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printing

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:04 pm
by teresa1016
Can anyone recommend a place to print pictures with good quality? I am new to photography and may take my son's senior pics this year.

Re: printing

PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 5:47 am
by Joe_Kostoss
I have had very good results from Adorama in NYC.

http://www.adorama.com

Re: printing

PostPosted: Sat Feb 05, 2011 2:08 pm
by AngelicKim
I have my professional photos such as Senior pics and weddings done through ProLab Express. They have an awesome selection of custom portrait options and all orders over $15 ship UPS Ground or FedEx Ground FREE! I have recommended them on here before and people that have used them are more than pleased with the pricing and results.

http://www.prolabexpress.com

Re: printing

PostPosted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 12:31 pm
by Russinator
I usually print here at home; however, when I really want a top quality print I go with White House. Their web site is: http://www.whcc.com/?gclid=CO-8ppj57KYCFQdMgwodpy7jGA

If it's a poster and it's larger than my printer will print [19x13] I have used Costco, Sam's Club and a few others. These sites do a good job, but White House is better and, needless to say, more expensive.

Re: printing

PostPosted: Mon Feb 07, 2011 8:54 am
by genevh
While I've never used them personally, mpix.com comes up a lot in discussions of printing in another forum I hang out on.

Re: printing

PostPosted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 2:52 pm
by benhowland
I'll usually just send them to Office Depot. They do a great job, and if you're lucky enough to get a good associate, you can get a lot of perks. We use one of the leading companies out there and always compare rates for our magazine printing .(But I must say I am always looking for a way to save money)> :woohoo:

Re: printing

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:34 am
by teresa1016
Thanks everyone for your input. I just took pics of my two granddaughters and plan to send to each of these companies so I can compare. Remember I am new to photography. The White House sent me an email that said I must send 5 test prints. I do not know how to do what they are asking. Howdo I "prepare my files" this way? And what do they mean by monitor calibration. Here is a copy of the main body of the email:


Submitting test files is the next step to open your account. We will print up to five 8x10s at no charge to check your monitor calibration. If you regularly calibrate your monitor already, this test will simply serve to provide a level of comfort for you that our output is dead on. We view this test as an important, valuable and required step to open an account with White House.

Prepare your files as follows: sized to 8x10 at 300 PPI, in any imbedded color space and saved as a baseline standard, level 10 JPEG. Any B&W images also should be in RGB, not Grayscale. Be sure to confirm your street address, as we cannot ship to PO Boxes.

Your test prints are sent back to you along with our Getting Started guide and our paper and texture samples. Your account will be set up upon receipt of the test files.

Re: printing

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:50 am
by AngelicKim
What they want is for you to send them 5 different shots you will be having printed. Pick some with different colors in them if you can. You do not need to calibrate your monitor. Their test is simply going to be sending you prints to see that you are happy with the colors as they print them compared to what is on your screen. If your colors are different than than the prints and you don't like them that is an indication that you do need to calibrate your monitor to get truer colors. Simply process (edit) your photos the way you want them. Save them as they indicated. All of the settings they mention are in your program. Most likely your already set at RBG color space. You can check this by going to the Image tab at the top and choose Mode. Your color will most likely be RBG or CYMK. When you save the photo, after you pick the location to and you get the quality pop up box, move the slider to 10 and make sure Standard Baseline is checked. Then send it to them. They make is sound more complicated than it actually is.

Re: printing

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 11:43 am
by mtbspike
That is cool that they are offering up to 5 free 8x10s for the purpose of color comparison. I know my monitor needs calibration because of a print I just had done the other day at Walmart. It was obvious my yellows were coming our orangey and oranges were coming out reddish. I don't like putzing around with stuff like calibration, so that 's kind of a bummer for me.

Maybe your monitor is already set up correctly. You'll find out if you do the test prints.

Courtney

Re: printing

PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:46 pm
by genevh
If you plan on getting serious about your photography, and want to get the most out of your post processing and prints without having to guess if you're colors are accurate and whether or not your prints are going to be too dark or too light as compared to what you see on your monitor, it is highly recommended that you calibrate it. With the tools available today, all the guesswork is taken out of it for you and the programs that come with the calibration tool (colorimeter) will step you through the process. Doing it will only take 15 - 20 minutes, and you will see a vast difference. If I didn't calibrate mine, everything would appear way too blue, and my prints would be dark as these new LCD monitors tend to be too bright. The first time I calibrated my brand new monitor (at the time) the difference was like night and day. Amazon has a good selection of calibration kits here. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a decent one, either. I use a Spyder2 that I've had for a couple of years now and have been very satisfied with.