I've been messing around with photography for a while now, and out of the 70+ rolls of film in my "decent" bag, I have about 35 images I'd like to have printed, in good quality, but I'm not sure where to start. I have the 35mm negatives, which I got developed at walmart, wolf camera, or walgreens (mistake?), and the images on a CD. Do I just find a pro lab, go in, hand them the CD, or negatives, and tell them how many I want printed, and in what size? I'm not sure how it works at all.

The sizes I'd like are 5"x7", and 8"x10". For future reference, is there anything I should do specifcally to prepare for large prints, such as a certain type of film? I was also wondering if it is best to have them printed in bulk, or just make a custom order each time you get an inquiry?

One last thing, I was contemplating buying a printer, the Epson 2200. In the long run, would this be a better choice for business?

Thanks for any help.

How good are the scans? Have you done any editing (aka Photoshopping) to them, or needed to? I'll go out on a limb and say you'll probably be happier with an excellent digital print - but the digital file has to be properly handled. All scans aren't equal and an expert in Photoshop will help the file where a novice might hurt it.

Many labs are converting to digital mini-labs, meaning that the film is developed in chemestry but then scanned and printed digitally. The results aren't usually too bad but can be improved if you can work with the scan.

Bottom line - it depends on a lot of factors. If you can find a place that will do a "wet" print (as in not digital) then I'd try both and see what you think. Around here, the only place that's not digital is quite expensive; they're a dying breed.

As far as my statement above - real black and white on fiber-based paper printed by a darkroom expert can't touch digital black and white IMO.