Which one is more cost effective? Printing photos from home or having them printed at a photo store?

This would be photos from a digital camera. Also, you would factor in the cost for ink cartridges at a common office supply store as well as the cost for high quality photo paper. Or having the photos developed at a local drug store for about $0.19 cents per photo plus applicable tax.

It's definitely better to send them to an online printing service. High quality photo paper for your inkjet is expensive when bought in the quantities a home user would buy.

I upload my pictures to Walgreens Drug Store using their online website. The pictures are usually ready in an hour or two, and since the closest store is less than a mile from me, I can just pick them up myself and avoid any shipping costs. It's usually $0.19 per 4x6 print. The quality has been great.

I'm pretty sure that Long's, Rite-Aid, CVC, Target, etc have similar services.

Given that you have to buy ink, photo paper, and a printer and keep them maintained...it's usually cheaper to go to a local printer such as Walgreen's CVS or Eckerds, Walmart, etc.

If you do a ton of printing, an ink jet is definitely not the way to go as they are not designed for heavy print duty....a Laser is, but toner for photo quality is pretty expensive.

If you do an occasional print, your cartridge may not last the time you need it to stay liquid until your next print cycle....you could use the default print inks but they are usually not intense enough for photos.

Lastly, find out if your printer supports the 16million colors necessary (and your software too)...otherwise, your photos will look a bit posterized and blocky.

16 cents at the store
29 cents at home
you do the math

If you are just talking about 4x6 prints, then it's cheaper to go to any of the high volume places. (provided that you're not including the cost of the gas to get there)

However, prices at these places go up quickly for larger prints. You can print an 8x10" print at home for less than a dollar (depending on how expensive the paper is and such).

If you use top notch materials, like archival inks and papers, it's more expensive at home, but a lot more convenient for one or two pictures.

I use the home printer rarely, usually for specialty things like calendars, or flip books, that would be hard at the store.