Do you print your own picutres?

[Rebel XT]

Or you just use comercial photo processing center? If so, which one you think produces the best quality. I have so far tried Costco (cheapest at 12c pero picture), Target and shuttterfly (online). In my case shutter fly has the best picture quality, but them again I have only used it once. Costco is good but not as good as Shutterfly's, it pictures came out with slight bluish tint. I tried Target several times for free with coupon, the picture quality, well, let me just say I would not use it again even if it's free.

I also wonder do these comercial center do some post processing?

[Doom1701e]

Check out www.mpix.com. I use them all the time and they have great quality. They also have this great Metallic paper that makes things kinda "pop". I just had a 20x30 done with them, turned out GREAT!

[coreypolis]

I print my own, but then again I have the best printer in its class

Personally I was very disappointed with shutterfly, but have heard great things about Costco and mpix.com, but they require knowledge of color management and profiling

[liza]

I just had some done with Mpix, too, and they were great. I don't like the metallic paper for portraits, though. They look kind of funny. But for my butterfly, floral, and sports shots it looks amazing.

[wilflee]

There was another thread dealing with this same subject last week. Have you tried the search function?

[joekr]

I mostly print my own (I like control). My R1800 puts out some very nice quality.

I just printed out a 13 x 25 last night that I am really pleased with...

[Mathiau]

i just use my Epson and photo paper :D they look as good as anything i have seen come out of a store.

[ssim]

I do some printing on my Canon Pixma i8500 using Ilford Galerie paper. It is a nice combination. I don't use this for anything that is really important though.

I tried the Costco's of the world and while it was good sometimes, they just couldn't give me the consistent quality that I wanted. The price was right but that means nothing when you aren't happy with the quality.

I went through a number of professional level labs and finally settled on one. They allow me to FTP the files to them and I get them back within a few days.

[bromm]

I have had some done at shoppers photo center and at wallmart. After printing off the same pic at home on my hp 3650($115 almost two years ago) I find the first two lacking in quality. The colors are off at the two stores. My pics from my HP look like what I see on my monitor. Of course you get what you pay for so doom on me. Now I just have to upgrade the printer while trying to save for some glass.

[Brianbar]

I always print my own, however I just recently sold my Canon i850 and upgraded to a Canon iP5200. Not impressed, I wished I kept my i850.
It's a long story, with little or no help from Canon Canada.

Brian

[stanc30]

On small customer orders (<5-10 photo's) and our own keepers we print in house...except for the large and "special" photo's.

Orders over 10 we print with Mpix. We found it helpful to have Mpix to send us their color data to make certain our computer and theirs were seeing the same colors.

We have sent a few pics back to them for redo's prior to the color correction data, even using our Spiderware to calibrate our monitor did not work as well as getting the Mpix data.

They fixed them with no hassles.

[pknight]

I do my own printing on an Epson R1800, typically on Epson Enhanced Matte paper. I have never been disappointed in anything relating to the printer's performance. My own mistakes, however....

[MJP]

if i need an excellent printout..i usually go to my brother's in law printer shop...he has the xerox docucolor printer....

[form]

I don't have the money to buy a good printer or pay for my own ink and paper. Fortunately, I have good luck with walmart most of the time, and their fuji crystal archive is resilient.

[sunbeast]

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II - DOA: Damaged Element. Warrantied.
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM - DOA: Soft focus on right side. Replaced by Reseller.
EOS 350D - Developed static hot-pixel issue. Warrantied.
Bad Luck seems to be following me around. I'd take a picture of him but my camera might break a third time.


WOW!!!!!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

[mbellot]

Both. :D

For small things, or when I need a print NOW (read wife needs it now) I have an Epson R300 that isn't half bad now that I've figured out how to disable all its color "corrections" and use profiles instead.

For anything more than a couple prints, or if it can wait (even if its just one 5x7) I ship everything else to CostCo through their web "photocenter".

I can't beat their per print cost ($0.17 for a 4x6, $1.49 for an 8x10 and $2.99 for a 12x18) and with the profiles available at www.drycreekphoto.com (http://www.drycreekphoto.com) I can keep the entire process color managed if I'm not sharing the pictures. If they are going to be shared and I don't know which CostCo will print them I save to sRGB since its safe.

If you have a CostCo membership you owe it to yourself to give them a try. If you don't, but you print lots of photos its probably worth a trial membership.

No matter which route you go invest the time to get yourself into a color managed setup, I was consistently frustrated with my output until I did.

[Lightstream]

I print in-house with my IP6600D. Then again I'm not doing it for money, I'm just a small timer who enjoys making his own prints and giving a few to friends on occasion. I like the instant gratification, the time saved by not having to run down to the shop, and full control over my output. I could probably go the pro lab route but price would go up pretty quick I imagine. The '1 hour' cheap print places - you get what you pay for.

[JFK]

I get good results at home with my i9900. I like the convenience of home printing and getting instant results rather than wait for prints from the lab.

[Hellashot]

I take files for 4x6 printing to Walmart for Fuji semi-gloss at 19 cents each. I rarely do 5x7 so I do those at home along with larger ones. I used to do 4x6 at home but then realized how expensive it was and how cheap it is for good quality from Fuji and Walmart.

[nwyman]

I use my Pixma IP6000D and am very pleased with the results.

[c3p1]

I have done both. I usually only do prints at home for tests or a quick need.
I use snapfish for everyday 4x6 (cheap and do the trick). By 'everyday' I mean pictures of friends/family and those to show around. I even did a calendar for my wife at snapfish---turned out to be a nice gift for $20. I am getting ready to do some bigger pictures that I want to frame and I will be trying out MPIX as snapfish doesn;t have a great reputation for bigger pictures.

[S Taylor]

I've yet to let anyone else print my images... I may try some one day, but right now I use an Epson r2400 to print all my own stuff, and so far I've been extremely pleased. This printer does outstanding prints, especially in black & white.

[Tsmith]

another vote for Mpix.

[JBF]

I have used several online printers, the results have been so-so. I just recently purchased the Epson R2400 and the prints I am getting with their K3 inks are awesome. I can print 4 X 6's or 13 X 19's and anything in between. The biggest headache is the switching of black inks if your printing Glossy or Matte. I wish they had made it so both inks could reside together. Black and whites are phenominal on this printer with the addition of two grays.

[braduardo]

I use my Pixma IP6000D and am very pleased with the results.

My grandma has one of those and it is FAST. I get pretty good quality with my cheapo HP that came with a cheapo P&S, but it is really slow.

If I have a bunch that I want 4x6 I'll just do them at Walmart, but if I want bigger I do it myself.

I tried out a sampler pack of Legion (I think) photo papers. Those papers were really cool. I got some great results with all of them EXCEPT the photogloss. If you haven't tried it, you should.

[stoneylonesome]

Print my own on my Canon i9900, wonderful printer, great quality prints.