Printing your photos

I would like to start printing and framing some of my pictures and I don't really know anything about the printing aspect of photography. Any suggestions on where to go to print and what you should do before you print? Some of the pictures I would like to print are panoramic shots. Others I can handle by doing 8x10. Thank you.

Start by having a properly calibrated monitor. There's the Huey and Spyder products that will do this for you.

If you don't want to print at home, then be sure you use a lab that offers profiles. Adoramapix and Mpix both come to mind. Mpix does great but I usually use Adorama since they are cheaper. Dry Creek Photo has some great articles on color management.

For framing, I like Frame Destination because they do a good job and have good pricing. Plus you can order custom frames and mats in any size you want so you don't have to worry about odd crops or panoramics.

Be patient. Don't expect to understand everything all at once. It certainly took me a while. The good news is that once you've got it all working, you're set.

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Originally Posted by slayer7124

I would like to start printing and framing some of my pictures and I don't really know anything about the printing aspect of photography. Any suggestions on where to go to print and what you should do before you print? Some of the pictures I would like to print are panoramic shots. Others I can handle by doing 8x10. Thank you.

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I have been printing my own prints at home since I went digital in 2000. But the thing is a good printer can be costly or cheap depending on the size you are printing. Large prints are cheaper to print at home, but the run of the mill 4x5 or 4x6's may be more expensive printed at home and is extremely printer dependent (ink and paper). Please note that cheap paper specially gloss papers getting correct color balance can be a problematic. You will not have any problem with HP papers with HP printer or Epson papers with Epson printers. Example with GQ paper from Fry's on the C-80 printer the Black and White was Blue and White! Or Kodak soft gloss on the C-84 printer had too much red! The color sifts are due the chemical reactions between the ink and the paper coatings. This is a problem with gloss papers and does not seem to happen with Mat papers.

I started with a cheap printer (Epson C-80 series), now I have a Epson R-2400 photo output is very good, but it's a $600 plus printer. I still have photos displayed printed on the Epson 80 series printers, that are now over 6 years old which look like they were jest printed (on good mat paper) and some are in the direct sun!

AdoramaPix
Great quality, good pricing

And check out foamcore/gatorboard at a local print shop or frame shop. Simple mount, no frame, but looks great.

I print all my photos through www.mpix.com and I love them. I am going to try out White House Custom Color as well, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I have used Adorama, shutterfly, snapfish, and winkflash in the past as well. They are all cheaper than Mpix, but I don't think they have the same quality.

I just ordered a bunch of matts from Frame Destination a couple weeks ago. I'm very happy with them. For frames, I went with www.framesbymail.com. I ordered a bunch of the economy black metal frames, with plexiglass, and I"m very happy with them at well. Basically the same frames you can get at Frame Destination, but a little cheaper.