Printing Photos

[b_mcgu]

Hello! I'm new on here and pretty new to photography. In the last couple years I've been doing sessions and just given flash drives or disk out to people so they can print their own photos. But now I have a client that wants me to print them and I'm not sure where to go. I want to make sure I go to a place or a site that will print my photos with high quality. Like I said I'm pretty new and I'm looking for some suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[spiralout462]

Adorama pix and mpix are well respected.

 

[b_mcgu]

Thank you! I've read that Mpix is pretty good! I don't know much about printing.

 

[PersistentNomad]

Seen several in person from WHCC, and they are luscious.

 

[bratkinson]

I do my own printing with a good, photo quality Epson printer. Unfortunately, all the ink it uses is water soluble. So, when I make prints for someone, I have to make sure they know to keep them dry.

One of the early dilemmas I faced when doing my own printing is that of cropping. The printer software decides on its own of how to crop each photo...rightly or wrongly. I've never used an outside printing service, but I suspect they may do the same. The problem is that the format of your image may or may not exactly translate to 4x6, or 5x7, or 8x10. Nor can one set of image dimensions be used for all 3 sizes without cropping. Fortunately, I found that the cropping capabilities in Photoshop Elements works very well to specific dimensions (proportions, actually). That way, I can choose to what to crop off a bit of the image on the long sides of a 5x7, use a different cropping for 4x6, and so on. Lightroom cropping for printing is more difficult to use, in my opinion, as I've never had any success at it. However, for correcting image tilt and cutting out distracting objects or simply shot 'too wide', Lightroom wins hands down. As I wear my glasses while shooting, 'too wide' is a common problem in my pictures.

 

[KmH]

Mpix & Adorama Pix are consumer print outlets.
Both make C-prints and inkjet prints on a variety of print papers and other substrates (canvas, metal, acrylic) with a variety of print finishes (matte, luster, glossy).

Pro labs :
MpixPro
Miller's Professional Imaging (Miller's is the parent of Mpix and Mpix Pro - and the largest lab in the USA)
WHCC
H&H Color Lab
Black River Imaging
Nations Photo Lab

Stuff about preparing digital images for printing you, and your customers, are probably not aware of:
The Digital Negative: Raw Image Processing in Lightroom, Camera Raw, and Photoshop (2nd Edition)
The Digital Print: Preparing Images in Lightroom and Photoshop for Printing

Prints destined for printing should not be edited and sharpened the same as images destined for electronic display.
Real World Image Sharpening with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw, and Lightroom (2nd Edition)

 

[dennybeall]

You may want to check with your client. If price and/or time is critical to them you may want to check a local place like Walgreens? We have one in the area here that does very good work and can do large prints.

 

[KmH]

You may want to check with your client. If price and/or time is critical to them you may want to check a local place like Walgreens? We have one in the area here that does very good work and can do large prints.

Does your local Walgreens do large prints there, or are they done at a Walgreens lab elsewhere?

 

[dennybeall]

They have machines on site . They can do it or you can plug your thumbdrive in to a PC and choose what to print then they do it right then. There are two near me - one does up to 10" and the other does larger ones up to 14" or 16". Not sure which, since I only needed a 10X14 for a rush job last month. They use rolls of paper so the other dimension can be larger.

 

[spiralout462]

Meh. In a pinch I would do it at home.

 

[N1kon1k]

Honestly I have use walgreens as well for 8x10 and it did the job... Sold a bunch since one print turned into 10...

 

[smoke665]

I've used Nations Photo many times, and can't say enough about their quality and customer service.

 

[Advanced Photo]

I have a large format 10+one ultra photo quality printer that I use to print my own photos and artworks, and those my wife makes. It will print up to 44 inches wide by any length if using a roll. It can print on canvas or paper or rigid poster board and the prints are good for up to 200 years without color fading or shifting. You can also get any other size prints you like.

 

[Dmariehill]

I know this is an old thread, but I like to search before adding new questions.

Related question- does it make sense to pick one or two labs and do a sample print first before deciding on a lab to use?

I had someone recommend WHCC and myphotopipe.com. And I now am looking at Nations since it was mentioned in this thread too. Price and service options are obviously part of the consideration, but the way the print actually looks matters as well, right?

Did you guys do test prints before picking a lab? or is that overkill?

 

[KmH]

There are quite a few good print labs out there.

WHCC & Nations are both good labs.
So are Miller's Imaging, H&H Color Lab, Black River Imaging and several more.

Note that Miller's also has Mpix Pro and the consumer outlet Mpix.