I use my HP laserjet 6L laser printer and the pot stakes I get from Gempler's. I can print a sheet at a time, and they do hold up well in the sun. I have used these now for two years and you can still read the tags on the few plants I didn't sell in that amount of time. I just go into word and format the labels and then print them, but gempler's will send you instructions with the stakes. You can order a sample pack to see if you can deal with it, and it doesn't cost much. The only drawback is that the stakes are thin and flimsy. They are good to put in new plants as you're potting them up but you can't go back and tag established plants very easy with them because they don't stick into the soil well after the plants are rooted in. Here is a link that might be useful: gempler pot stakes, laser

A tip to save ink: I print in "Fast Draft" mode rather than "Normal"--it uses much less ink, and the minor decrease in print quality doesn't bother me. If I'm doing a very important document, I just change to "Normal" quality. My printers are set to "Fast Draft" as default, so I don't have to remember to change the preferences each time. gneegirl, the cost of cartridges depends on the printer--my newer printers use cartridges that cost $15, whereas my old all-in-one uses cartridges that cost $30. And my laser printer cartridges are $65 (but last much, much longer).

Thank you for your interest in Hewlett-Packard products. All of the ink used in our inkjet printers are acid free but are not recommended for archival purposes. The reason for this is the ink is not bonded to the paper during the printing process. A LaserJet is a better solution for archiving because the toner is bonded to the paper in the fusing assembly, so it will last as long as the print media lasts. Sincerely, Norman Scott Hewlett-Packard Representative Copyright Hewlett-Packard Co. 1999 NOTE: Our advice is strictly limited to the question(s) asked and is based on the information provided to us. HP shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages in connection with the use of this information. I hope that helps. And the link for where I found that: Here is a link that might be useful: Acid Free Ink

Ok...let me take these questions in order....LOL Mare wbpa I do not have to use Kodak paper, but if I use any paper other than Kodak I have to run a test print to do the setup to match the printer to the paper, but that test page is common to all the other printers I have ever used. The advantage with the kodak paper is that kodak has printed a bar code on the back side of the paper that is read by the printer and it automatically does the setup. For my purposes that is extremely handy because I often switch from Glossy, to Ultra-glossy or Matt and I don't have to mess with test prints, just pop in the paper I want and it works perfect. I find that at Staples there is a substantial difference in price between the kodak paper and the HP or generic, but at Walmart the Kodak 100 sheet pack of 4x6 paper is about $8 which is about $1 more than the HP amd the 8.5 x 11 is about $3 more per 100 sheets and believe it or not, the price of photo paper at walmart is cheaper than what you can find on ebay. Now in regards to print quality. I have on three occassions printed 6 prints on this printer, then had the same prints printed at Walmart photo center & staples photo center, then we laid the prints out side by side to see which looked better, and in all instances even the photo techs running the photo centers agreed they like the kodak prints better. jasdip,,, I don't know what model of kodak printer your stepfather has, but I have the kodak ESP 7250 all in one, printer scanner and I have never encountered any problem with the printer stopping, In fact, I have printed right down to were a print comes out missing the black or one of the colors. The printer does have a service monitor that keeps track of the ink level and when a cartridge gets down to 1/3 it will post a popup window that informs you that it is low on ink and reminding you to order a new cartridge, but it does not stop printing. For plain paper copies I don't buy printer paper. I buy the cheap $2.50/ream copier paper and when I print a document that has a photo the photo even comes out looking good on the cheap copier paper. Another thing I really like is that the ink is completely dry and the photos are ready to handle as soon as they come out of the printer. Another thing I like is that this printer has two paper trays..you can put 4x6 or 5x7 in the top tray and 8x10 or 8.5x11 in the bottom tray and you just select the size of print you want when you send the photo to the printer.