So part of my office/studio relocation was to get a wide format printer. I have coveted one for a few years now, my first choice was the Epson R1800 but at $599 was unjustifiable. Then I spotted the Epson 1400, newer but still using dye inks instead of pigment, it's price tag only $299. After discussions with C about the importance of preserving memories for the kids (especially in light of his cancer) he agreed I should go for it and so I ordered it up along with 4 packages (10 sheets each) of 12x12 Epson scrapbook paper.

While the cost per page is $2.49 paper, plus ink, printer capital costs and electicity, it does works out to more than the $2.99 Costco charges. However with gas at $1.39 a litre and still rising, it costs me $5.00 each time I run into town to pick up a page if I don't have any other errands to run at the same time so there are some savings there. Plus in 2 1/2 months I'll also have a baby in tow so much more convenient to print at home. The Epson paper is also acid/lignin free as well as buffered (unlike Costco photo paper) and it is double-sided so you could print 2 layouts per page but how organized would you have to be to do that with chronological albums! However, the double-sided paper has already saved me money as I printed a page and noticed a typo so reprinting only cost the ink and not the paper (unlike Costco).

Today I finally got it set up and installed and I am currently in the middle of printing out my saved 12x12 scrapbook pages that I haven't sent to Costco yet. I have to say the quality is excellent. I haven't experimented much, just chosing the Premium Presentation Matte paper, but the color is spot on and the amount of detail you can see in the enlarged photos (i.e. 12 inches high) is amazing. Can't wait to try it out on some of my photos using some different kinds of paper.