LaurenT Loc: Northern California

I am looking to have a couple of photos printed with a good processing company. Since I've only used Costco, I have no idea where to start looking. The internet has several, but again, I don't know who is good, average, or poor.

Input is more than welcome......

BigWahoo Loc: Kentucky

'Adoramapix' did some prints for me. I will use them again.

pixbyjnjphotos Loc: Apache Junction,AZ

I have used MPIX for a long time. They do a great job. Fast and decent quality. Their packaging is wonderful. Never a damaged print. Give them a try.

Tom O Loc: Wisconsin

Lauren,

One of the lessons that I have learned is to decide if you want the processing provider you choose to do their own pp or to simply ask them to print your work without changing anything that you have already done in pp.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and they may not see things the way you did when you shot the image or did your pp on your own monitor.

Tom

CharlesA Loc: New Jersey

MPIX is very good as are these two:

http://www.hhcolorlab.com and http://www.whcc.com

I've been using the latter (White House Custom Color) for the past 8 years or so which should tell you how satisfied I am. If you click on "become a client", you can e-send them five 8"X10" photo-files to print for free just to see how close your calibration is to theirs. Their specialty papers are fantastic including "velvet" and "metallic".

Charles

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Since you live in Northern California, you might check out Aspen Creek Photo. They are the sister company to West Coast Imaging, a very reputable lab. ACP is more consumer oriented in that they don't offer the editing, consultation services, or wide art paper choices that WCI does. They just print the file you send them without any adjustments. They are located in Oakhearst. Prices are fair, and in line with other comparable labs. They use Fuji papers, with some options such as Moab Entrada Rag, canvas, and metal. Quality of prints is very good. Turn around time is also good, and being in NorCal shipping time for you will be quick. Like many online labs, they use a ROES system for uploads of your files. I used them when I was starting up my fine art business, before buying my wide format printer, and was quite happy with their work. As with any good lab, you will need to be sure your monitor is calibrated to get the best results. They are also very approachable and helpful; phone and email questions are handled promptly and professionally. They have weekly specials that can often give you an excellent price on some jobs. Certainly worth a look.

LaurenT Loc: Northern California

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I am definitely going to check each one out.

Thanks Again,

Lauren

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

I have used Nations Photo Lab several times and have been very pleased. I have them do enlargements and mount them on 1/2" Gatorboard - very lightweight but very hard and doesn't warp. I then glue some 1x2 boards to the back and hang them directly on the wall - this makes them stand out from the wall in a very dramatic way. No framing or glass is required.

busmaster2 Loc: College Point NY

Walgreens.com is cheap and does very nice work, as well as through iPhoto. The problem there is that the shipping seems a bit high for single prints.

hammer531 Loc: Fall River , Ma

I have used Bay Photo with good results . They are in Central California , and can be found at bayphoto.com .

hb3 Loc: Texas

I use "Perfect Posters"...I have never been displeased.

http://perfectposters.com/

wilikioti Loc: Deep South, USA

http://www.richardphotolab.com/print/ in Los Angeles

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Lots of good pro labs are out there.

I like and respect Miller's (MPIX), Bay Photo, WHCC (White House Custom Color), Full Color, and most of their US competitors with ROES (remote order entry system) programs.

A couple words of advice: If you want great color, color manage your entire system! That means understanding:

• How the camera settings put good color into a JPEG saved in an ICC color space (sRGB or Adobe RGB), OR
• How your RAW processing software puts good color into a JPEG for the lab,
• How you can view that color space accurately on your monitor (by choosing a monitor capable of displaying that color space, by calibrating it, and by profiling it regularly),
• How you can PREview what the lab will print by installing THEIR ICC printer profile(s) on your computer,
• That communicating with the lab is very important.

One BIG piece of advice: Stick with sRGB unless you are an advanced or professional user with the knowledge, systems, software, and hardware to take advantage of the Adobe RGB color space. Most labs still use silver halide photo paper, which has a color gamut (range) similar to sRGB.

Jules Karney Loc: Las Vegas, Nevada

I use Costco too. No problems.

LaurenT Loc: Northern California

Thank you for your advice, as I am only a novice and would have never considered these things.