how to get photos printed?

[aussiemummy]

ok i have just branched out into the big wide world of professional photography. Up until now i have bee developing and printing my own black and white photes. but since becoming professional i have been shooting in colour, and editing in PS. now i have no idea how to get the images printed.

what size do they have to be? dpi? where? average cost? i have no idea about any of these things :er:

 

[Meysha]

You may get more answers if you post in the photoshop section - but a mod will move this if need be.

In PS. Go Image -> Image Size.
Change the DPI to 300. You'll notice at the top of that dialog box there will be two different megapixel sizes. The one in brackets is the size of your file before you changed your dpi. The one outside brackets is your new size.

Change the height and width of your file until the two file sizes are about the same. Or the new file size is just under the size of the old one. This is probably your optimal size that you can print at without loosing quality due to more pixels being added.

Then save as a jpeg. Ring the lab ahead of time and ask if their machines can read Tiff... if they can, save it as a tiff. That way you won't lose any detail.

I have printed images that were 5 times their original file size and they still look fine from a little bit further away than 'optimal viewing' distance, but closer you start to see the difference.

Sizes are usually done in inches, coz that's the way that photo paper is still measured. So you can do 5x7, 6x8, 8x10, 8x12 and heaps of other sizes.

Cost depends where you get it done of course. Kmart is one of the more expensive places for me, up here in Cairns. It costs about $11 to get an 8x12 there, from memory. But I found a really great semi-professional camera lab that'll do an 8x12 for $4. So it pays to shop around.

You then just take your file in on a CD and put it in one of those tricky machines and it prints out for you in a few minutes. yippee! It's magic!

Your first few prints will be printed wrongly, I can tell you that. Because their printers will be callibrated differently to your monitor. So just do a couple of small prints first off and then come back home and recalibrate your monitor to suit their machine. It's a pain in the ass but worth it, if you're going to print a bunch of stuff at the one place.

 

[aussiemummy]

thanks heaps for that. I got one of my photos printed on one of the kodak instant print machines at kmart. and it came out really pixelated. which is one of the reasons i wanted to know how to do it. the lady at kmart was really unhelpful. i think next time i will look around for a proper photo developing place.

I'll post the question in the photoshop thread to see if anyone else has some tips. thanks
clair

 

[BLINN]

If you going to play with the big boys, then you should use the big boy toys. All pro when doing enlarging for clients normally use pro labs. Look in the yellow pages for photo labs call them up and set up an account with them. This next step will cost you some money... send a print to the lab and have them print it in a few different sizes.ie. 11x14,16x20,20x30 you will then know which prints size will look best for max megapix from your camera. Any and I repeat any changes in PS to enlarge a picture will create pixelizations. It is not a matter of seeing the pixels on you pc rather, how does it look after it has been developed and hung on the wall. For the most part leave the image the orginal size that it was save in the camera and the pro lab will do the rest as for resizing. The enlargement costs are not as expensive as you might think. I get 16X20's done with shiping for under $40CND. With a 6.3 meg camera and you see no pixelization. Good luck the your new business.

Mike

 

[thebeginning]

the best way to print digital pictures IMO (from what i've read) is to use Mpix. cheap, fast, and far superior quality than other printers. www.mpix.com

i'd check it out it I were you, i'll be printing from there when i decide i need a print made.

 

[aussiemummy]

thanks for that

 

[nomaddan]

www.mpix.com

great prices, turnaround and quality. i have never been disappointed. easy to upload and lots of products.:thumbup:

 

[LizM]

All pro when doing enlarging for clients normally use pro labs.

Not around here. The "pro" labs around here are a HUGE headache! The last one never did print a 16x20 on stretched canvas for me and he had the thing for 6 months!!!

I do have a "pro" lab I send some things off to occasionally but in all honesty things like MPix and some other services are getting just as good (if not better once you consider the customer service also) than the "pro" labs.