Cheapest place to get digital pictures developed

[Kellyh123]

We just returned from our trip and we have over 400 digital pictures to get printed. The cheapest I have found is .42 a piece. Does anyone know anwhere cheaper online or anywhere else?
Thanks

[CarolA]

Walmart does it for 29cents.

[Muushka]

Last year Sam's Club was charging .19 per digital print, while you wait.

[Kellyh123]

How do you have your digital pictures developed at Sams? Do you give them the memory card? Do they just give that back with your pictures?
Thanks we are new at this.

[Kellyh123]

Also, if you get your pictures developed at Sams is there any way to let them know which pictures you want developed and which ones you don't or do you have to have all of them on the card developed? Again thanks.

[YesDear]

There are several online services that will take you digital images and send you prints. I use www.dotphoto.com (http://www.dotphoto.com)

There are several others. If you use their free plan 4X6s are .29 apiece. They have several other plans you can look at. You send them the ones you want printed and they mail them to you.

If you want them faster then Sam's etc. I have found this service to be very good. They even give you internet space so you can show friends and family your shots!

[filequit]

Originally posted by Kellyh123
How do you have your digital pictures developed at Sams? Do you give them the memory card? Do they just give that back with your pictures?
Thanks we are new at this.
At Sam's just hand them the card, and if you have ones you don't one write that down and tell them, and they will develop it for you. Great quality too!

[Lewisc]

COSTCO in NY is .19. I would think the one in Orlando would be about the same.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Kellyh123
We just returned from our trip and we have over 400 digital pictures to get printed. The cheapest I have found is .42 a piece. Does anyone know anwhere cheaper online or anywhere else?
Thanks

Kelly,
If you have a cd burner, transfer the images you want printed to a cd and hand it to the person behind the counter at Wal*Mart or Sam's (if they have the one hour service).
WalMart now has a do it yourself machine, where you insert the media and select which images you want printed. Most of the one hour locations have this machine.
I would not, under and circumstances, send a flash card, compact flash or any other media for out service. Those things grow legs and walk at these places. They are expensive and you don't want to loose them. Keep them "in house" where they are safe.

[Dopey Sharon]

Sam's also has the machine that you put your card in and pick which ones you want printed. It costs .20 per print.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Not all Sam's and not all Wal*Marts have one hour photo. I know the Sam's near me does not have one hour or the machine, drat!!! Thanks for the info.

[Kellyh123]

Thanks so much everybody. I'll be going to Sams tomorrow.

[prncess674]

I use www.ofoto.com

You just upload the photos that you want printed and they mail them to you. This site uses kodak processing and pictures and are far superior quality than the one hour photo. They do give discounts for large orders and 400 photos is a large order.

Not to be questioning you, but do you really NEED all 400 photos printed. Have you viewed them on your home computer to see which photos are obvious errors, too light, too dark. heads cut off, etc.

You can really save alot if you just print the best pictures. You can always have the entire set of 400 burned to a CD, but only print the ones you want to put in a scrap book or frame.

Don't just hand over you media card. They are too expensive.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Kellyh123
Thanks so much everybody. I'll be going to Sams tomorrow.

Kelly,
Hope they come out well. Sam's and Wal*Mart use Fuji labs, the best on the market and do them one at a time and actually look at what they are printing, unlike the send out labs that do batch jobs.

Many pros in our area use Wal*Mart to process their pictures. That, IMHO, says a lot for the quality and training of the photo labs and their staff.

[prncess674]

Ofoto is a Kodask company. since they are owned by Kodak they have trained technicians that print high quality photos on Kodak paper which is the best in the business. The small machines used for one hour photo shops are mediocre at best. They do not balance the pictures, they stick them in the processor and hope for the best. I tried wal-mart and the pictures all seemed inferior to me. I have used Eckerds but only for the off site service because the prints printed from the one hour photo are such inferior quality. The film sent off to a trained lab are beautiful vibrant prints on Kodak paper, which last longer.

Sending pictures to a trained lab will yield a better quality print because they have a larger lab with trained technicians.

Look at the person that you drop off your film to. This is the person who will be processing your photos. Ask what there qualifications are. This will give you a sense of who will be developing your pictures.

[prncess674]

Also before chunking down that much change for photo developing you may want to try a few services and see which one YOU like best. Maybe get a few developed and see how they come out first.

Everyone here can talk till the cows come home but you need to be the judge.

Cheaper isn't always the best if the quality isn't there.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by prncess674
Ofoto is a Kodask company. since they are owned by Kodak they have trained technicians that print high quality photos on Kodak paper which is the best in the business. The small machines used for one hour photo shops are mediocre at best. They do not balance the pictures, they stick them in the processor and hope for the best. I tried wal-mart and the pictures all seemed inferior to me. I have used Eckerds but only for the off site service because the prints printed from the one hour photo are such inferior quality. The film sent off to a trained lab are beautiful vibrant prints on Kodak paper, which last longer.

Sending pictures to a trained lab will yield a better quality print because they have a larger lab with trained technicians.

Look at the person that you drop off your film to. This is the person who will be processing your photos. Ask what there qualifications are. This will give you a sense of who will be developing your pictures.

You are absolutely correct regarding the training.
Wal*Mart trains their technicians very very well. Their machines are top of the line Fuji Mini Labs. http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/Products.jsp?nav=2&parent=PRODUCT_CATEGORY_467364&product=6202005
http://www.fujifilm.com/JSP/fuji/epartners/Products.jsp?nav=2&parent=PRODUCT_CATEGORY_475416&product=6012500
The color and the density can be corrected. Most labs at Wal*Mart and Sam's do not use auto run, they scan each and every picture and correct as necessary.
Eckhart is a Kodak lab. They use kodak paper and chemicals. Target leases space to Kodak and they are all traded by Kodak.
Having toured two different "out labs" I was not impressed with the quality of the prints or the processing. Your film along with 50 other rolls is attached and processes at the same time. Naturally each role has it's own twin check and the only time a human sees the film is at the end, when the package it. Yes, they are trained, but, it is not a difficult trade to learn.
I have had photos processed at Walgreens and that is a different story totally. They have mini labs that are completely automated, and they cannot correct color or density, those to me are totally useless and I would not consider leaving my film there or at BJs for that matter, same process.
Kodak and Fuji are both exceptionally fine products. I prefer Fuji.
I also prefer their film. But, that is one of those personal choice issues.
And.....for the record, in my past life I was a photo lab manager (salaried member of management) for Wal*Mart and I did undergo very extensive training for the position and in turn, extensively trained my associates. We put out a superior product and redid a lot of "out lab" photos (including Wal*Mart's outlab provider) for a lot of people. This, btw, can be proven very very easily.

[KProuty]

I think it was the July issue of Smart Money that has a review of all the digital photo programs and processing places. I just read it at the dentist's office. Walmart actually came out poorly in their review. If someone has a subscription, could you post the results for all of us?

Thanks,

Katherine

[mickey4ver]

Ofoto.com is good and I use and like shutterfly.com. Most of these on line sites give you up to 10 or 15 free prints for registering and trying their services. I especially like on shutterfly that I can go in and add borders, correct red eye and a host of other things on the sight before I order any pix. You can even pre-pay and get a better price, plus, they are always running some sort of printing special or other to take advantage of. I love it! When you put the cost of digital prints against regular film developing, if you figure you can pick and choose the pix you want (no more surprises when you pick up those 35mm prints and you look like you saw a ghost in some pix LOL), I feel you are getting a good return on your cost per print. shutterfly even has a thing where you can take your favorite photos, and make like a little snap pack type bound album, put titles or whatever on them and give them as gifts. I did this with pixtures of grandchildren to give to my Mom with little titles and things on them and she loved it, plus no worry about what to do with "loose" pictures, they are in their own little "album". Go into some of the sites listed and look around and do your homework, like someone said, whatever floats your boat the best is what is most important.

[mmiller711]

I love our local Sams. I have never done digital there but they do all my neice's pics. She is kinda an amature professional. She does photos for local school dances, preschools and sports pics. I have millions of pics of my grandson done at Sams and the guy there is wonderful. He does adjust color, crop etc. and is very helpful. I had a woman develope them there once and I was not as happy. So the person does make a difference. Try a test order and see what happens.

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by KProuty
I think it was the July issue of Smart Money that has a review of all the digital photo programs and processing places. I just read it at the dentist's office. Walmart actually came out poorly in their review. If someone has a subscription, could you post the results for all of us?

Thanks,

Katherine

Hi,
Smart Money is online. It would be interesting to read that article. I have not yet used that new machine, but, it is a do it yourself type of deal, like the Kodak Picture Maker. Thanks for the info.

[Ratpack]

www.clarkcolor.com is .19 each if you buy in bulk.

[Kellyh123]

Ratpack
Thanks for the tip. Have you used Clarkcolor.com?
Thanks

[GoofItUp]

Looks like you already have LOTS of opinions, but I wanted to add mine as well! I have used Wal-Mart's on-line service numerous times. You can choose only the pictures you want and upload them to Wal-Mart's website. It is around .25/ea (don't remember exactly) and if you have them shipped to a store near you, there is no shipping charge. The pictures have always come back looking GREAT - just like regular photos. I wanted to try Sam's, but the Sam's in my town doesn't have photo developing. :( Let us know how your pictures come out!

[Ratpack]

Originally posted by Kellyh123
Ratpack
Thanks for the tip. Have you used Clarkcolor.com?
Thanks

Not yet but I plan to give them a try here soon. We are going the end of July and I am sure I will 300-400 pictures. I won't print them all, but most I will. I will probably take a few before we leave if I can and go ahead and send them in so that I can see what there quality is like.

[mareed]

Another vote for Shutterfly here. One thing I really like is that they print the file name on the back of the print. I also use descriptive file names including the place and date, so this is a great feature to me.

I used to use Sam's club online and picked the prints up at the store for free shipping, but they changed their processing earlier this year in a couple of ways. They used to print the file names on the back of the picture and now they don't. They used to have a 3 meg file limit to upload and now it's 2 meg. My pictures come out to be between 2 & 3 meg and I absolutely refuse to sacrifice quality just to use Sam's so they're crossed off of my list. I was very happy with their Fuji prints before that. I also tried our Sam's Club 1 hour and the prints were horrible!

To pick a place to use, I uploaded the same photo to several places and then compared the prints. Wal-Mart had a 3 meg file limit, which was OK, and their prints were good, but they didn't print file names, so I was willing to pay a little more for that. I also tried DotPhoto and Photoworks but decided to pre-purchase prints at Shutterfly to get them for .29.

[Kellyh123]

I want to thank everybody for their replies. I decided to try Sams and Shutterfly. I will see how they turn and and let you know. Again Thanks