picture printing, where?

[bearbo]

where do you photographers print your pictures? i'm assuming not one of those online digital photo printing website like snapfish or something like that?

 

[pdpfilms]

where do you photographers print your pictures? i'm assuming not one of those online digital photo printing website like snapfish or something like that?

White House Custom Color (http://www.whcc.com)

They're great prints, have a variety of options, absolutely amazing customer service. When you sign up with them they'll send you a few free 8x10's so that you can verify the color of their printers. They'll also reprint any prints that aren't up to spec. More than once they've stopped printing because it "didn't look right", they told me what color range to check and what to fix, and then they reprinted. They've also reprinted a 24x30 foamboard print ($90) because the hand cut edge wavered a bit. No questions asked, they didn't even want the original back. I'm very satisfied with them. Oh, and shipping is 2 Day Air, free with every order.

 

[snap58]

where do you photographers print your pictures? i'm assuming not one of those online digital photo printing website like snapfish or something like that?

http://www.mpix.com is also very good

 

[Grimace]

mpix.com is amazing. not too expensive either.

 

[SpankyPenzaanz]

http://www.bwc.net is very nice as long as you know what you are doing
i have also used iphoto(i think they use kodak) was good
i too have heard very good things about mpix

Edit - I use bwc for my medium format and they are fantastic - F*ing wolf camera cut my negatives and all they said was "sorry but we didn't"

 

[mkrishnan]

http://www.mpix.com is also very good

One more rec. I have several prints hanging on the wall that I did with them and one more is in my dear friend's home in the Netherlands. I've always used their standard matte process... has anyone used this pearlescent process or finish or whatever it is?

My experience with them:

1) Fast
2) High quality -- they send the prints taped to flat boards in good packaging
3) With color calibration on my iBook and iMac the colors and brightness as received are pretty much dot-on with my expectations.

Another recommendation... I actually made test prints with them. I took a bunch of my photos, downsized them and matted them together in Photoshop, and got two 8x10 prints (with a total of about 15 photos between them). This was really helpful in making me feel comfortable about color fidelity.

 

[bearbo]

what is a good (and easy) way to calibrate your display without using additional hardware?

 

[NinjaMonkey]

Another vote for Mpix.

They are my favorite so far. They have awesome customer service, I had a slight issue with part of my order once and got a prompt reply to my email saying they would reprint my order. I got my reprints via FedEx two days later.

I have ordered some prints using the metallic paper. It seems to be hit or miss. Saturated photos look very good while B&W and certain colors just look flat. Green seems to really stand out. To get a free sample of their papers go here: http://www.mpix.com/SampleKits.aspx

 

[Zeke]

The mac colorsync utility is an ok way to get it close (it's not really that close though). If you don't calibrate your display with hardware then it really doesn't matter that much where you send for prints. I use winkflash a lot and really like them. Without a calibration, you can get a print and try and make your display match the print afterwards. Then you know that WYSIWYG.

what is a good (and easy) way to calibrate your display without using additional hardware?

 

[jlcharles]

I use mpix for just about all of the pictures I sell. Have never had one complaint.

 

[beavo451]

White House Custom Color (http://www.whcc.com)

They're great prints, have a variety of options, absolutely amazing customer service. When you sign up with them they'll send you a few free 8x10's so that you can verify the color of their printers. They'll also reprint any prints that aren't up to spec. More than once they've stopped printing because it "didn't look right", they told me what color range to check and what to fix, and then they reprinted. They've also reprinted a 24x30 foamboard print ($90) because the hand cut edge wavered a bit. No questions asked, they didn't even want the original back. I'm very satisfied with them. Oh, and shipping is 2 Day Air, free with every order.

I use WHCC as well. Very good quality.

 

[peas]

whcc if im not in a hurry
events i use printroom.
printroom is the biz

 

[Mike Teezie]

Mpix, and WHCC.

Metallic paper is definitely hit or miss, but when it hits - it's the cat's bollocks.

 

[mkrishnan]

The mac colorsync utility is an ok way to get it close (it's not really that close though). If you don't calibrate your display with hardware then it really doesn't matter that much where you send for prints. I use winkflash a lot and really like them. Without a calibration, you can get a print and try and make your display match the print afterwards. Then you know that WYSIWYG.

I used the Apple built-in utility and ran it a few times in advanced mode until my modifications weren't creating significant changes (sort of using it to iterate). I was quite satisfied with that. My thinking was to do what was in bold above, but by the time I got my print it was already close enough for me.

Now ths is an "artistically satisfied" definition of color matches. I printed some very colorful prints where I was initially strongly inspired to take the photo because of the color relationships. So the color was important to me. But I'm not exactly SWOP certified. Just satisfied as an amateur artist.