# A good online place to have simple prints made and delivered....?



## cayenne (May 31, 2013)

Hi all,

My dad was visiting me not long back, and I took some pics of us while he was here.

I'd like to send my images (I shot in RAW and have finished PP) somewhere online for simple prints, much like you'd get in the old days when you took your film to the drugstore. 

Can someone recommend a service? I've heard of Snapfish, is that a good one?

What size am I talking about...4x6 or maybe 5x7? 

What format do I send and at what quality? jpg at 50%? Tiff?

Do I need to crop my pics to a certain size or will what I shoot out of camera have the aspect ratio of the proper size?

Suggestions and comments greatly appreciated!!!


cayenne


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## dbuono1865 (May 31, 2013)

I like mpix.com. Good quality, fast and easy. They also have touch up or color correction if needed.


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## cayenne (May 31, 2013)

dbuono1865 said:


> I like mpix.com. Good quality, fast and easy. They also have touch up or color correction if needed.



Thank you.

OUt of the 5D3, what is the image size of the jpg if no cropping is done. Will it fit neatly into say, a 4x6 print?

Thanks, I'll take a look at mpix!

cayenne


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## ahab1372 (May 31, 2013)

If you want it to be quick and have a Walgreens close by, www.walgreens.com
Just make sure you uncheck the Automatic Enhancement during the upload, and choose pickup in store instead of having them mailed to you.

4x6 should be fine, and you can export as JPG in RGB at full size if you don't mind the longer upload, or export with a reduced size. Their recommended minimum for 4x6 is 540x360 pixels, but it doesn't hurt to do at least twice or three times as much.


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## CTJohn (May 31, 2013)

cayenne said:


> Hi all,
> 
> My dad was visiting me not long back, and I took some pics of us while he was here.
> 
> ...



MPIX is great. They have a lot of 2x3 formats available - 4x6, 6x9, 8x12, 10x15, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, and 24x36 so you don't have to crop from DSLR aspect ratio. I think they require JPEG - I send full size conversions from RAW via Lightroom.


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## barracuda (May 31, 2013)

I use Costco and AdoramaPix. 

Costco's online site has printer profiles for their Noritsu and Epson printers (via Dry Creek Photo) and you can tell them not to employ any auto-color correction on their part. My local Costco uses Fuji Crystal Archive paper. They are fast and reliable and will redo photos that you're not happy with. As usual with Costco, prices are very good. I mostly use them for the smaller-sized prints, 4x6, 5x7, etc, but they also do larger prints up to 20x30 in the store as well. They do ship prints in the mail, but if you have a local Costco in your area, all the better. Turnaround is about an hour.

I use AdoramaPix for larger prints. I especially like their Kodak metallic prints, but that paper doesn't work well for all photos. Printer profiles are available for their papers/printers as well.


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## distant.star (May 31, 2013)

.
I use Bay Photo Lab. They do fine work, prices are reasonable and they'll drop ship anywhere you want.

A 5X7 is $2 and 8X10 is $3.50 (color corrected). Downside is you have to download their interface and it can be a pain in the ass to learn the first time.

The Walgreen's, as suggested, may be good for what you want. I don't care for their work, but they are quick and cheap. I can upload here, and by the time I walk three blocks to their store, prints are ready.


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## cayenne (May 31, 2013)

Thanks for the input.

We don't have a Costco in New Orleans (yet, they're finally building one here, 1st in LA, but not ready to open yet)...so, that's not an option for now.

What size images do ya'll upload for just regular prints (4x6)? What size jpg or tiff?

Do these places usually by default try to do color correction? I"ve already done all the post processing I want on my images, I don't want any other processing on color....

??

C


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## distant.star (May 31, 2013)

.
You'll be uploading jpg. I don't know any print service that takes a tif.

Do the highest resolution you've got. You'll probably want to use LR or something to set the size (5X7, etc.) so you don't get some weird cropping from the print service.

I'd suggest running a few prints through the Walgreen's or CVS service and see what you think. It's cheap enough you can make corrections if you need to.


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## deleteme (May 31, 2013)

cayenne said:


> Thanks for the input.
> 
> We don't have a Costco in New Orleans (yet, they're finally building one here, 1st in LA, but not ready to open yet)...so, that's not an option for now.
> 
> What size images do ya'll upload for just regular prints (4x6)? What size jpg or tiff?



Send a JPG at 1800 pixels on the long side




> Do these places usually by default try to do color correction? I"ve already done all the post processing I want on my images, I don't want any other processing on color....




Upload to a service that gives you the option of choosing no color correction. MPIX offers this. 
??

C


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## rolsskk (May 31, 2013)

cayenne said:


> Hi all,
> 
> My dad was visiting me not long back, and I took some pics of us while he was here.
> 
> ...



AdoramaPixis by far the best in the business, in my opinion. They go above and beyond when it comes to customer service, and they routinely have sales on prints.

But I'm honestly confused at how you say you do post production work, but don't want to do any resizing, and don't know about using photos from the 5D3.


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## Pi (May 31, 2013)

I have tried mpix many times, and I always disliked the results - dark prints with very low gamut (the reds are basically brown). I get the best results, after my own printer, with Meijer - it is a Midwest chain of stores. Aside from that, Walgreen's and CVS can be good but the results depend a lot on the local store.


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## barracuda (May 31, 2013)

cayenne said:


> Thanks for the input.
> 
> We don't have a Costco in New Orleans (yet, they're finally building one here, 1st in LA, but not ready to open yet)...so, that's not an option for now.
> 
> ...



Again, Costco will ship prints just like any other online printing service, so I wouldn't necessarily rule them out. 

Costco supports .jpg, .gif, .tif, .bmp, and .png files.

As far as image size is concerned, I'd upload the full-res versions even if you're just going to print 4x6's since you might, at some point, want to print larger sizes of your images. The only drawback is the time required to complete the upload.

Costco has an option to turn off auto color correction when ordering your prints, which is what I do since, like you, I've already done them in post.


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## barracuda (May 31, 2013)

Oh I forgot to mention... You have to be a member of Costco in order to use their printing service. I guess that's what you meant by Costco not being an option for you right now.


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## CTJohn (May 31, 2013)

Funny, I've had nothing but lousy results from Adorama and wouldn't use them again. Especially book production and metal prints - awful, and everything is slow turnaround.


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## CTJohn (May 31, 2013)

distant.star said:


> .
> I use Bay Photo Lab. They do fine work, prices are reasonable and they'll drop ship anywhere you want.
> 
> A 5X7 is $2 and 8X10 is $3.50 (color corrected). Downside is you have to download their interface and it can be a pain in the ass to learn the first time.
> ...



I've tried to use them, but you have to download an odd app to upload to them. I use it so infrequently that it takes forever to figure it out. I'd probably use them some if the upload were as easy as other providers.


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## nebugeater (May 31, 2013)

If you looking for quick and cheep to imulate the old photos you printed off of 35MM point and shoot where only a few were good then don't rule out WalMart for prints. Upload the JPG and pick them up at the store in an hour or have them mailed / shipped in a few days. This is how I get photo book type prints to some family members that do not have internet at a rural location.


For anything more than this I use Mpix


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## Old Shooter (May 31, 2013)

When I'm in a hurry - and want them in an hour - I upload to Wal-Mart... They have all the popular size print templates already online - in other words - I just upload the entire frame and then crop using their 4x6, 5x7, 8x10 tool...

MPIX has been good to me... I like the fact that I can choose color correction or not... When I send stuff there I crop to the proper aspect ratio... I always send the full-sized file personally (JPG)...


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## cayenne (May 31, 2013)

rolsskk said:


> cayenne said:
> 
> 
> > Hi all,
> ...



I'm a noob. The 5D3 is my first DSLR, and I'm still learning.
This will be the first time I've ever tried to have prints made from anything I've ever shot like this...hence, my asking on the forums.

I've done the corrections for color, WB, noise....I've done cropping, but in Aperture I was doing it with 'retain original aspect'....

I don't know what that original aspect is...hence, my asking.

I'm wanting to know if I want 4x6 prints, if I need to go back to all my images and re-crop them before sending them out...or if the 'native' export from the 5D3 happens to be 4x6...?

Thanks,

C


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## Leejo (May 31, 2013)

cayenne said:


> I've done the corrections for color, WB, noise....I've done cropping, but in Aperture I was doing it with 'retain original aspect'....
> 
> I don't know what that original aspect is...hence, my asking.
> 
> ...


Original aspect means the same ratio of length to side - so a 4x6 = 8x12 = 2x3 etc.
Conversely you would not be maintaining the aspect ratio if you cropped to e.g. a square image.
The sensor size is nominally 24mmx36mm or 2:3 - so the same as 4x6.
Nothing should be lost on a 4x6. Othersizes such as 5x7, 8x10 etc. will cause some cropping.
I am not familiar with aperture to know if it supports print sizes, but I expect that it does.

As for format - that will depend on the lab. JPG should be OK for 4x6 etc. For larger prints a TIFF maybe better.

IF these are your first prints you may want a lab that will perform some work on the image - e.g brightness control, as you may otherwise find that your images come out too dark due to you having too bright a monitor.

Further on you may want to see if the lab has ICC profiles for download - this will help in getting more accurate colours.

To start with though I would just send in a number of images in JPG at 4x6 and see what comes out.
You can always learn and improve / change labs later...


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## cayenne (May 31, 2013)

Leejo said:


> cayenne said:
> 
> 
> > I've done the corrections for color, WB, noise....I've done cropping, but in Aperture I was doing it with 'retain original aspect'....
> ...



Thank you!!
That's what I was looking for....the 5D3 sensor size/image size.....so, I'll know to go iterations off 2x3....

I've noticed no one here has mentioned snapfish...which was the first one to come up on my first google search....anyone have experience with them?

Thanks,
C


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## Old Shooter (Jun 1, 2013)

I'm only mentioning this because you admit to noob status... 

You have calibrated your monitor, correct? If not, what you see and what they send you will probably not match...

Another good piece of advice dealt with monitor brightness... Get a print to look exactly as you like it on your monitor... Send it to a lab like MPIX and tell them NO correction... When the print comes back, hold it up to your monitor and compare... That will give you an idea, at least for that lab, whether your monitor is too bright or too dark...


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## cayenne (Jun 2, 2013)

Old Shooter said:


> I'm only mentioning this because you admit to noob status...
> 
> You have calibrated your monitor, correct? If not, what you see and what they send you will probably not match...
> 
> Another good piece of advice dealt with monitor brightness... Get a print to look exactly as you like it on your monitor... Send it to a lab like MPIX and tell them NO correction... When the print comes back, hold it up to your monitor and compare... That will give you an idea, at least for that lab, whether your monitor is too bright or too dark...



I got the Dell U2711....that came calibrated, at least that's what it said, and it had some documentation with it saying the same.....

C

ps. and yes, I'm VERY noob status.


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