Approve the Cookies
This website uses cookies to improve your user experience. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies and our Privacy Policy.
OK
Forums  •   • New posts  •   • RTAT  •   • 'Best of'  •   • Gallery  •   • Gear
Guest
Forums  •   • New posts  •   • RTAT  •   • 'Best of'  •   • Gallery  •   • Gear
Register to forums    Log in

 
FORUMS Post Processing, Marketing & Presenting Photos RAW, Post Processing & Printing 
Thread started 03 Jan 2012 (Tuesday) 15:08
Search threadPrev/next
sponsored links (only for non-logged)

Where to order great quality prints online for good prices?

 
Owhat
Member
142 posts
Gallery: 7 photos
Likes: 2
Joined Jan 2011
Location: West Los Angeles, CA. USA
     
Jan 03, 2012 15:08 |  #1

Hi, All.

I hope I'm posting this in the right thread - I apologize if I'm not.

I'm about to do my very first paid photo shoot of a birthday party this weekend and my client is going to request prints of the images after the event. Since I don't have a printer, I will have to order them online, so I'd really appreciate it if you guys could point me in the right direction. I don't think I'll have to order anything larger than 11 x 4.

A few reviews online recommend Snapfish, shutterfly and SmugMug, saying that they're the best bang for the buck, but I'm still unsure.

Any help is greatly appreciated! :)


flickr (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
Merlin_AZ
Senior Member
Avatar
872 posts
Likes: 17
Joined Mar 2010
     
Jan 03, 2012 15:11 |  #2

If there's a Costco nearby, try them.
Send a few files over and they'll have them ready in an hour or two.
That way you're not waiting for days.
Mpix and Adoramapix are other online sites to check out if you go that route.




  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
Owhat
THREAD ­ STARTER
Member
142 posts
Gallery: 7 photos
Likes: 2
Joined Jan 2011
Location: West Los Angeles, CA. USA
     
Jan 03, 2012 15:41 |  #3

Merlin_AZ wrote in post #13640678 (external link)
If there's a Costco nearby, try them.
Send a few files over and they'll have them ready in an hour or two.
That way you're not waiting for days.
Mpix and Adoramapix are other online sites to check out if you go that route.

Thank you for the response. None of the places mentioned above will compress the files or reduce the resolution, right? I might need to print images as large as 20 MB.


flickr (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
tonylong
...winded
Avatar
54,657 posts
Gallery: 60 photos
Likes: 569
Joined Sep 2007
Location: Vancouver, WA USA
     
Jan 03, 2012 15:44 |  #4

Like Merlin says, Costco is a great option for a local service that takes orders online. Just be aware that you have to "join" and pay a membersip fee to get started.

Whatever service you do use, be aware that these services by default typically do "automatic corrections" to images. So, if your images are good, you need to have the service turn the corrections off!

If you're a Photoshop user, there is also the area of using printer profiles to "Soft Proof" your images. If you want to know more, well, start out by looking at the two "sticky" threads in this section on Color Managing and Color Problems, then open the FAQ thread and read the link for Printing as well as the one covering DPI/PPI. After all that reading, if you still have questions, fire away, but read the stuff first!


Tony
Two Canon cameras (5DC, 30D), three Canon lenses (24-105, 100-400, 100mm macro)
Tony Long Photos on PBase (external link)
Wildlife project pics here (external link), Biking Photog shoots here (external link), "Suburbia" project here (external link)! Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood pics here (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
tonylong
...winded
Avatar
54,657 posts
Gallery: 60 photos
Likes: 569
Joined Sep 2007
Location: Vancouver, WA USA
     
Jan 03, 2012 15:50 |  #5

Owhat wrote in post #13640831 (external link)
Thank you for the response. None of the places mentioned above will compress the files or reduce the resolution, right? I might need to print images as large as 20 MB.

When a digital print is made, the print software will either accept the file as-is, or you may need to resize the file for a specific print. You need to check with the printing service as to whether they have a max file size but a good service shouldn't bother with that, you should be able to upload or ftp a good size file.

But for convenience you may want to handle the task of sizing your image for a particular print size. You can do this in your software by specifying a size in inches with a resolution (ppi or, with Canon software, dpi) that meets your print quality needs. Common resolutions are 240ppi, 300 ppi and 360 ppi. Your print service should be able to give a "recommended" ppi value -- my local Costco recommends 300 ppi for "optimal" print quality.

The resulting file size will vary if its a jpeg because jpeg "compression" varies from image to image. Set your jpeg Quality setting to a high value and don't worry about the file size.


Tony
Two Canon cameras (5DC, 30D), three Canon lenses (24-105, 100-400, 100mm macro)
Tony Long Photos on PBase (external link)
Wildlife project pics here (external link), Biking Photog shoots here (external link), "Suburbia" project here (external link)! Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood pics here (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
Owhat
THREAD ­ STARTER
Member
142 posts
Gallery: 7 photos
Likes: 2
Joined Jan 2011
Location: West Los Angeles, CA. USA
     
Jan 04, 2012 02:57 |  #6

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed responses, tonylong. Fortunately, I do have a Costco nearby - I didn't know that they'd be a good option for prints, to be honest.

I am a Lightroom 3 user, but I will still look into the threads that you mentioned, tonylong. I will also call into my local Costco tomorrow to ask them about their recommended ppi value for optimal print quality.

Thank you so much for the help. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Happy New Year! :)


flickr (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
tim
Light Bringer
Avatar
51,010 posts
Likes: 375
Joined Nov 2004
Location: Wellington, New Zealand
     
Jan 04, 2012 04:04 |  #7

Printing FAQ.

300ppi sRgb Q10 jpeg at native camera resolution. Optionally resize to the correct number of pixels, sharpen (always the last step in a workflow), then save as jpeg. Soft proofing is a waste of time IMHO, just use a calibrated monitor and work in sRgb. Printing from a Q8 jpeg looks just as good as printing from an uncompressed TIFF - try it with a blind test and you'll see yourself, I did, no difference.


Professional wedding photographer, solution architect and general technical guy with multiple Amazon Web Services certifications.
Read all my FAQs (wedding, printing, lighting, books, etc)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
on2rails
Member
Avatar
69 posts
Joined Oct 2007
Location: West Virginia
     
Jan 04, 2012 08:25 as a reply to  @ tim's post |  #8

http://www.mpix.com/ (external link)

Register
Upload
Order
Receive

Outstanding quality - I use this for my photography business.
Excellent customer service to go along with the quality of the prints.

I have printed all sizes, shapes and paper types. I host my images on Zenfolio and use Mpix as the print lab.

Joey Ricard Approved!


..
Joey Ricard Photography (external link)

Join me on Facebook (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
jwp721
Senior Member
771 posts
Joined Jan 2011
Location: Raleigh, NC
     
Jan 04, 2012 08:39 |  #9

White House Custom Color. 3 day turn around, no shipping fees on orders over $12, and great customer service.




  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
Daship
Senior Member
765 posts
Joined Dec 2010
     
Jan 04, 2012 08:52 |  #10

bayphoto.




  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
Owhat
THREAD ­ STARTER
Member
142 posts
Gallery: 7 photos
Likes: 2
Joined Jan 2011
Location: West Los Angeles, CA. USA
     
Jan 04, 2012 12:38 |  #11

Thank you so much for the responses, everyone. Like I mentioned above, I shall try the local, Costco route first and if it doesn't work out, resort to online prints.

Again, thank you so much for the help. I really appreciate it! Wish I could rep' everyone. :)


flickr (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
tonylong
...winded
Avatar
54,657 posts
Gallery: 60 photos
Likes: 569
Joined Sep 2007
Location: Vancouver, WA USA
     
Jan 04, 2012 12:54 |  #12

Owhat wrote in post #13645752 (external link)
Thank you so much for the responses, everyone. Like I mentioned above, I shall try the local, Costco route first and if it doesn't work out, resort to online prints.

Again, thank you so much for the help. I really appreciate it! Wish I could rep' everyone. :)

Costco has a very good service and provides good quality.

Plus, you can upload photos online for them to print and then just walk in and pick them up.

Of course, though, Costco is a "members" place so you have to pay to play. But their prices are super for prints.


Tony
Two Canon cameras (5DC, 30D), three Canon lenses (24-105, 100-400, 100mm macro)
Tony Long Photos on PBase (external link)
Wildlife project pics here (external link), Biking Photog shoots here (external link), "Suburbia" project here (external link)! Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood pics here (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
on2rails
Member
Avatar
69 posts
Joined Oct 2007
Location: West Virginia
     
Jan 04, 2012 13:40 |  #13

All good responses in this post and I can't speak for Costco specifically but I have had prints made from the local lab or shop with decent results for the intended use. I'd have no problem doing it again if I need something right now depending on the situation.

With that said, time is money and I live wayyyyy out in the country and a trip to the shop would be a 2 hr adventure of my time + gas (60 mile round trip ). Prints are inexpensive no matter local or online, but outside the pricing circle is where ordering online works out best for me. Sure you pay shipping, but my 2 hours is not taken away from me and they come right to my door in a couple of days.


..
Joey Ricard Photography (external link)

Join me on Facebook (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
Owhat
THREAD ­ STARTER
Member
142 posts
Gallery: 7 photos
Likes: 2
Joined Jan 2011
Location: West Los Angeles, CA. USA
     
Jan 04, 2012 13:45 |  #14

tonylong wrote in post #13645820 (external link)
Costco has a very good service and provides good quality.

Plus, you can upload photos online for them to print and then just walk in and pick them up.

Of course, though, Costco is a "members" place so you have to pay to play. But their prices are super for prints.

Luckily, I have a Costco nearby, as well as a membership. :D

on2rails wrote in post #13646056 (external link)
All good responses in this post and I can't speak for Costco specifically but I have had prints made from the local lab or shop with decent results for the intended use. I'd have no problem doing it again if I need something right now depending on the situation.

With that said, time is money and I live wayyyyy out in the country and a trip to the shop would be a 2 hr adventure of my time + gas (60 mile round trip ). Prints are inexpensive no matter local or online, but outside the pricing circle is where ordering online works out best for me. Sure you pay shipping, but my 2 hours is not taken away from me and they come right to my door in a couple of days.

Well put, my friend.

Just submitted some test prints to Costco online and will pick them up in a couple of hours. Hope it all goes well.

Thank you all so much again from the bottom of my heart!


flickr (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
paddler4
Goldmember
Avatar
1,435 posts
Gallery: 3 photos
Likes: 70
Joined Aug 2009
     
Jan 04, 2012 15:48 |  #15

I do most of my own printing, but I have used Bay Photo a few times, and all of the prints I ordered came back precisely as I wanted them. I used their budget service (no color correction) because I wanted to control color myself (and have a calibrated monitor). I wouldn't hesitate to use them again.


Check out my photos at http://dkoretz.smugmug​.com (external link)

  
  LOG IN TO REPLY
sponsored links (only for non-logged)

3,189 views & 0 likes for this thread, 9 members have posted to it.
Where to order great quality prints online for good prices?
FORUMS Post Processing, Marketing & Presenting Photos RAW, Post Processing & Printing 
AAA
x 1600
y 1600

Jump to forum...   •  Rules   •  Forums   •  New posts   •  RTAT   •  'Best of'   •  Gallery   •  Gear   •  Reviews   •  Member list   •  Polls   •  Image rules   •  Search   •  Password reset   •  Home

Not a member yet?
Register to forums
Registered members may log in to forums and access all the features: full search, image upload, follow forums, own gear list and ratings, likes, more forums, private messaging, thread follow, notifications, own gallery, all settings, view hosted photos, own reviews, see more and do more... and all is free. Don't be a stranger - register now and start posting!


COOKIES DISCLAIMER: This website uses cookies to improve your user experience. By using this site, you agree to our use of cookies and to our privacy policy.
Privacy policy and cookie usage info.


POWERED BY AMASS forum software 2.58forum software
version 2.58 /
code and design
by Pekka Saarinen ©
for photography-on-the.net

Latest registered member is Monkeytoes
1370 guests, 189 members online
Simultaneous users record so far is 15,144, that happened on Nov 22, 2018

Photography-on-the.net Digital Photography Forums is the website for photographers and all who love great photos, camera and post processing techniques, gear talk, discussion and sharing. Professionals, hobbyists, newbies and those who don't even own a camera -- all are welcome regardless of skill, favourite brand, gear, gender or age. Registering and usage is free.