Where to Print Pictures?

[kemekal_d300]

Hey everyone - I should be getting my first REAL camera (Nikon D300) this Saturday through ground delivery, and im going to be starting my own lil' gig doing weddings, parties.. photoshoots.. etc..

Im new to photography but have been looking into it and reading reviews here and there.. online manual for my cam, etc..

but my question is -

Where is the best or where are the best places to take my pictures to be developed? Of course i want the best quality pictures.. glossy and different availiable sizes.. at LEAST up to 8x10's but i'd like to find a place that does bigger - or specializes in printing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks

[photobugd80]

Hey everyone - I should be getting my first REAL camera (Nikon D300) this Saturday through ground delivery, and im going to be starting my own lil' gig doing weddings, parties.. photoshoots.. etc..

Im new to photography but have been looking into it and reading reviews here and there.. online manual for my cam, etc..

but my question is -

Where is the best or where are the best places to take my pictures to be developed? Of course i want the best quality pictures.. glossy and different availiable sizes.. at LEAST up to 8x10's but i'd like to find a place that does bigger - or specializes in printing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks

Wow, I may be way off base but it does not sound like you are ready to take on weddings. It is not the camera, it is the photographer behind the camera that takes great pictures. Weddings require a much bigger print than 8x10 and also expect high quality prints as well as a "great" pictures that comes with lots of experience.

If you are new to photography I would suggest you spend a year or so doing portfolio building as well as learning and taking classes to produce those great pictures.

Sorry if I sound cold but I have been working on my portfolio for over a year and am no way near ready to take on a wedding. I have been asked several times and I have to decline because I know I am not there yet. That takes a professional of which I hope to be one day. Why I refuse to do weddings???? because it is a "one shot" deal. If you don't get it perfect the first time, there is no going back for retakes. I can not take that risk at this point and I would not want anyone taking that risk for my wedding. I am pretty sure that every bride out there would feel the same way.

Sorry if I miss read your post but I don't think I did. Photography is a very serious thing and not something that one jumps into just because they bought a really expensive camera.

[kemekal_d300]

Wow, I may be way off base but it does not sound like you are ready to take on weddings. It is not the camera, it is the photographer behind the camera that takes great pictures. Weddings require a much bigger print than 8x10 and also expect high quality prints as well as a "great" pictures that comes with lots of experience.

If you are new to photography I would suggest you spend a year or so doing portfolio building as well as learning and taking classes to produce those great pictures.

Sorry if I sound cold but I have been working on my portfolio for over a year and am no way near ready to take on a wedding. I have been asked several times and I have to decline because I know I am not there yet. That takes a professional of which I hope to be one day. Why I refuse to do weddings???? because it is a "one shot" deal. If you don't get it perfect the first time, there is no going back for retakes. I can not take that risk at this point and I would not want anyone taking that risk for my wedding. I am pretty sure that every bride out there would feel the same way.

Sorry if I miss read your post but I don't think I did. Photography is a very serious thing and not something that one jumps into just because they bought a really expensive camera.

i understand where you're coming from. im sorry if i came out the wrong way with this but i didnt mean i was going to take on weddings straight out the get-go. Those are all fields i intend to get into. My plans as for right now -
Get the cam, i got a SB-800 Flash right now, with the cam i have a 18-200 mm lens coming with it, i've gotten all types of different filters, etc -
And im going to be taking pictures for a minute, getting a portfolio together, but i'd like to know where to get my work printed to do so -

I'll be heading to California over where my family lives - i have an uncle who does weddings and such for a living. Get hands on training with him. I've already had PhotoShop CS3 for a while now, and will be editing along with him. Soon taking my own pictures along side him at weddings - and he's going through my cameras collection to show me what ones i have that are keepers, what to edit - and why, etc -

i hope that clears things up -

im just looking for where to print - i dont intend to open my first camera and shoot important special moments.

thanks for the concern though

[Frog]

I hope you are using quality lenses.
I've had good prints from both Mpix and Adorama. Up to 16x20.

[kemekal_d300]

I hope you are using quality lenses.
I've had good prints from both Mpix and Adorama. Up to 16x20.

thanks for taking the time to reply. I THINK i've heard of Adorama, im not sure. But im positive i havnt' came across any Mpix, but im going to go through a Yellow Page today and find out -

again thanks for the help

[Frog]

Adorama and Mpix are online print developers so I don't think you'll find them in the yellow pages.
I picked up both names since coming to these forums along with others names that I don't remember right now.
Good luck on your ventures and hang around here and show us some of your pictures when that camera gets there.

[Medley]

Ever heard of Costco? LOL. that's where I get my prints done. Sounds kind of flaky on it's surface, but you can download the printer profiles from the web for precise color management. You can print up to 16"x20", and they also offer 12" square tiles for the really large projects.

I would also echo the fact that great prints are more about you than the printer. It starts with good shots out of the camera, but post processing also has a LOT to do with the printing process. In particular, I've spent about a year researching sharpening techniques, and have discovered that pin-sharp prints come from proper processing. Sure, the paper and ink used, particularly the amount of 'spread' the ink has, has a lot to do with it, but that's what the icc profile is all about. With it you can compensate for what happens in the printer. Nowadays, my digital prints are easily as sharp as film, perhaps sharper.

Another upside to using Costco- about 20% of their locations are in Cali. You should be able to find one close by.

When you get to the point where you're ready for post processing, I'd be happy to share my techniques with you.

Hope this helps you.

- Joe U.

[mjs1973]

I use Mpix.com almost exclusively for prints that I sell. The quality is great, and so is the service. I have also used Adorama and was very pleased with them as well. I think Mpix has them beat, but not by much.

I have also used some of the cheaper places like shutterfly, snapfish and I think there was one other one too. They were much cheaper, but the quality wasn't as good as either Mpix, or Adorama.

I have printed some 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10's at Walmart when I was in a pinch, but the quality wasn't as good as Mpix.

[Grandpaw]

Hey everyone - I should be getting my first REAL camera (Nikon D300) this Saturday through ground delivery, and im going to be starting my own lil' gig doing weddings, parties.. photoshoots.. etc..

Im new to photography but have been looking into it and reading reviews here and there.. online manual for my cam, etc..

but my question is -

Where is the best or where are the best places to take my pictures to be developed? Of course i want the best quality pictures.. glossy and different availiable sizes.. at LEAST up to 8x10's but i'd like to find a place that does bigger - or specializes in printing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated - thanks

Welcome to the forums. Did you purchase a lens with that D300? After reading the part that says your new to photography and also mention shooting weddings, parties, and photo shoots makes me think of someone that has just gotten a drivers licence and wants to enter the Indy 500 race. There is a lot more to it than buying a good camera. When you start charging for your services they will expect you to deliver. Good luck in your quest but don't get ahead of yourself, Jeff

[kemekal_d300]

Welcome to the forums. Did you purchase a lens with that D300? After reading the part that says your new to photography and also mention shooting weddings, parties, and photo shoots makes me think of someone that has just gotten a drivers licence and wants to enter the Indy 500 race. There is a lot more to it than buying a good camera. When you start charging for your services they will expect you to deliver. Good luck in your quest but don't get ahead of yourself, Jeff

Haha, i heard pretty much the same thing from another guy here. I explained to him my plans though. My uncle makes Bookoo's of money doing weddings, and any other type of services you'd need out in California. Im getting myself out there to learn everything else that he knows, and improve all the aspects of photography -

to answer your question - No, my lens did not come with the Camera, i bought it seperately from the same website (Broadway Photo).

Thanks for the greeting, and i'll be sticking around

[mjs1973]

Wow, you bought your camera and lens from Broadway Photo? And you actually recieved it? That's impressive. I have never heard a good story about them!

Anyway, back to your original question. I forgot to mention in my original post that Mpix will send you some free paper samples if you ask them too.

[kemekal_d300]

lol - MJS, i purchased the camera, but never recieved it, i got my money back a while back and changed the credit card number and all that... AFTER they tried to call saying,, the papers, and warranties and all that stuff would be in a different language or none at all or something along them lines.. and said for me ta' have them english i'd have to pay the extra $500..
of course i said forget it -

since then i've gotten the money back and went straight through BestBuy - I couldnt wait anymore. I purchased online BEFORE i got here to these forums and read which websites NOT to mess with -
shoulda saw my face :P

But I've been practicing with my pictures, and im getting to the point where im ready to start making money off of lil' side jobs and favors -

Medley, if you could share those printing techniques you were speaking of earlier, id' greatly appreciate it.
I found Costco too

[Medley]

Medley, if you could share those printing techniques you were speaking of earlier, id' greatly appreciate it.
I found Costco too

Well, since you asked, lol.

First of all, I'm going to make some statements that I'm not sure everyone here will agree to, but in the interest of brevity, I'll explain them when asked. I'll also get the majority of them out of the way now:

Every printer has a 'native' resolution. A printer's native resolution is defined as that resolution where the sharpening halos are passed through to the final image without being either increased or decreased in size. A 3 pixel halo on a 300dpi image should yield a halo on the print that is 1/100th of an inch wide.

Sharpening halos that are 1/100th of an inch wide provide adequate sharpening, and are still small enough to be unseen.

The size of the halo on the print is resized because the printer resizes the image to it's native resolution.

Resizing the image in post-processing- before adding sharpening- allows you a finer control of sharpening in the final print.

As it turns out, the native resolution of most printers is at or about 300 dpi. The exception is Epson, whose printers have a native resolution closer to 360 dpi.



So, I explained my reasoning for resizing the image. So say I have an image, and I want a 5x7 print from my canon printer. After any tonal and color corrections, I resize the image to 1500 (5 inches X 300 dpi) by 2100 (7 inches by 300 dpi) pixels.

Now, anyone who has done photography for any length of time knows that the image you see onscreen, and the printed image look different- particularly where sharpening is concerned. Here's the workaround for that:

Measure the width of your screen, in inches. Multiply that number by 75 (or 90, if using an Epson). Next find the monitor resolution who's width id the closest to that number. Open your image (I use Photoshop for PP, but I assume that this would work in other editors as well), and set the view percentage to 25%.

It's just that simple. You've set you monitors resolution to 75 ppi (or as close as possible), and by setting Photoshop's view to 25%, told Photoshop to display one pixel out of every four. So the image you're looking at has an effective resolution of 75 times 4, or 300 ppi, the exact same resolution as the print. I call this the WYSIWYG ( what you see is what you get) view.

Note that if you have a large enough monitor, you might be able to get away with multiplying the monitor width by 150, and using the 50% view in Photoshop (150x2 still equals 300 ppi). However, where Photoshop is concerned, stay away from the 16.5%, 33%, and 66% views- Photoshop adds a LOT of anti-aliasing to these views to make them display properly, so the images appear much softer than they really are.

Now it's time to apply the Unsharp mask command. I almost always use a Threshold of 2 pixels, except for a very few rare instances. I usually recommend setting it at 2 and leaving it there.

As previously stated, I shoot for halos that are 1/100th of an inch wide. For most printers, that corresponds to a 3 pixel halo, or 3.6 pixels for an Epson. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that that what you should set the radius at. Photoshop was designed by engineers, not photographers. A radius of 3 does not necessarily correspond to a 3 pixel halo, but it will be close. I normally set my radius at 2.8 or 2.9, but you may have to experiment a bit to see what setting actually gives you the radius you want.

You've set the radius and threshold. Now all you have to do is adjust the amount until the image looks good, sharpness wise. If you've got it set up right, when the image looks good, the print will too.

There are all kinds of minor tweaks you can apply to this method, and different kinds of sharpening will be appropriate in different situations. But I've found that in every case, resizing the image and using the WYSIWYG view allows you to see what the print will look like.

Try it, just once. I bet you like what you see.

- Joe U.

[kemekal_d300]

thanks for the VERY detailed explanation/method. I've been editing pictures from a ceromony i took pictures of, and kinda messing with (as much of this as i knew how to) this method.
Fix image size to the 1500/2100, i got a 20 1/2" screen, so i chose the closest resolution, 25%, the only thing im having trouble getting is where and how to mess with the Halo's ? (radius/threshold.etc)

When i 'view print size' it appears to be very big still - in the end, i resize the photo to 5",7" and if it looks good with the method you explained, just take it to get it printed and things should be good?? (depending on how well i adjust halo settings and such?)

and im not sure if costco needs you to be a member to only PRINT pictures, but besides Costco, where is a good place just in case? What about Kinkos?? Or are they mainly something to use for documents and such??
Or Camera stores, Wolf Camera,, and other high end cam stores..??

thanks again soo much - i feel like my head grew a lil' more. definitely a method i wont forget

[Medley]

Okay, sorry, I tend to get REAL particular with my sharpening......

Resize the image, set the monitor resolution, and set the view to 25% (forget the 'view print size' setting)

Set the radius to 3.0, and the threshold to 2

Adjust the amount until the image looks good.

Those are the basics. Print a few images, and use them to 'tweak' the settings to your liking. At the very least, i think you'll find the images "in the ballpark" of where you want them.

I use Costco for three reasons:

1) I can download their printer's icc profiles for color management.

2) I can turn off their automatic adjustments, so I know any problems are ones I created.

3) It's convenient and inexpensive. I work at Costco, and I'm there 5 days a week. Prints are ready in 1 to 3 hours (depending on print size). 17 cents for a 4x6, 39 cents for a 5x7, $1.49 for an 8x10 or 8x12. I can't print them that cheap at home, considering paper and ink costs.

Unless Costco's policy in Cali is different, yes, you must be a member to purchase prints. In reality though, any place that allowed me to download icc profiles and turn off auto-corrections would be OK by my standards.

I have no practical experience with any other places, so i can't help you there. Maybe someone else here can give you some advice though.

Best Wishes,

- Joe U.

[fx101]

I just had a few images printed on a continous tone printer. Here's the thing. If you want gallery/exhibition level prints I learned that inkjets (costco printing) will not suffice. They print on top of the paper and thus the depth and vibrance of a traditional cibachrome print is not there. Look for places that use Lightjets and download the profile. They will expose your digital image (at 300dpi) to actual chemical photo paper and provide it to you on your choice of Fuji Crystal Archive. The inkjet equivelent resolution would have to be 4000dpi . If you want the best you'll need Lightjet or Chromira prints. I thought about where to go for a 30x20 I was going to sell, but after I saw West Coast Imaging I opted to purchase their services and the images turned out impeccable. Their prices are pretty reasonable if your profile the images yourself. (They use a chromira an LED alternative of the RGB laser based Lightjet but it's even better). Check them out or other lightjet/chromira labs for the best prints you can get. Make sure to print on Fuji Crystal Archive Supergloss or matte (avoid the plain gloss).

[Medley]

I just had a few images printed on a continous tone printer. Here's the thing. If you want gallery/exhibition level prints I learned that inkjets (costco printing) will not suffice. They print on top of the paper and thus the depth and vibrance of a traditional cibachrome print is not there. Look for places that use Lightjets and download the profile. They will expose your digital image (at 300dpi) to actual chemical photo paper and provide it to you on your choice of Fuji Crystal Archive. The inkjet equivelent resolution would have to be 4000dpi . If you want the best you'll need Lightjet or Chromira prints. I thought about where to go for a 30x20 I was going to sell, but after I saw West Coast Imaging I opted to purchase their services and the images turned out impeccable. Their prices are pretty reasonable if your profile the images yourself. (They use a chromira an LED alternative of the RGB laser based Lightjet but it's even better). Check them out or other lightjet/chromira labs for the best prints you can get. Make sure to print on Fuji Crystal Archive Supergloss or matte (avoid the plain gloss).

True enough, and if my entire market consisted of people like you and I, I would be going this route. The issue for me is perceived quality. The average enthusiast can't discern enough of a difference in quality to warrant the pricetag. If I send the same ten files to both Costco and my photo lab, and tell them I want 10 8x10's (lightjet prints in the case of my lab), then take the results to the customer and tell them they can have these ten for $14.99 or these ten for $64.21, guess which one the overwhelming majority choose.

Decent quality with value pricing. Say what you want, I stay busy.

- Joe U.

[fx101]

True enough, and if my entire market consisted of people like you and I, I would be going this route. The issue for me is perceived quality. The average enthusiast can't discern enough of a difference in quality to warrant the pricetag. If I send the same ten files to both Costco and my photo lab, and tell them I want 10 8x10's (lightjet prints in the case of my lab), then take the results to the customer and tell them they can have these ten for $14.99 or these ten for $64.21, guess which one the overwhelming majority choose.

Decent quality with value pricing. Say what you want, I stay busy.

- Joe U.

-Well maybe if you told them about the archival longevity of those costco prints they would notice the difference. When I go to a client that I'll be printing something like an 8x10 they'll always say $35?! But then I have to explain that the printing itself costs over $18 and ensures that the print they recieve will last over 100 years, is mounted to prevent warping, and will provide razor sharp colours when printed they understand that the extra expense is something for which they will experience the returns in the long run. Don't get me wrong, Costco is amazing. I can get ridiculously cheap 8x10 and 16x24 proofs. Unfortunately if I want to print 30x20 or the like I need a professional printer. Plus I doubt costco's printers could handle the 70 megapixel multi-row stitched panoramas I send my printers.

[JETA]

I use smugmug for all of my personal printing and customers. So far not a complaint. I've gone as big as 20x30. Great prints with great customer service.

[Greg McCary]

I strongly suggest getting Lightroom. It's an awesome program for editing RAW files. MPIX sent me some huge portriats, 16x20's, by mistake of some kids on the beach. They were some of the highest quailty I have seen. Flawless. I wish I could take pictures that good.LOL.