I did several prints (4x6s, 5x7s, 8x10s) from the originals (no post-processing) at walmart and they came out okay, just a little darker than I expected. So I decided to spring for the $35 Sams Club member ship so I could get .20 prints. THAT was a debacle! My girlfriend did the post processing work on one set of the prints and I did minor cropping and image adjustments to another set.
We went to Sams to see if the $35 was really worth it, boy were we surprised to see the crap they spit out. Out of the 40+ pictures I submitted, only about 10 were usable. Out of the 40+ that she submitted (the processed pics) about 35-38 were usable. They still managed to screw up her pics!!!
Perfectly centered subjects had their feet, arms, elbows, heads cut off, subjects were enlarged then printed off center, it was ridiculous.
When taking it to a printing shop we always leave a little room on the photograph so the tech can "feel" useful. It also gives them a little room for error. I guess this is something I'll have to stop doing when using Sams.
In all fairness to Sams however, it was a Saturday - so I assume it must have been a busy day for the 1 hour guys. Which must have been why they were so rude to us, when we inquired why one of our pictures were still displayed on one of their monitors even after we had the prints in our hands. Also, this is only MY expirence at ONE Sams club, from what I've heard they're supposed to be fairly decent. I intended to get some baseball prints done at another Sams closer to my home next week (on a weekday
) and I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
cheers,
Wally