What do you mean by 'purchased properly'? Here, in Poland, the best photo paper, Epson film paper, costs something about 3$ per A4 sheet(!)... and the ink isn't cheap neither :/ Besides, are you able to make a print at 45x30cm (it's about 18x12") at your home? I'm not. And this size costs me only something about < 4$. And the print 30x20cm (about 12x8" - similar to A4) costs me less then 2$. The other pro of this method is better realized printout. The inkjet most of its resolution capabilities spend on producing shades of colors, not on producing details. Printing with thermotransfer printer (like in photolab) gives you really much better quality. This way when I want to print this 45x30cm size, I give them source file made at 200ppi - the effect is superb, and the lab staff asks me: "oh... where did you take this beautiful shot?"... ;) By the way, you can check my gallery ;)