Where's the cheapest place to get 4x6's with great quality???

True, up to a point. BUT my Costco prints hold up well against "pro-prints", I can upload at 1AM & get them in hours instead of days, & the cost is about 10% of the best pro-lab in the area. I used them for film for decades, but they just can't compete with digital now.

good question, saw this thread and looked at all the different choices. one company that stood out was Adorama.com

with the prices and choice of paper quality, they look like a great service. i've not used them before, anyone here had experience with them?

they use Kodak paper (glossy to Metallic version). the pricing does go higher depending on quality of course.

all great points and not sure there is a correct answer to the op question however, imo providing a professional service has a certain responsibility. You can argue that a consumer can get roughly the same quality from current P&S cameras that you get with your SLR and then they can get the same quality by going to Costco. The same Crystal Archive paper you would get.
Again, my opinion, but I like to think I provide a higher quality product then they can provide themselves. I try to prevent my clients from taking digital files I may give them to the local drugstore because I can't control the quality they will receive.
I also want to ensure larger prints are going to match the smaller prints. I also like the fact that Copyright logos are printed on the back.

I know the people at costco and the all the staff of two local 'pro' labs here. First the costco equipment is newer and is always going to be newer since they upgrade very regularly. Second they are better trained, than the 'pro' lab people, Costco is always sending them out or having the equipment manufacturing in there for every update that comes through for these machines. Third the people there are more acommadating. And lastly I can't speak for all the costcos, but there is always someone on there who used to work for a 'pro' lab. So lets recap, newer equipment, better trained staff, helpful people and all pro lab people. Hmmm did I miss something....oh yes less expensive and great quality. One downfall I can think of, Costco is always crowded...but wait at mine if they know you are pro which they figure out very quickly most of the time you get put to the front of the line. It's not one hour photo for me most of the time its 20 minute photo can't get that at a 'pro' lab.

More on that: You have the option to add (C) 2008 xxxxx xxxxx to the backprinting, which is a nice feature. You do it at the same time that you check no auto adjustments before checkout.

Did I mention that my Costco has "Auto" turned off?

Do they? So are they doing color correction or straight printing? Maybe I will try them again, its been a while but was not happy the last time I was there.

Mpix is my favorite destination for quality prints. I really like their metallic prints. They just pop! Costco is pretty good, but I feel as if their color saturation is off at times. Not by much.....but enough.

I use Millers Lab and have had excellent service and quality. You have to apply for an account and send in test images before you can print anything so that they can do a color profile for their printers.

For hometown prints I use Walgreens or Wal-Mart.

Straight printing, but I use their printer profile, & your store has different techs & may give different results.

Guess I am old school.
I don't have the time to correct everything. I prefer the lab do it.

zagiace wrote in post #6813055
.... imo providing a professional service has a certain responsibility. You can argue that a consumer can get roughly the same quality from current P&S cameras that you get with your SLR and then they can get the same quality by going to Costco. The same Crystal Archive paper you would get.
Again, my opinion, but I like to think I provide a higher quality product then they can provide themselves. I try to prevent my clients from taking digital files I may give them to the local drugstore because I can't control the quality they will receive.

zagiace wrote in post #6836804
...I don't have the time to correct everything. I prefer the lab do it.

I guess I'm older skool.

These two statements seem to be diametrically opposed to one another.

Not sure why they would.
I send my images to a pro lab to have them printed. They provide color / density correction to each individual file. They print on professional paper.
where is the contradiction?

I know this thread is getting old now, but here's my opinion:

Millers/MPIX as my lab of choice.
Winkflash for bulk (read: 100+) of 4x6s since I can usually find $0.09 deals from time to time. They do not backprint Winkflash on them, just the filename.
WalMart for the gotta-have-it today print.

About WalMart: (And don't get me wrong, I am not a WalMart fan...) They have online service with several delivery choices: in-store 1 hour, deliver to store, and deliver to home. If you want WalMart, and you want Good Prints, choose the 1 hour in store. They told me that the techs there actually look at the stuff as it goes through and makes sure they're correct. This is NOT the case with the bulk unattended printing that is ship-to-store or ship-to-home. Their in-store lab is a Fuju Frontier printer, and the paper is Fuji Crystal Archive, Luster finish. That's a fine choice of paper for most applications, and when they are QCing it for me, I can't beat it.

zagiace wrote in post #6837849
Not sure why they would.
I send my images to a pro lab to have them printed. They provide color / density correction to each individual file. They print on professional paper.
where is the contradiction?

You said: You can argue that a consumer can get roughly the same quality from current P&S cameras that you get with your SLR and then they can get the same quality by going to Costco. The same Crystal Archive paper you would get.

Therefore, if the customer sends their P&S files to the same pro lab as you it stands to reason, they will get the similar quality.

The only real difference is the camera used.

I'm not trying to be provocative. But many on this thread have cited that they believe a pro should offer the customer something they couldn't otherwise get. I happen to believe one of those things is the PP. How each of us takes a file and adds our own flavor to it. Not simply pushing a button and outsourcing the backend.

I see I did not word that very well.
My point of the original post was that we should provide professional results if we are to sell our work as professional quality. Which If you compare quality that you get the from a Walmart/Walgreens/Cost​co using amatuer paper and software to a (good) Professional Lab you can argue that your SLR delivers similar quality to a consumer end P&S. It is not my stand that the only difference is the camera used, it is my stand that not only should the difference be the equipment we use but the standards and equipment used for the printing be upheld too. Sorry for the confusion.
I agree with your PP comment as well. I do in my opinion work a great deal on pp an image. However, I leave the final color corrections to the person at the lab. If you are familiar with Lab equipment you know that the printers do vary day to day. Having someone in control of that end of the process gives me warm and fuzzies.