Costco printing - a question.......

tim wrote in post #3588108
Do you really want to get into printing yourself? The Epson 2800/3800/etc range are meant to be great, but then you have to worry about calibration, paper stocks, and the time it takes to produce the images. I think cost is about the same, but with an up-front investment in the gear. Unless you want the control or the speed of printing yourself i'd suggest you give it some thought. It'd be interesting to hear from some people who print their own.

Hey Tim (and Suzy) -

I wouldn't print any bigger than 8 x 10. I haven't shot anything yet worth a very big print yet. I miss printing myself - I had a Oly P-400 (died due to construction dust in my house - I'm still kicking myself over not removing it entirely from the house during the renovation), and the epson 1280 died eons ago. When you print yourself, you really get to know your own printer and it's just easier. But, if I can manage to get good prints from Costco's, I might be able to delay a printer purchase for quite some time. I was looking at Canon's pro 9000. I still am very torn between the 9000 and 9500. I am restoring some oldie family photos, and would need some black and white. But, I think when the time comes, I'll do the 9000 and if I need black & white printing, I'll let costco's do it to save the money so I don't have to purchase the really expensive 9500.

BTW - have you ever done black & white prints from Costco's? How do those come out for you??

Many thanks again -

You can go to a Costco and actually stand there and work with the technician. They don't charge if you are not happy. Get to know the staff there, they will try hard to please you. I've done that. Go when it is not so crowded, like in the morning on a weekday. Weekends are not the time.

There's a check box for that before you finalise your online order.

They look great from mine! Your results may vary.

Good plan. When they see me in line, they just go & get my prints.

Frank, I also know the staff at 2 Costcos, mainly because my son worked at both, but they have never asked about copyrights because they know I am a photographer. Saves me so much time trying to explain. I've seen some beautiful work done at their lab, by many pros, can't help but sneak a peek when stuff is printing up. One photographer have poster-sized printed there from pictures he/she took in Hawaii. They were stunning. I think Costco is very reasonable all the way around.

I have heard so many good things about Costco's prints that I've decided to upgrade my glass rather than invest in a printer.