good quality prints?

[kgreen]

Where do you get your prints made? Local for me would be wal-mart, or walgreens. For convience, & quick return that would be great. For true, good quality prints, not so good. I've had a bad experince with both. Any suggestions?

 

[photo_chick]

As far as online services mpix is pretty consistent in thier quality.

 

[Snappy in OK]

For higher quality prints, I like mpix. I usually order prints that I am planning on hanging on the walls, etc from mpix.

For good quality prints, good service & lower prices, I like winkflash.com. I have ordered a lot of prints from winkflash, and I am always happy with their quality & service. I usually order prints for scrapbooking & most of my prints for family members from winkflash.

 

[meanpc]

I've had mixed experiences with Walgreens too. I can also recommend Winkflash - I've had them print quite a few 8X10's - they looked good and were cheap.

If I were really serious about my prints, I'd buy a good photoprinter and color calibrate it. That way you control the entire process and have consistent, repeatable results. Would also be sweet to be able to choose your own paper. Printing your own would be the most expensive though, the consumables would eat you alive.

 

[kgreen]

Once again, you all are awesome! Thanks, going to give them a try.

 

[Pooh2]

I like Mpix too. For a quick print, I use Ritz but my Ritz is going out of biz!! Guess I will have to be patient and wait for MPIX to deliver!

 

[photo_chick]

If I were really serious about my prints, I'd buy a good photoprinter and color calibrate it. That way you control the entire process and have consistent, repeatable results. Would also be sweet to be able to choose your own paper. Printing your own would be the most expensive though, the consumables would eat you alive.

I have an Epson 2880 and a monitor that is calibrated to it. I'm trying to convince my husband we need a 9880 but he's not going for it. It is pretty awesome to make gallery quality prints that are better than what I get from most labs. One set of inks runs about $130 (which is way cheaper than this printers big brothers ink tanks) and I use maybe 5 sets a year. I spend equal that amount on paper easily. Final cost for a 4x6 print is about 30 cents each because of the way I print (9 on a 13 x 19 sheet). It does add up, but if you really want amazing quality prints and have the patience to get it set up right it is totally worth it. The only thing with a high end inkjet like this, don't buy one if you don't print a lot because the heads will get gunked up if it sits idle too long and then you end up with all sorts of banding issues. I use mine at least a couple times a week so I don't have that problem.

 

[meanpc]

I have an Epson 2880 and a monitor that is calibrated to it. I'm trying to convince my husband we need a 9880 but he's not going for it. It is pretty awesome to make gallery quality prints that are better than what I get from most labs. One set of inks runs about $130 (which is way cheaper than this printers big brothers ink tanks) and I use maybe 5 sets a year. I spend equal that amount on paper easily. Final cost for a 4x6 print is about 30 cents each because of the way I print (9 on a 13 x 19 sheet). It does add up, but if you really want amazing quality prints and have the patience to get it set up right it is totally worth it. The only thing with a high end inkjet like this, don't buy one if you don't print a lot because the heads will get gunked up if it sits idle too long and then you end up with all sorts of banding issues. I use mine at least a couple times a week so I don't have that problem.

Nice! I'll bet it is worth it. Must be awesome having your colors come out dead on every time. You selling these prints, or is it just for your own use?

 

[photo_chick]

Nice! I'll bet it is worth it. Must be awesome having your colors come out dead on every time. You selling these prints, or is it just for your own use?

Right now I print mostly for personal use.

 

[zackiedawg]

I use multiple sources depending on the use or need. For personal or family fun prints of a few photos, I'll use my HP Photo printer on photo paper in my home. For personal or family fun prints in smaller sizes when I have a lot to print, in typical 4x6 or 5x7 type sizes, I usually just use Costco, as I have a local one nearby and can send the photos online and pickup in store - they're surprisingly good. For larger prints like 8x10 or 11x14, for general purpose, office hanging, and 'rotation' photos that I hang but change often, I use Shutterfly, as they're fast, easy and cheap. And finally, for archival prints, prints I sell, and very large prints, I use MPix as I like the selection of high-quality printing papers and materials.

 

[ChiSoxKeith]

For books, I started using Shutterfly and they haven't let me down yet.

I've started ordering large prints from Adorama. They run sales on their prints from time to time and the quality is excellent. Packaging is superb too. Ordered some large 16x20 prints for under $10 each a couple months back.

 

[kgreen]

I ordered some prints this morning from wink flash. Prices were really good, 8cents for 4X6. they also had a promo for 6 cents per 4X6, or 50 free. So I used the 50 free promo. I had 57 photos total so with shipping/tax it was a whopping $2.44 for 57 4X6's. I can't wait to see how they turn out!