Where to get color photos printed on regular paper

[havaneselover]

I am trying to make photo coasters for Christmas gifts and I need 4" by 6" photos printed on regular paper. I thought I could do it on my printer but the quality isn't good enough. So who can do this? Fed Ex Kinkos?

 

[mcraige]

I've never had issues printing at home. I always make sure I have good paper (20 lb), and sometimes I have to adjust my printer settings to keep from getting too much ink and it soaking thru.

 

[havaneselover]

I've never used mine for photos before, but it is over 4 years old, the magenta ink is low (which may be contributing to the problem), and the photo looked bad.

I guess I could take a print to Kinkos and use the color copier.

 

[MickeyManiac]

Are you using tiles?

I've been making coasters on tiles this week and used b&w prints from Sams Club. They look great. I was afraid using regular paper would wrinkle when it is glued (Mod Podge).

 

[clh2]

I've taken the images I needed printed on a color copier and put them into a word document, and somehow got it to the FedEx Kinko's (I think by putting it on a flashdrive) and then it got printed on their color copier.

The "pain in the rear" part was getting the image sized for what I needed it to be. Whereas for photos - you can just pick the size you want and be done with it.

But it worked beautifully (i.e. the quality I needed was "spot on")

Our color printer, while it is fine for 99% of what we need - so I understand your issue with the quality not being "good enough" for this project.

My photos needed to be done on a transparency for the project I was working on.

 

[torinsmom]

At Kinko's, the copiers have a place to put your flash drive or SD card. You can print them from there. I think it would be more cost effective to insert them in a document first as a PP said. That way you could get 2 to a page.

 

[havaneselover]

Are you using tiles?

I've been making coasters on tiles this week and used b&w prints from Sams Club. They look great. I was afraid using regular paper would wrinkle when it is glued (Mod Podge).

Yes. Tiles with felt pads on the bottom. Mod podge and mod podge acrylic spray on top.

I had seen that some people used prints but others seemed to prefer regular paper (I guess so it is thinner). Maybe I'll give this a shot. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[havaneselover]

Thanks for the kinkos recommendations, torinsmom and clh2.