"School photo" print labs

I'm interested in the "trick" to ordering high volume print packages much like school portraits or the "I" in T&I?

What labs do you use? There must be some way of batch ordering packages other than "ROES add to cart" for print packages? Also, do they back print file numbers so you can keep the subjects straight?

Well I use DS Colour Labs in Manchester.

My workflow is to pre-process each of the images I want to print to the right size (say 6x4 or 9x6 at 300dpi) and hold these in unique folders (6x4, 9x6, 12x8, Wallets etc.) and then to bulk upload images to their ordering system.

I very quickly end up with an order that shows me that I have 'X' 6x4's, 'Y' 9x6 etc.

The prints are back printed with the file number so that you can organise the packages.

I have yet to find any company that can allow me to set up "packages" and will deliver the images pre-sorted and bagged without processing each order individually and losing out on volume buy discounts.

Nations Photo Lab

I use H&H Color Lab.

I process each photo I'm going to use. If the ordered package includes an 8x10, I crop it to 8x10; if not, I crop it to 5x7. All of these go into 1 folder and are uploaded using H&H's EZSports software.

From there, I indicate what package (I previously set up packages in the software) for each photo, then crop each photo, if needed.

I can do one team at a time or multiple teams at the same time. The software gives the option of sorting by team, last name, first name, etc. The sorting is also done in tiers.... i.e. It will first sort by team name, then, within each of those sorts, it will sort by coach name (in case there is more than one team with the same name), then it will sort by child's name. (These are used as example - there are a multitude of things to choose from in sorting order.) It also gives me the option for the lab to pre-fill delivery envelopes with the orders. Yes, costs a few cents extra to do it. It's well worth it, IMO.

What area are you in?
Most school labs will deliver packages with a label with the students info on it sorted by grade, last name then first name. File info printed on the back.

Jimconnerphoto wrote in post #16300421
What area are you in?

It would be good to start with a continent or possibly even a country

What is the feasibility of printing something like this myself? There are no professional print labs in my country and there are costs to having stuff shipped to me, plus the length of time it might take to arrive in my country.