Photosystem for an Optical Shop

[Adcadet]

hey all -
got a specific problem to solve by year's end (for tax purposes), and I'm wondering if you guys can help point me in the right direction. My father recently purchased his own optometry practice, and will be changing it's location (slightly) in March. When he rebuilds the place he would love to have a sytem where people put on frames they're interested in, and a digital picture is taken (since most of his patients can't see a thing without their Rx lenses), and they get a fairly nice print out seconds later (complete, of course, with the business' contact info for when they go talking to their friends). And the system has to be simple enough for the non-techy optitian to use - "one touch" would be ideal. Anybody know of some software that will do this? Any way to bypass a PC and have the camera print directly?

For other reasons, my father is looking to get a laser printer (since they're cheaper in the long run to ink jets and have better quality), so it's entirely possible to use that printer with the system. Any suggestions on a good (though not overly expensive) color laser printer?

He's also looking into getting a new fax machine, but I'm thinking an all-in-one dealy will be entirely out of the question.


Thanks all!

Adcadet

 

[ddrueding]

RE: The camera/photo deal....are you thinking of a kiosk layout (self serve, foolproof, and indestructable) or something where an employee of the company would assist (camera with button near the mirrors, printer behind the counter)?

Either can be done fairly easily, but have different requirements.

 

[Adcadet]

the employee would most likely help, as he would be right there anyways. Although a self-serve method would have some advantages as well.

 

[Fushigi]

How about photo quality? A still from a good webcam might be sufficient. Or would a photo from a 2+MP camera be better? I know my Canon PowerShot G1 can be left connected to a PC and have the photos automatically go there instead of having to download from the camera to the PC. But to auto-print; I don't know if that can be fully automated since the photos will always come in with a new filename and may need to be sized to print correctly. It may be that a clerk takes the photo then does a simple file-print of the resulting image. Resizing may be necessary to fit the photopaper. Maybe a macro can be written to reduce the # of steps to 1) click the camera and 2) run the macro to re-size & print the image.

Printed image size? 3x5, 4x6, business card, other? I'm thinking a dedicated photo printer may be a good alternative to the color laser. The quality, cost of consumables (ink + paper), and reliability should be the determining factors more than initial purchase price. Does the laser take 4x6 photo paper? And if so, is there a separate tray for that vs. plain 8.5x11 so there's no mucking with tray switching?

 

[Adcadet]

I've got a few concerns with using a photo inkjet printer: cost, quality, and speed. Since Pop will be purchasing a laser printer already, it doesn't seem like a big huge deal to make it a color laser. But perhaps a separate printer for the photosystem would be a little bit easier to use (no trays to worry about). The link you sent, Fushigi, claims to print as fast as 90 seconds. Anybody know if a color laser can beat this? I honestly think that anything over 60 seconds is getting a bit long. Also, the price of ink scares me.

It would be very nifty if I could find a decent camera (was thinking 2 MP, so a web cam is out) that will print directly and autmatically or nearly autmatically.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

I think you have three choices:
1) Color Laser & Software Solution
2) Photo Printer & No PC Required
3) Custom Solution

for 2, I think there are canons, hps, and kodaks that can do this.
Since I got a kodak for xmas, I've looked at the kodak printer dock.
It says it doesn't require a computer. printer dock. You could possibly preprint your company info on the back of the photo paper.
Also possible would be a tv display of the pictures. After all I assume they try on multiple frames.

I saw a canon and I think HP printer that take the memory cards and allow you to print directly from them. Maybe they integrate with the camera's too?

for 1, a dock type solution where they take the picture then place the camera in the dock and it auto-transfers might work. You would have to work out what to print, index print or just one shot? But there would probably be a print button in the software that would work at practically a one button solution. This requires a PC of course.

 

[Will Rickards WT]

Better Link

 

[blakerwry]

it would be cheaper to get a black laser and a seperate photo printer.

Color laser setups are expensive and dont print photos very well from what I hear.


I would think about a cheap, easy to use digital camera and a printer that can print directly from the camera.


I just got a canon 740D printer. I believe it needs to be hooked to a computer, but you can print directly from any memory card using the built in 6-in-1 mem card reader. I think the quality would be fine for what you want to do. The ink cartridges are also very inexpensive (<$15 for a color cartridge, <$10 for black)

They can be found for under $100, try bensbargains.net to see if they still list em.


Combine this printer with a cheap digital camera that easy for an employee to operate and pre printed paper with company info and you're all set.

 

[Fushigi]

I agree on the cost of the color laser vs. B&W laser + photo printer.

I think the problem with that is that the clerk will be constantly inserting & removing the media to transfer it from cam to printer & back. It seems a cam with a constant PC connection would be better.

As I mentioned earlier, my Canon G1 can do that -- just leave it connected to the PC and images can be saved there vs. on the CF card. You just need a minimal-click printing method and you're set.

Find the operators who set up the Santa displays at the shopping malls; they use such a system where the images go to PC immediately & then are printed with minimal operator intervention.

 

[Adcadet]

thanks guys. If ink is really that inexpensive (<$20/refill), and it color lasers do a poor job, then the choice is clear. I really would prefer that the clerk be able to push just one or two buttons (one to take the pic, the other to print), and not have to mess with removing a media card. The guy is not very tech savy, and he's often pressed for time. So simple is a must.

And I was planning on just running the paper through the printer first to put the business info on the bottom.


I think whether I need a PC connected or not will depend on the camera/printer. Tomorrow I'll hit Bust Buy and see what I can find out.

 

[Mercutio]

Ahem.

Quality isn't inkjet, but nor is the cost of the supplies,

 

[Adcadet]

ok, seems the HP color laser printers can't print directly from the camera. Oh well. At least the ink jets can.

 

[Pradeep]

Ahem.

Quality isn't inkjet, but nor is the cost of the supplies,

Have you got one thru them? I doubt they would give one out for small amounts of printing (<1000 pages per month?). Or do you know somethign we don't?

I would second a b&w laser, and a photo inkjet.

Great idea regarding printing the photos BTW, I can never see what I look like in new frames till they are all made up. Too late to patent it?

 

[Pradeep]

Quality isn't inkjet, but nor is the cost of the supplies,

According to that site, it costs $174.99 for five sticks of either C, M or Y, giving 7,000 pages at 5%. Assuming we are printing photos at 100% coverage, that gives us 350 full pages. 3*$174.99=$524.97. About $1.50 per page, not taking into account the cost of black sticks. Not all that much cheaper than an inkjet, especially since you are apparently bound to some mimum printing amount with the Xerox promo.

 

[Pradeep]

Quality isn't inkjet, but nor is the cost of the supplies,

According to that site, it costs $174.99 for five sticks of either C, M or Y, giving 7,000 pages at 5%. Assuming we are printing photos at 100% coverage, that gives us 350 full pages. 3*$174.99=$524.97. About $1.50 per page, not taking into account the cost of black sticks. Not all that much cheaper than an inkjet, especially since you are apparently bound to some mimum printing amount with the Xerox promo.

Oops my math skillz are lacking. About 50 cents per page. Not bad at all.

 

[Mercutio]

I own a Phaser 850D, which is an awesome, awesome machine.

The training company I work for is in that program. They got a Phaser 860DN (I see they're using 8200s now. I don't know much about that printer). Blank ink comes free with the color kits, which are $150 each and last, um, a long time.

These are single-pass duplexing printers. 16 REAL ppm. Probably more if you threw some RAM in them. 1200dpi.

Anyway, there isn't any obligation to TRY to get a printer from them.

Beyond that, the HP Photosmart 7135 is a very nice photoprinter with all sorts of USB connections on it. I think it can print straight from some camera.

 

[Mercutio]

BTW, you aren't getting 100% page coverage from ANY workgroup printer. It's probably a lot closer to 80%, what with the borders and all.

 

[Pradeep]

What happens if my office falls below our agreed upon monthly print volume? How will I be billed?
If your office falls short of your requirement in a given month, your organization will incur a $100 fee (billed to your credit card), which is still less than what it would cost you to lease the printer. Keep in mind, you would only be charged in those months where your office did not meet the printing requirement.

How will Xerox know how many prints my office makes?
The Phaser color printer has a built-in reporting system, which contains a usage summary. We ask that you print it out and fax it to us monthly.If you do not send a report, your organization will incur a $125 fee for that month only.

Hmm, actually $100 bucks a month for an 8200 is good, got to get approved in the first place tho.

 

[Adcadet]

[quote="Pradeep
Great idea regarding printing the photos BTW, I can never see what I look like in new frames till they are all made up. Too late to patent it?[/quote]


Thanks. There is already a product out there to do the job and then some - but the price is a bit high. Through the local optical wholesaler we can get one for about $6000, and it doesn't print. It does however put 4 pictures of you in different frames on one LCD monitor, or it shows you what your eyes look like with different color contacts. All for a one-time payment of only $6000!

 

[fool]

A little off topic, but WTF

Fools Reasons To dislike America.

1. Newegg doesn’t ship internationally.
2. Dell’s deep, deep USAnian only discounts.
3. The entire computer industry seems to think that £1=$1
4. I can’t buy stuff from Newegg.
5. FREE DYE SUB PRINTERS.

Oh and did I mention Newegg?

 

[Onomatopoeic]

Well, if I'd been at home the past 5 days, I would've simply suggested Kodak as a start.

I've been to countless photo trade shows, and I can tell you that I've seen many a turnkey system over the years from Kodak that can do this job -- systems that don't require a friggin' computer to slow things down. Also, I believe Fuji and Polaroid have some similar systems.

 

[Jan Kivar]

A little off topic, but WTF

Fools Reasons To dislike America.

1. Newegg doesn’t ship internationally.
2. Dell’s deep, deep USAnian only discounts.
3. The entire computer industry seems to think that £1=$1
4. I can’t buy stuff from Newegg.
5. FREE DYE SUB PRINTERS.

Oh and did I mention Newegg?

I'd add:
6. The entire computer industry seems to think that €1<$1

I'd like those 20" TFTs for $750 too... :evil:

Jan