Best Place to get Digital Photo Prints?

[sprime1]

I've got some scans of some old photos that I'm looking to get reprinted. The original photos are 4x6, and i am looking to crop and enlarge them to 5x7's, and get them printed. I've got them scanned at 300dpi.

Any tips or advice on how to get these printed as best i can, and which local printing sites (Walgreens, rite aid, walmart, etc.) are the best quality?

Thanks much!

 

[compuwar]

I've got some scans of some old photos that I'm looking to get reprinted. The original photos are 4x6, and i am looking to crop and enlarge them to 5x7's, and get them printed. I've got them scanned at 300dpi.

Any tips or advice on how to get these printed as best i can, and which local printing sites (Walgreens, rite aid, walmart, etc.) are the best quality?

Thanks much!

Chain printers with local stores have inconsistent quality- it really depends on how diligent the operator is, how often they run test strips, how often they change chemicals (which is tied to how busy they are in many cases) supply storage (esp. paper,) chemical temperature and how they set the machine. If you want the best results, you'll need to profile the exact machine you want to use and make sure you get the profile done under the same conditions you want the prints done under to narrow the variances, that'll normally take talking to the operator.

I've seen Walmarts where the operator will run test strips all day, set up and give me a first warm run of the day and I've seen Walmarts where they'll run 8x10s knowing the machine rollers are going to make marks on the face of the prints because it's been happening for three days!

You'll get better consistency out of a pro lab, but it'll cost you more. I like Delano Color Imaging in Kansas, WHCC gets lots of good reviews as well.

 

[marioman38]

Why must it be local. Mpix.com has received great reviews, and will professionally color correct your photos at no extra charge if requested.

 

[ChrisA]

I've got some scans of some old photos that I'm looking to get reprinted. The original photos are 4x6, and i am looking to crop and enlarge them to 5x7's, and get them printed. I've got them scanned at 300dpi.

300 is not quite enough for this. It's marginal. It depends on the quality of the original prints. If they are very good you should re-scan them at higher resolution or else the 5x7 prints will not look as good as your 4x6 originals 600 dpi would be best if the intent is to preserve the quality of the original photos. Actually if you have the negatives you should scan them, then the 5x7 could possably be better than the 4x6.

As for where to have them printed, as was said above, they all ues the same equipment but some use it with greater care