Where to print good pictures

[jenseib]

I usually edit alot of my photos in photoshop. My monitor is calibrated and I seem to get good pictures to start with most of the time. LOL!
I do basic stuff with them and sharpen them.

I find when I order prints, which I usually do online with places like shutterfly, snapfish, walmart, you name it, they sometimes come back kind of junky looking. Sometimes I wonder if I have over sharpened, but I don't think thats the case most of the time. I don't know if they just aren't great places to print? I find the worse pictures are from shutterfly. Though the shutterfly books I have ordered are great and the pictures look just fine in them.
I just ordered several of the ones I took of my older DD from Prom. They all look kind of grainy and just not how they looked here.

I have heard that some of these photoplaces do there own sharpening and color corection, so they may be doing this on top of what I am doing? If so, is there a way to stop them from doing so, or is there a site or place that is good at printing the picture as is?

 

[sherry7]

I'm far from a good photographer, but I have always gotten good print results at Adoramapix.com. The prices are reasonable...even more so if you catch a good sale. When they have a sale, you can "pre-buy" prints to use in the future. For example, I'm still working on using 1000 4x6 prints I purchased last year for 9 cents each (normal price is 16 cents I think).

In the past year, I've seen 5x7's go on sale for 25 cents each, 8x10's for 99 cents each, etc. Sign up for their emails and you'll get notification. However, even without a sale, the prices are more than reasonable.

They offer several different types of paper...Kodak Royal Glossy, Endura Matte, Endura Lustre, Endura Silk, and Metallic. You'll find that these papers are much higher quality that the cheaper (thinner) Kodak and Fuji papers that most places use.

They normally color correct your images, but there is a place to click if you don't want that.

I've also heard good things about Mpix.com, but I've never used them.

 

[jenseib]

Thanks, I'll look at them next then. I love lustre paper. Is it the same price for different papers? I actually have been looking at them a few eeks ago because I heard they buy old cameras and was going to inquire to them about buying my old rebel.

 

[jenseib]

If you want to have me use you as my reference and for you to recieve free prints, please PM me your email address and I'll put it in. Just let me know either way. I'm gonna sign up soon, so I'll wait a few minuites or so to see if you PM'd or answered.

 

[VVFF]

Thanks, I'll look at them next then. I love lustre paper. Is it the same price for different papers? I actually have been looking at them a few eeks ago because I heard they buy old cameras and was going to inquire to them about buying my old rebel.

Can you upload some of the pictures that didn't come out looking so well? Make sure to keep the icc profile intact. I'd like to take a look and see if any adjustment seems overdone. Also let us know specifically what areas in each image didn't print well and what it looks like printed.

 

[jenseib]

I don't have them on my computer anymore because I put them on CD, but I have resized version in my photobucket, so I'll go and look for them.

 

[jenseib]

This one came out extremely grainy looking and her face looks awful.

These are awful too. Her face is just textured looking in them.

In this one my older DD has the yucky face, but the little one is just fine. Maybe her complexion is part of it.

But it's not just her or these particular ones either. And these resized ones are not as nice as the full sizes are either.

 

[jenseib]

One other thing, these were with my point and shoot, which I don;t like to use so much, but my nicer camera was broken, so I had no choice.

 

[VVFF]

You can try a service that you can tell not to post process, but given that your complaints are typically with a specific subject in the picture I'm not sure that's going to fix that.

 

[jenseib]

Yeah, it's not only her, but these are the most recent ones.
I'm gonna give that adorama a try. Do you any suggestions on any other services too?

 

[VVFF]

Yeah, it's not only her, but these are the most recent ones.
I'm gonna give that adorama a try. Do you any suggestions on any other services too?

MPix is rather popular

 

[MICKEY88]

MPIX is an awesome lab, they are the digital/consumer division of Miller labs which is one of the oldest pro labs in the US

 

[GrumpyOne]

I've used MPix and was happy with the result. So much so that I used them for some pictures that went on display at the US Embassy here.

 

[Kyen]

I have had my pictures printed at walmart and found them to be VERY dark. I have actually had great luck with getting them printed at Costco

 

[tiggr33]

Depending on the situtaion, I use Costco, Mpix, or Adorama. I like the ease and price of Costco for general printning. They have an opt-out button to turn off their editing. If you forget to turn it off, they process the heck out of images to their liking.

 

[jpmom97]

I love artscow.com . I think the quality is great.