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Position:Home>Visual Arts> Where do photographers print their photos?Question: Where do photographers print their photos!? Good morning!.
I just started a small photography business, and I can't quite afford my own personal printing services yet!. Where can I go to get my photos printed up in the classic 11x14, 8x10, 5x7, wallet sized images!? Better yet - where have you professional photographers gone in the past (or present)!? I do not want to use places like Wal-Mart, CVS, Walgreens, etc!. I want a place where their main purpose is printing if at all possible!. Thank you!Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I second fhotoace on Costco!. Their equipment is superb, and they are doing great job at prices you will not likely to find in pro labs!. The key is - you upload your images from home to costco!.com and order to pick up in store!. If you do this - you can select an option to not auto-correct your images as many consumer labs do, so that they print exactly like you made it (assuming you have post processed your images yourself)!. Then in addition to that Costco has free access online to the ICC profiles of each individual printer in each store, download one for your store and if you have software like photoshop and good calibrated monitor - you will be able to match the colors exactly to what you want to print!. Then as fhotoace said- there is an option to add a line of text printed on the back of each image, which could be "(C) YOUR NAME - DO NOT REPRODUCE" if you want to mark your proofs like that, or just the name of an event you're printing, etc!. Last but not least - Costco labs (at least in my local store) are willing to work with you to get the results you wanted!. Back in the days when online upload was not there yet, I would hand them a CD with my images and instructions how to print them (rather than inserting it into automatic terminal), e!.g!. not to do auto correction and what sizes I wanted, etc!. They would do it for me, and if they got it wrong, they'd reprint as many times as needed!. But with photo upload feature that allows to disable auto correction this became non-issue now!. As I usually get back precisely what I wanted anyway!. LEM!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Go out to the Rangefinder Magazine site and look in the classified section!. There are many pro labs that specifically cater to wedding and portrait photographers!.!. Is there a specific reason you do not want to use a place like Costco!. The lab in my nearest Costco has newer equipment than my not so near pro lab!. They use the same processes and quality control and in my tests, there as been no difference in my tests up to 30 x 40 inch prints!. Costco even prints the backs of the prints with my company name and other information I may want to includeWww@QuestionHome@Com There are a number of good places!. I use MPIX they will print any size you want, are a great quality lab, will ship to the client if you wish!. You may even want to check out their zenfolio to help with your businessWww@QuestionHome@Com I second mpix Very good quality and choice of papers and finshes!. If you are doing wallets for senior pictures, they are die cut, with the rounded corners like most of the seniors get!. Www@QuestionHome@Com at the photo lab for small prints and industrial printers for the big stuffWww@QuestionHome@Com Black's!.Www@QuestionHome@Com http://www!.millerslab!.com/Www@QuestionHome@Com I'll third Mpix, but certainly check out Costco if there is one close to you!. If Fhotoace and LEM endorse them, they are good!. I just don't have a Costco anywhere within an hour's drive from home, so I stick to online mail order!. Stock answer alert!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!. For very reliable, professional work, I trust Miller's Mpix!.com!. http://www!.mpix!.com They have quite a variety of print sizes available that would allow you to get a suitable enlargement from almost any image format!. See http://www!.mpix!.com/productsinfo!.aspx for a list of their products, sizes and prices!. Mpix says that their "Billfold" prints are 2!.5" x 3!.5", but by the time you punch them out, they are 2!.35" x 3!.35" with rounded corners!. They call their "Mini-wallets" 1!.75" x 2!.5", but I imagine that they also lose something after you punch them out from the page of 8 prints!. They will mount your print on matboard and they will ship a framed print (glass is NOT included due to risk of breakage), but I do not see matting (with a border) listed!. The only thing that I have a problem with is that they offer three different kinds of papers, which is a good thing, but you can NOT mix papers in the same order!. This might cause you to pay two different shipping charges if you need a mixed order right away!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |