What is the cheapest way to print 2000 digital photos?

2000 good photos? Wow that must have been a huge 3 day wedding. :) honestly if cost is the main facto try places like costco ... doing it yourself at home is NOT less expensive ... not by a long shot. On my printer I can do 10-12, 8.5X11 prints before my cartridges need to be replaced and they cost 75$ for a pack. So we're looking at 75$ per 24 4X6 ... this is not economical. Also the pictures scratch easily. Costco.ca offer 4X6 prints at 15Cents Canadian. so 2000 prints would cost you 300$+tax Printing it myself would cost me 6000$ Just send them off to someplace like costco and you;ll get them a day or so later, decently printed, with prints that can survive a bit of wear and tear for much less than doing it at home.

Home printing is EXPENSIVE. Byt the time you figure cost of the printer, cost of the ink, and the cost of the paper, it is more expensive than haveing a store print for you. This is even before you figure how much of your valuable time you will spend sitting at your computer. In another question regarding online printing options, it was noted that the following services are well liked: http://www.smugmug.com/ http://www.kodakgallery.com/Welcome.jsp http://www.shutterfly.com http://www.snapfish.com http://www.dotphoto.com I think the going rates run between 12-15 cents for a 4x6 print in volume larger prints of course would cost more.

I normally use the "pro labs" where you have to have a business account with them, but there are some that are available to the public. Here is a short list of print labs that non-pros can use. http://www. mpix .com <-- I've used these people, and they have top quality prints. Make sure to check out their $ 0 .19 special for 4x6 non-color corrected. They're the "public" arm of Miller's Professional Imaging. They use Kodak Endura paper, very nice. http://www. winkflash .com <-- $ 0 .12 4x6 with $ 0 .99 flat shipping. I've never used them, but I've heard they're not that bad. In fact, I know of several wedding photogs that use them for cheap 4x6 proof orders. According to http://www. winkflash .com/promos/wf23ea73/ you can get 50 free 4x6 prints with your first order. http://www. smugmug .com <-- $ 0 .19 for 4x6, and Kodak Endura I believe. Another option is your local Sam's Club or Costco. Most are around $ 0 .16 each for a 4x6, and they usually use Fuji Frontier printers with Fuji Crystal Archive paper. The Crystal Archive is fairly decent; not up to the Kodak Endura standard, but good enough for proofs. Do you know the pixel sizes of the photos? You probably should make sure they're a 2x3 ratio if you want to print 4x6 prints. Depending on camera, you might want a different size. Take a read here: http://www. smugmug .com/prints/4x6-prints Now that I re-read your question, I realize you might not be looking for proofs, but also frame-able shots in 8x10, etc. If you want prints for an album, to frame on the wall, etc., I'd go with the Kodak Endura paper over Fuji Crystal Archive, personally.

get one of your friends that works in an office to print like 100 a day for like a month on the office printer and it would be free

Printing yourself on your own inkjet printer is the most expensive way, especially if you're printing a lot. you can try online printing service.two good one are shutterfly and kodak. you can also ask for referral from some of your wedding vendors, like your photographer or wedding agency, who regularly use printing services.

If I were you I would upload them over night. My SIL did it with her wedding photos, she had close to 1,000. You should just group them into folders- preparation, ceremony, group, reception etc.. Walgreen's is like 9 or 10 cents per print. I'm not sure on the quality though. http://www.Shutterfly.com prints are great and cheap too:) You can also set up your own share site and you friends and family can order prints from it here is mine~ http://pathologicalpicturetaker.shutterfly.com/

photobooks... but 2000 is a huge number... try reducing it... to a manageable number... just one thing, HOW MANY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS DID YOU HAVE??? there are never 2000 photos really... there would have to be a team of 10 doing 200 each... and that would mean they were just shooting at random... no standard wedding would have that kind of arrangement... and even if they DID shoot 2000, you are looking at about max 30% useable... for whatever reason... and quite a few duplicates/triplicates...

I've been using the Canon Pixma IP6600D, with long life Canon inks. It looks like this has been replaced by the IP6700D. These are 6 color printers with 1 picoliter droplet size. The results look exactly like film photo prints. I've found that the Costco paper (Kirkland) is rediculously cheap and works VERY well with Canon inks. I like the way the prints look on Costco paper better than on Canon Photo Paper Plus and almost as much as the Photo Paper Pro. I've been purchasing original Canon Inks on ebay for under $10 per cartridge (compared to $15 retail). For 2000 photos, you'll never get prices as low as doing it yourself, and you have a nice photo printer when it's all done. Good luck! www.dpreview.com has a forum on printing. Please check there to see what other people have done for printer/ink/paper combinations, if you don't like this one.