What labs in Canada?

Hey everyone,

My business is based here in the U.S. and I was wondering what high-quality labs are recommended for Canada, perhaps in the Ottawa area? I shot a wedding held here in the states and wanted to know where I should suggest them printing their photos at near them and to avoid the pain and expense of sending stuff from the US to Canada.

Thank you!

You could contact Chris at www.digi-labs.ca

They are a pro lab in the Toronto area but I'm sure you could submit files directly to Digi-labs and they could ship them to the couple.

i was going to start a similar thread like this. I am also looking for a lab within Canada for my prints. I'll check out digi-labs but in the mean time, is there anything else anyone would recommend?

looks like they are charging $1.05 for each 4x6 print. Looking for something a little cheaper then that, right now this is for personal prints

Where are you adblink?
For everyday personal prints you could try Blacks, Future Shop, any Foto Source dealer (www.fotosource.com) etc.

For fast multiple print copies for grandparents I'll often use my local Walmart. In the beginning I wasn't happen as there was often a colour cast but they have consistently been putting out good quality prints for the last 12 or so months. I even recently sent in a couple of prints to my local Fortinos since I was going to be getting groceries anyway and they looked good.

Any of my hired work goes to the pro lab as that's what my business model is based on. I'd consider trying somewhere less expensive but consistency is my concern and it costs less to get the print printed right the first time than have to reprint, plus I like the Kodak Endura paper. Yes they are $1.05 for colour corrected, $0.44 for uncorrected. Their price becomes more in line as the size goes up and they are very reasonable on gallery wrapped canvases.

Here in Ottawa, I use Ginn.. Not the cheapest, but with Fotowire it's simple to upload my photos, and the quality is second to none.

Rubi Jane wrote in post #4145913
Where are you adblink?
For everyday personal prints you could try Blacks, Future Shop, any Foto Source dealer (www.fotosource.com) etc.

For fast multiple print copies for grandparents I'll often use my local Walmart. In the beginning I wasn't happen as there was often a colour cast but they have consistently been putting out good quality prints for the last 12 or so months. I even recently sent in a couple of prints to my local Fortinos since I was going to be getting groceries anyway and they looked good.

Any of my hired work goes to the pro lab as that's what my business model is based on. I'd consider trying somewhere less expensive but consistency is my concern and it costs less to get the print printed right the first time than have to reprint, plus I like the Kodak Endura paper. Yes they are $1.05 for colour corrected, $0.44 for uncorrected. Their price becomes more in line as the size goes up and they are very reasonable on gallery wrapped canvases.

I didn't notice that those prices I was looking at was colour corrected. Wouldnt colour corrected just throw the PP work you did out the window?

Myself and a relative of mine did a little experiment. She took 10 pictures from her trip to New Zealand and got all 10 of them printed at Futureshop, Henry's and Fortinos. Then she laid them out on the table for me. Without me knowing what store they were from, I picked which set turn out the best, and oddly enough it was Fortinos. I was quite surprised.

I haven't had a chance to try Blacks yet, but at almost double the cost of the last three, I'd hope they are alot better

//edit just checked out fotosource like you mentioned, and they too are $0.39. Just noticed that if you print 100+ it drops to $0.27, which is not bad. Any idea which one is better between blacks or foto source? (in your opinion of course)

The colour corrected can through the PP out the window, at least for proofs, but it won't replace any PS actions you might want to apply hence the uncorrected option.

I did similar tests a while back. Took a half dozen significantly different images and sent them to 6 different photo labs (Fortinos wasn't one though). The 2 pro labs came out top in every image, foto source & blacks were equal in second and Walmart & Costco were OK but least consistent. That was over a year ago, since then my local Walmart has improved dramatically and prints good & consistent quality.

I found the upload to Blacks site more consumer friendly while I used an FTP site for the foto source local to me, which I'm fine with.

I've been using FTP servers for years and that would be amazing if the one near me had it (which I dont think they do)

so by the sounds of it, waiting till I have 100+ prints to do and getting them done at fotosource would be the best and most cost efficient way of doing it

I wonder, what does blacks and fotosource do different in their developing process that makes it cost x2 the price?

I'd guess that Black's & Fotosource business model drives a higher price. Walmart & Costco business models are completely different to a smaller store format, and in the case of fotosource, an independent camera/photolab. I'd expect the Black's and fotosource employees are more likely to be photography enthusiasts and may get more training, but that's just a guess. Looking at how busy Walmart & Costco photo labs are they probably do more volume also. Being large, multi-national retailers I'd expect they get lower pricing from their suppliers also. In the end, it all adds up to a lower cost to them and business models that rely on lower margins also.

Have a look at www.provisia.ca based out of Montreal. Great shop to deal with...