Ordering prints online?

[denanbob]

Anyone have any suggestions as to good sites to order (or NOT to order) from? Or do you guys prefer to take your pics to a local pharmacy or photo shop to have prints made? I heard SAMS club is cheap, but I don't have a membership there. I was wondering about snapfish.com or shutterfly.com or any others that people have had good results and reasonable prices with. Thanks!

 

[npealer]

I have tried a lot of the online companies but I usually go back to snapfish

 

[Fire14]

walmart is not much more than sams club. I use walmart or sams mostly myself.

 

[Webbie]

I have used Snapfish and really like them. the price is right.

 

[sakura-panda]

I use winkflash.

--Katie

 

[lovedvc]

I use Costco.com. I've never had a problem. I also used Kodak once and never had a problem.

 

[cryssi]

I've used Yahoo! photos (pick up at Target), Walmart, Costco.com, Shutterfly, and scrapbookpictures.com

All are good. Yahoo pickup is only glossy, but it is kodak paper of a good weight. Walmart is fuji, and they print matte. Costco is fuji and they print both glossy and lustre. I ordered matte from Shutterfly. Scrapbookpictures.com has an interesting metallic paper that I ordered, as well as some matte prints that felt kind of flimsy.

Cheapest is costco at .17/ per 4x6

btw I like to send my prints and pick them up rather than pay for shipping...

 

[extreme8]

About 3 months ago I didt a little test. I took a dozen pictures of various scenes (portraits, candids, foliage, costumed parade characters, etc.) and sent the same shots to 9 different places for processing.
I included all of the online processors I could think of as well as some "upload to our site and pickup at our store in 1 hour" national chains.

Looking at the series of pictures individually, most of the prints looked OK.
Once they were laid on a table side by side there were some really evident shortcomings in many of them - shifted colors, blown highlights, detail lost in shadow, etc.
I had several people - some with photography experience, some without - look at the series and pick their favorite bunch. I never told them my preference.

The decision was unanimous. Winkflash had the best prints. They were picked best on every print of the seriies of 12. They were followed closely by Snapfish. Cosco was up there in quality as well.
Walgreen's and CVS were at the bottom along with Ofoto.

Take this for what it's worth. Not very scientific, completely subjective, and a small sample size.
Your mileage may vary, but for now I'm sticking with Winkflash.

 

[MICKEY88]

I use Mpix.com, very good quality, reasonable price, they do color/b&W and also have metallic paper that is incredible...

 

[denanbob]

I use winkflash.

--Katie

Ok, so I tried Winkflash, but I'm trying to upload 45 pictures to their site and it is STILL going after an HOUR. Is this normal? I can upload to snapfish waaaaaay quicker. I have a cable modem. I'm confused!

 

[nicurn]

I have used winkflash, shutterfly, photoworks... won't use photoworks again, the paper is just ok. LOVED winkflash! 12 cent prints and flat rate 99 cent shipping, can't beat that. shutterfly was fine, just didn't care for their shipping. my vote would be winkflash. maggie

 

[extreme8]

denanbob, I don't recall having any problems uploading to Winkflash. Maybe just a server glitch or something. They do have an alternate tool for uploading, maybe that would make a difference in speed.

I had forgotten to mention the Winkflash shipping policy. The flat rate and low per print cost & high quality prints make them hard to beat.

MICKEY88, I have to agree about the mpix metallic papers. Really amazing. I've tried them for some firworks shots and they're impressive.

 

[Anewman]

Ok, so I tried Winkflash, but I'm trying to upload 45 pictures to their site and it is STILL going after an HOUR. Is this normal? I can upload to snapfish waaaaaay quicker. I have a cable modem. I'm confused!

Well I have never used Winkflash, but I do use Costco(in store pickup) which is run by SNAPFISH. Snapfish uses a quik upload(by default) that downsizes your photo size and resolution as you upload, that helps upload speeds. I do not know the file size you are dealing with, I also do not know if Winkflash uploads your full sized image. But no way it should take you an hour.


I have tried as many online/OFFline printers as I could find. The only ones that give me consistant results that I am happy with are those that allow me to turn off all AUTO ADJUSTMENTS. When I send in the files I have already adjusted them to my taste so the image does not need any further adjustments. Take Walgreens(also run by snapfish), they do not allow me to turn off all auto adjustments. Most of my test prints from them were just as I sent them, but 3 out of the dozen had obvious color and contrast adjustments applied. So I stick to Costco, turn off all auto adjustments, quik upload and I send the exact file size that image will be printed at.

 

[S. C.]

Did anyone elses prints from winkflash come out too dark? I've used snapfish & winkflash. The winkflash ones were all too dark, and i ordered over 100 prints from them.

 

[Olaf]

I'm a long-time Shutterfly user, and they're good, but can be a little more expensive than their competitors. I recently tried Sam's Club and was pleasantly surprised. The prints were 14 cents each, were printed on Fuji crystal archive paper, and were there in 2 days. Here's their link:

Sam's Club

 

[mausmu]

For what it's worth, I have used dotphoto.com for a few years now. We have been happy with the results. We buy in bulk, and then use them as needed. They often run specials, sometimes .06 to .09 cents a print. I think the regular price right now is .10 cents each. They also offer monthly plans but I find the bulk to be the best buy for our use.