Where do you buy inks, paper and art supplies?

[menos]

I am a bit lost regarding material and try to slim down costs for supplies.

I look for ideally one place, which carries:

- Canon pigment inks (Pixma 9500)
- paper up to A3+ (semi gloss, matte, fine arts - major paper companies)

- ready made frame solutions up to A3+

- clear archival sleeves for prints up to A3+
- durable shipping packaging for sleeved prints up to A3+

I am situated in China at the moment any place worldwide would be of interest.
China and Hong Kong are preferred though for shipping cost reasons.

 

[januaryman]

Most supplies: http://www.framedestination.com/

paper: http://www.atlex.com/

clear bags: http://www.bindersart.com/store/product/51179/Clear-Bag-25pk-12x16/

custom mats and more: http://www.redimat.com/ or http://www.matcutter.com/index.php

many art supplies: http://www.dickblick.com/

I buy my inks at Epson directly, or Amazon.com

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Just realized you said China - sorry I don't have places in Asia.. but my list may help others - I hope someone closer to your home knows of some places you can use! Good luck.

 

[Steve M.]

That's a great list januaryman put up. I love the Dick Blick catalogs. For most of my photo needs I find http://www.freestylephoto.biz/index.php has what I need at great prices.

 

[januaryman]

I know Freestyle, just never thought to look there for ink jet supplies! Great. Thanks for the tip!

 

[JHenry]

Menos,

I live in Beijing, and have the same problem.

For ink, walk into any Canon store (even if all they sell is photocopiers) and they'll be able to get the ink for you. There are about 50 such stores in Beijing, and I walked into a random one some time ago and they gave me a list of places that sold ink.

As for paper, I wish you luck. I've searched high and low here, and talked to all the small companies in Beijing's photography market that sell printers/paper. I've found one dealer in all of Beijing who sells Ilford paper for inkjet printers. Of course, the price per sheet is 4 times what it is in the U.S. I've conceded to using no-name paper.

Regarding framing, I suggest you just find a framing store and use them for custom framing. I have printed and framed several A3 size prints, and custom matting and framing has run about RMB 250-300 (USD 40-50) for each one. I tried using the ready made frames/mats from Ikea, but the sizes didn't work for me.

As for the archival sleeves, I don't have any ideas, other than to check the biggest photography stores/markets where you are located.

Hope the above helps.

Cheers,

Jeff