Printing your photos??

Golfcart · Jun 9, 2012

Hello guys, just wondering what option you use for printing out your photos. I mostly use costco for my own stuff, but when I print for clients I'll use Adorama. Does anyone know the difference between the 2? Why is Costco so cheap? Is it worth using them? Why or why not? Thanks!

Majeed Badizadegan · Jun 9, 2012

I too am interested in good places online to order quality prints. What should you expect to pay for quality prints at different sizes as well? today I paid $32.00 for 16x24 lustre print from a local photo store. I've never looked online for printing services.

KmH · Jun 9, 2012

Here you go - Online pphoto printing services - Bing

I recommend the Miller's family of print labs Mpix.com, MpixPro.com, Millerslab.com, plus HHcolor.com, bayphoto.com, nationsphotolab.com, whcc.com. You would have to complete an application for some of those.

hopelaurenphotograph · Jun 9, 2012

I use Photo Books, Holiday Cards, Photo Cards, Birth Announcements, Photo Printing | Shutterfly for all personal and customer prints. Great customer service, great quality, and great selection of products.

Golfcart · Jun 9, 2012

So would these labs offer something Costco would not? What's the difference?

southrndarlin · Jun 9, 2012

KmH said:
Here you go - Online pphoto printing services - Bing

I recommend the Miller's family of print labs Mpix.com, MpixPro.com, Millerslab.com, plus HHcolor.com, bayphoto.com, nationsphotolab.com, whcc.com. You would have to complete an application for some of those.

I would highly recommend Mpix.com!! I ordered my father in law's christmas present through them and was pleasantly surprised with how great their customer service was when i contacted them with a small issue I had with my order. The issue was handled in under 24 hours and i had my order re-shipped and received the very next day. They usually have good offers on their packages/books.

AmberNikol · Jun 11, 2012

I use to use Mpix.com for all my prints till I found NationsPhotolab.com Nations prints are OUTSTANDING, the prints come out so sharp and clear. They do an amazing job and customer service is the best I have ever received from a company. You can find them on facebook too. They are out of MD. I suggest checking them out, they are great.

KmH · Jun 11, 2012

Mpix is now in Springfield Missouri.

They used to be in Pittsburg, Kansas, so they didn't move very far, but Springfield is a lot bigger town than Pittsburg is.

BlueMeanieTSi · Jun 11, 2012

Rotanimod said:
I too am interested in good places online to order quality prints. What should you expect to pay for quality prints at different sizes as well? today I paid $32.00 for 16x24 lustre print from a local photo store. I've never looked online for printing services.

That's about what I charge for that size of a print on that paper.

Ballistics · Jun 11, 2012

Golfcart said:
Hello guys, just wondering what option you use for printing out your photos. I mostly use costco for my own stuff, but when I print for clients I'll use Adorama. Does anyone know the difference between the 2? Why is Costco so cheap? Is it worth using them? Why or why not? Thanks!

I literally just used Costco for the first time for little league team photos, and they are one of the best for cost:quality. Costco is easily just as good as Mpix and cheaper.

KmH · Jun 11, 2012

For T&I stuff like Little League team photos, Miller's Professional Imaging's pic-a-pak service is really hard to beat. www.millerslab.com

ewick · Jun 12, 2012

While every one had great suggestion nobody was able to answer one of the OP main question: "what makes these other places better than costco?"

KmH · Jun 12, 2012

And neither did you.

In many respects Costco makes pretty good prints. Part of the difference is that most online labs offers services, products, and support Costco lacks.

jowensphoto · Jun 12, 2012

^^ That was going to be my answer as well. I do my family scrapbook prints at Costco, or even Walgreens, but anything that gets sold or hung on the wall comes from a pro lab.

WHCC has contacted me about color casts and crop ratio problems before they shipped my prints; for a small charge, they fixed the problems and saved me a lot of time. I'm pretty sure that's something Costco doesn't offer. In addition to custom DVD cases, press printed products, and high end albums.

Ernicus · Jun 12, 2012

I set up with WHCC for when my time comes to print. I was sent there by a local portrait photog I hooked up with. The service is excellent. He had nothing but great things to say and has been a customer for years.

I sent them 5 photos they printed for free to use for testing output and calibration. They sent me also samples of their paper and a nice packet. The packaging of the photos was very good. As a new customer, I was happy with service and set up and products offered, and a pretty neat online account system which makes things easy.

I don't have a lot of experience with them yet, but word of mouth is nothing but great things. He stated the cost is very profitable for him. Is it better than others listed? I have no idea. I would definitely trust any site recommended by a trusted member though, and you can't go wrong with KmH's suggestions.

I think the main difference between a lab and say costco, wal mart, etc, is that the latter uses inkjet printing. I could be wrong on that, I know wal mart does. The "self serve" stuff you can get just will not ever compare to a lab...a lab that is of good quality.

Oh, also one thing that attracted me was guaranteed 48 hour. You get your prints back in 48 hours. To me, that was a win. I don't know about turnaround on the others listed...but I'd rather wait 48 hours for a high quality product than get my instant gratification with a crap product.