.

Hope this helps.

Mike Moats wrote: "epson gives them a better price on inks"

This was confirmed by the lab ladies at Arvada Costco in suburban Denver. I's all about the Volume.

I did find the profiles that Costco commissioned from DryCreekPhoto, you can read about themhere (thansk for the Dry Creek info, C.A.!). At any rate, I did recently have a 20x30 made of the Cincy skyline, and I made sure I turned off Costco's color management, and the print was nearly identical to my screen, which was a huge surprise. BTW, to turn off Costco's color management, you have to go through the checkout process up through the last page, right before you hit "Submit". It's on the top of THAT page where you edit the color settings. Weird, you'd think it'd be earlier in the process. It's easy to miss being last page of the checkout process.

Last thought: I had wanted to print a full 16x24 which isn't an option at Costco for the 7880, they only offer you 16x20. So, I made a 20x30" canvas in Photoshop and reduced the image to 16x24 on the canvas, and sent it up to Costco as a 20x30. Worked great, and still a bargain at $8.99. Trimmed the border with a yardstick and a sheetrock knife and it was good to go in a frame.