Where do you print?

So you've chosen the best DIGITAL photo out of 100+ shots....

It's time to print and frame it....

What do you do?

I've done my best printing on my EPSON PHOTO 820...after lots of trial and error...I'm still going through trial and error. Getting the right print is costing me a lot of ink. Should I stop using a $100 ink jet and move up? Should I also spend on a screen calibrator?

I can't go to the local 1 hours photo place cuz the saturation is terrible and they will butcher the composition when they are forced to crop it...

I've never tried online printing...are they for serious photogs? or no better than local 1 hours places....

I've taken film to professional labs for my clients but I haven't taken my digital there yet since I'm kinda new to DSLR.

What do you do?

I do all my printing through mpix.com. I thought about trying to print at home, but it just wasn't worth it to me. To get the best results, it would cost way to much money in supplies, and the time involved... I spend too much time in front of the computer as it is. I would rather be in the field than in the office.

I am very happy with the print quality, great packaging, and fast shipping of mpix. I find their prices to be very reasonable also. (No, I don't work for mpix.) I know that others here use mpix also and are very happy with them. There are other online printers that I have heard good things about, but I have never had a reason to switch from mpix.

Most of my prints 8x10 and smaller get printed off my Olympus p-400 dye sub printer. Everything else goes to mpix.com. They're awesome. Excellent quality (which will of course depend a great deal on the edited image you send them), good prices, FAST processing of orders and fast delivery. Like Michael, i've heard of others, but with service and quality as good as it is at mpix, why bother?

I had an Epson 820 and it did a pretty good job. I didn't use it enough so the head kept getting clogged, and it ended up getting tossed... But if you use it enough you should get good results with it.

Monitor calibration? I'm a big fan of it. Should be a requirement. ;) I use Monaco Optix XR which you can usually find for under $200. It will take care of at least 80% of the problem of your monitor not displaying what your print will look like - probably more than that if you're careful to use the right paper profile, etc (select "glossy" if you're using glossy, for example).

I've been using both Mpix and a one-hour place at a grocery store. Both give great results, but Mpix has Kodak metallic paper and isn't limited to a 10x15 print size like the Fuji Frontier at the grocery store. It's just a matter of the lab correctly maintaining their equipment, and printing exactly what's on the file. I pre-size my image for the print size I'm getting (8x10 @ 300dpi for example). DSLR's would be full frame at 8x12, so if you want an 8x10 you'll lose a total of 2" of the length. 1" off each side might be OK, but it might look better with 1/4" off one side and 1-3/4" off the other - better to make the decision yourself than leaving it up to the printing equipment.

If you're doing pro work, be careful about your prints. The Epson will take way too long and won't save you any money anyway. I sent proofs out and found this to be true... Also, some one-hour places imprint their name on the back. I wouldn't want to give out prints that I was hired to do with a grocery store's name on the back, but with Mpix all it says is "Kodak Professional" and some numbers. That looks better, but truthfully prints from either place are about equal.

use canon! the ip6600D rivals and beats the cost of most any photo lab - the quality is the best. sure, it only goes up to 8.5x14. heck, if you want larger maybe invest in an i9900 or the upa nd coming pro9000.

youre given a lot more control when you do the print yourself, and you have more options more readily available. I used to think I'd never leave my photo lab guy - but hes out of my life forever now! ;).

Manasca,
I used to go to a commercial photo lab but after buying the Epson R1800 pigment inkjet printer, I print all my own enlargements (for framing/display or for clients) at my home studio. I still bring my travel shots to a commercial lab because those don't require as much fuss and I don't have time to sit there and print a bunch of 4x6s. The R1800 is awesome. The color profiles provided with the printer are very accurate: what I see on my screen is what I get on my print. (I use a 17" Apple Color Display, very natural and precise color.) The heads on the R1800 don't clog up nearly as much as on a little cheapy printer (HP Photosmart) I used to use. This printer uses 8 color cartridges so when the red runs out, I just replace that one. A lot of different paper options as well: premium glossy, semi-gloss, matte, and more. Ink jet technology has come a long way and anyone who's serious about photography will want to make their own custom prints. (I've heard from photographers who are very happy with their Canon i9900 but I've never used it myself.)
Robert

There wasn't a multiple choice !
For anything up to 10" wide paper, I use my local CostCo.
+ because they know me and know what I'm after, they will give great results.
+ it may take more than an hour
+ but they will take files profiled for their Noritsu, turn off auto-sharpening, auto-adjustemnts, and print what I give them.
Anything wider than 10" (so 12x18 and up) I use online printing.
- Pixaco just got bought by HP and Snapfish doubled the price
? still looking for good value large printing in the UK or Europe.
Gave up home printing after buying an Epson photo printer
- total waste of money
- never got even one print out of it before it broke
- anyway I don't have the time to do home printing

Largest I've been since DSLR is 8X12. You can edit it completely online and then send it to a one hour and go pick it up there. At the lab where I work, we do not edit online orders at all. In fact, we don't see them until they come out of the machine. Unfortunately, we don't go over 8X12 in house though.

As mentioned before, some 1 hour places use the store name. Next time you're in a place, ask to see some paper, or some examples of their prints, and they should be happy to show you something. At the Wal-mart lab where I work, the paper says Fujifilm Crystal Archieve (or something like that), but I assure you it doesn't say Wal-Mart. We do pros images almost daily and many are very regular customers.

My prints that I will hang or prints I'm selling to people I use Mpix. I've printed as large as 20X30 and have never had a problem with them. Love the quality of their work, expecially their Metalic paper, which I've used a lot on my sport shots.

Jim