Large Prints

[RxForB3]

Part of what got me into photography was an attempt at making my own decoration for my house. It was cheap to print a poster size print at Walgreens and get a cheap frame.

I just printed the photo of Seattle at night that I posted a while back. I'm disappointed with how it turned out. The contrast just didn't work well enough to delineate some of the buildings from the background as the original photo on the computer screen did very clearly. Anyone have suggestions of where to get prints in large sizes? Also, I can't do a panorama at Walgreens, which would have been nice...

 

[CowgirlMama]

WalGreens isn't exactly the best place to get quality prints. I've gotten tolerable posters from Sams Club, but still not as good as they could be. Mpix does pretty decent prints. I've heard that Simply Color Lab is better, but haven't actually placed an order with them yet. It'll cost you a bit more, but it's worth it to get decent prints.

 

[RxForB3]

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[LightSpeed]

Um I can print, ahhh 24 inches by as long as you want to go.
If I have a good file to work with, I can make it look real good.
The only paper I have though, is Epson premium glossy 250, or Exhibition fiber.

 

[luvmyfamily]

I use Nations Photo Lab for prints. Walgreens isn't set up for professional prints, rather point and shoot IMHO. Their system is is electronic and automatically crops photos and not set up for large file sizes of DSLR photos. I got some back with heads chopped off and took them back for a refund. Use a professional lab. You may want to check and see if you have a professional lab locally. We have one here, and I am going to try that out as well.

 

[luvmyfamily]

WalGreens isn't exactly the best place to get quality prints. I've gotten tolerable posters from Sams Club, but still not as good as they could be. Mpix does pretty decent prints. I've heard that Simply Color Lab is better, but haven't actually placed an order with them yet. It'll cost you a bit more, but it's worth it to get decent prints.

I have been using Nations Photo Lab, however I may check out Simply Color lab as well. Also, a photographer friend of mine uses Buckeye printing.

 

[luvmyfamily]

Oh, also, professional labs are good also for Canvas prints if you want to print on canvas.

 

[Mach0]

I've used mpix... No issue here and the prices are good.

 

[KmH]

No print will look like your computer display.

Your display uses the RGB color model, is back lit, and will usually tolerate less sharpening than can be applied to a photo destined for print.

A print is made using the CMYK color model and is front lit. Sharpening is used to control edge contrast.

Consquently, the better image editing software allows for 'soft-proofing', a way to closely approximate on a computer display what a print will look like. Tutorials on Color Management & Printing

What are the pixel dimensions of the photo and what size print do you want to make?

 

[FSJeffo]

Oh, also, professional labs are good also for Canvas prints if you want to print on canvas.

I just did two 20x24" canvas prints on Artworks Photo to Canvas (part of a promo that Canon put out to their newsletter subscribers). Service was great, prints look awesome (to me, anyway).

JM

 

[bhop]

I've also used Mpix for large prints. Good quality for the money. For home decorations and other non-professional prints, I'd just go this route over expensive pro-labs.

 

[MReid]

Mpix does a good job.
Sounds like an image problem.

 

[RxForB3]

An image problem in what way? I'll have to look at the size when I get home, but it was originally RAW, cropped a bit, then output to jpeg. Overall it still looks great, but not AS great. I noticed that Simply Color Labs (I think it was...maybe adoromapix) states that they print in sRGB. Sounds like that might be a good option?

I'll have to read that article on color management when I get back home, as well...

 

[KmH]

What, if any, sharpening did you do to the photo, before sending it out for printing.

You might also want to read - Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition)

And most of what is in this book also applies to Lightroom's Develope module since Lightroom and Camera Raw both use ACR - Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS5

 

[zcar21]

What were the specs? paper size, ppi, type of paper, type of sharpening would be nice to know.