Labs for prints

[LensBaby]

Does anybody use White House Custom Colors (WHCC) for any of their printing needs? I used them and could not believe how gorgeous the photos turned out!!!I think it was cheaper than using the ink in my printer plus the cost of paper. I replace my cartridges constantly and they are $$$$$. I am doing a little "test" to see if it is cheaper for me to use this service, and only use my printer for special items.

[reval8r]

I use WHCC for about 95% of my printing and highly recommend them. I find it far cheaper to use a good lab than to make prints myself. To see a print of true beauty, you should see their competition prints. I went to a photo exhibition and most of the prints in the show came from WHCC.

[dkippen]

Sue - I've heard they're pretty good, but never tried them yet.

[LensBaby]

I use WHCC for about 95% of my printing and highly recommend them. I find it far cheaper to use a good lab than to make prints myself. To see a print of true beauty, you should see their competition prints. I went to a photo exhibition and most of the prints in the show came from WHCC.

This is true for me as well. I only use my printer for certain situations anymore, because it is much cheaper to use the lab.

[neonmike]

How are thier shipping costs? Are they pretty reasonable?

[jerryph]

WHCC is known for good quality results but they are not the lowest priced out there. Depending on what you want, MPIX.com is excellent as well. I had a printed coffee table book made for my parents that contained their 50th anniversary pics, and it came out awesome.

Now, you may laugh, but something that I just tried out... Costco. Wait, before you laugh me away, listen to this.

They have a printer profile for their printers available online and if your monitor is calibrated and you use their printer profiles, the thing is damned accurate and quality of the final results are superior to what you would get to something like the Walmart or prints you would get from your pharmacy or shopping center.

Nice part is, you upload to them from home, and an hour later can go and pick them up. Final results on my 1 experience so far has been that the colours were rich and vibrant and I checked off the "Do not alter" so that the pics would come out exactly as I uploaded them.

Prices now are rediculous too. Princes start at 10 cents for a 4X6 (on promotion now till March), to 8X12 going for $1.39 (no typo!).

Now, for my small things personally, that is where I go. If I want higher quality prints, for sure I would go MPIX or WHCC. Now, for canvas, I have the best place of all; http://www.giclee-factory.com/ in Quebec is about 2 hours from my place and is the most reasonable company that I have found price-wise... and here is the best part... their quality is unmatchable anywhere. I saw 2 canvases from them (16X20 and a 24X36), and to call them stunning is an insult... lol.

My goal is to have make a photo that I am very happy with by this summer and have a canvas made for me. More than likely it will be of my family, as I can think of no better subject than that for such a project.

[reval8r]

How are thier shipping costs? Are they pretty reasonable?

WHCC shipping is free for orders over $12. They will drop ship to a customer without an invoice starting at $5. WHCC is really a good service for the professional. If you're not doing your own color calibrations, I would suggest MPIX.

[pixelchicksphotography]

I use millerslab.com

[sherylt]

I use Richmond Pro Labs. Discovered them at ImagingUSA convention in Phoenix. I've been very happy with their work. Free account setup and free software (ROES) to upload pictures to them. Most standard prints ship next day. Check them out at:http://www.rcprolab.com

Sheryl
Canon XSI
18-55mm
70-200mm

[scalewag]

I use millerslab.com

mpix is a division of millers lab. they are both good labs.

[jerryph]

mpix is a division of millers lab. they are both good labs.

Now that was something that I did not know. :)

[jerryph]

I had to bring this thread back to life.

I've been going around testing and getting 2-3 4X6 prints of the same photos printed out in all the cheapest places I could find... places like Walmart, the local pharmacies, low end local labs and other places.

They pretty much all sucked, but one of these places out and out surprised me... my local Costco! When I got their prints yesterday, they were crisper, sharper and better saturated than any of the other "low end" places, so I went and had 6 more pictures done and I just picked them up... four 4X6, an 11X14 and a 16X20, and I have to say that with first last batch I was pleasantly surprised with sending them basic JPGs, but with this second batch, I used their custom printer profiles and the results from their Noritsu 1411 commercial lab printer was impressive. Now, it is not a high end lab, and I have a couple of shots from two commercial higher end photo labs (one in the US one in Canada), but there is not a huge difference in the results!

The 11X14 is my fav because that is the same one I had done 3 times (2 pro labs and Costco with the custom profiles). The colours are crisp, sharp and very, very close to my monitor. Placing the photo up against my calibrated screen and stepping back 4 feet, and they look IDENTICAL. Coming close, you can tell that the resolution on the screen is much better, but damn, the colours are SO CLOSE, I am very very pleased.

Again, talking about the 11X14, I paid $22Cdn and $14US for the same shot at the pro lab places, and when I place the $2.81 Costco one beside either of the ones from the high end labs, I would love to challenge anyone to tell me the difference... it is that close. You can tell, but your vision had better be awesome and you will have to come to about 1 foot away from the set.

Doing some reading, apparently, not all Costco locations have these specific commercial quality printers and equivalent printer profiles available at their location, but I am one of the lucky ones, I suppose... I live just down the street from one of them that has the Noritsu printer and matching printer profiles that I downloaded and installed from the net.

Anyways, for anything except professional sales/use, I would have no qualms printing out something for my family in this manner from Costco.

Check it out and try it yourself... maybe you too are one of the lucky ones where the printers and profiles are available locally to you... if so, try it out and let us know if your results were as good as mine were, the prices are so cheap, a good 11X14 test will cost you under 3 bucks!

Remember, have a calibrated monitor and use their profiles... then let me know. I would be really interested in hearing if this is a fluke or if Costco is suddenly on the ball doing something right. :D

[scalewag]

I have never used Cotsco, but heard other good press on other forums about them. They must be doing something right.

[CallMeNovice]

Check it out and try it yourself... maybe you too are one of the lucky ones where the printers and profiles are available locally to you... if so, try it out and let us know if your results were as good as mine were, the prices are so cheap, a good 11X14 test will cost you under 3 bucks!

Remember, have a calibrated monitor and use their profiles... then let me know. I would be really interested in hearing if this is a fluke or if Costco is suddenly on the ball doing something right. :D

I wish I had seen this sooner. I took some prints to Henry's camera for developing for a Father's Day present. I had to get them redone and by the time I got them back, the framer didn't have enough time to get them to me for the day.... I'm still waiting. Next time I'm going to take Jerry's advice and tryout the Costco near me - sounds like it would be a lot cheaper too.

[cyprus27]

Hi,


I use WHCC and I will suggest that. I am very much satisfied . Hope this might be useful for you too :)

[mvandenburg]

Now, for canvas, I have the best place of all; http://www.giclee-factory.com/ in Quebec is about 2 hours from my place and is the most reasonable company that I have found price-wise... and here is the best part... their quality is unmatchable anywhere. I saw 2 canvases from them (16X20 and a 24X36), and to call them stunning is an insult... lol.


I actually tried them out for one shot of my kids for a canvas print and never recieved anything. It was my first and only experience but was not a good one. They kept telling me they were behind on orders or were waiting on something but never printed it and never refunded my money. When I asked for a refund they stopped returning my calls/emails. After about three months of no contact (almost 6 months total time) I gave up and counted it as an inexpensive lesson learned and waste of my time. They may do well with others but I am nowhere near them and could only email.

Mike

[alishap]

Are these the businesses you use for your business printing, or just for your own uses. I would love to print my customers prints myself, but the ink I use in my printer is outrageous, so I havent been doing any printing lately, plus, i have a not so professional canon printer. I would like to get your own opinions on what I should do. Go through some of these businesses to print them off, or go ahead and print my own. if to print my own, what all i need for that. Thankyou for any answers anyone can provide for me.

[johnnya]

I'm not professional by any means. I do know that proper "photo labs" have excellent quality (not familiar with the one you are talking about as I live in Canada) I take mine to Walmart. They do a pretty decent job. 1 hour pick up is like .20 per 5x7 and .25 for 8x10's. If you order on line they give you something like 20 free your first time. They use Kodak paper.
But again, i'm not reselling anything :)
Just though tI'd share for the budget seekers.

[jerryph]

I actually tried them out for one shot of my kids for a canvas print and never recieved anything. It was my first and only experience but was not a good one.

Wow, I would contact the main branch about this.

A couple more experiences I had with Costco:

I was involved with the Help-Portrait charity event this past December 12th... and I thought that this would be a good time to test things out because when I went to the store, the photo section was just filled to about 10 people deep.

I sent in my 80 pictures not expecting to get anything for a couple of days at least. Two minutes pass and I get the standard letter of receipt of the files... and 30 minutes later I get what I thought was weird... another confirmation? Oh, wait, its not a conformation, its a note telling me my pics are ready for pickup.

I think to my self, that *has* to be a mistake, I mean 30 minutes for 80 pictures in a time that they are so busy? Well the store is like 5 minutes away, so I zip down, and sure enough, they are ready and I pick them up.

A week later one of the photographers from the Help Portrait charity tells me he cannot print/deliver his shots, so I go meet him at a coffee shop with an internet connection, I take his pics, upload them to the same Costco store right there from the coffee shop and the pics are ready before I can get home (this is December 23rd for pete's sake!). I pick them up, deliver them to our selected charity and go off home.

I cannot say enough good things about our local Costco, though obviously not all Costco stores treat you the same.

If it works for you, use it... if not, find something else. My mentor had 40 11X14's printed and placed in to a cheap ($30) plastic case and then showed them at a wedding show here in Montreal... he booked 5 weddings based on the pictures in that Costco printed book in 2 days (truth was they *did* look incredible)!!

Use what works, but if it doesn't, find what works for you.

For professional use to give to a client, I would **NEVER** use Costco, but for promotion or playing around or personal use, I am *more* than satisfied with their photos.

[jerryph]

Are these the businesses you use for your business printing, or just for your own uses.

For me, Costco is for promotional, demonstration or personal purposes. If they used inks guaranteed to last and not fade for 75 years, I would do it all with Costco, but they do not.

When I print something out and it goes to a paying client, I want a guarantee of quality and longevity for that print. The last thing I want to ever hear is "we placed your lovely print in the main living room by the window and where the sun hit it from the middle on down, and it's badly faded and yellowed after just one year in the area where the sun shines on it!"

[sandymac]

Does anybody use White House Custom Colors (WHCC) for any of their printing needs? I used them and could not believe how gorgeous the photos turned out!!!I think it was cheaper than using the ink in my printer plus the cost of paper. I replace my cartridges constantly and they are $$$$$. I am doing a little "test" to see if it is cheaper for me to use this service, and only use my printer for special items.

Do you have to be a professional photographer to use any of these labs?

[jerryph]

Do you have to be a professional photographer to use any of these labs?

Not all the time (company dependant of course), but be prepared to have a greater knowledge curve for things like printer and monitor profiles as well as be ready to accept to pay a price premium for the higher quality.

For a print that I would want to hang on my wall, I would have *no* issues paying 50-100% higher prices for top of the line quality prints over something like Costco prints.