Devolution. "We are Devo!" A certain rock band of the '80s predicted it.

Nice! Try a 16:9 crop.

White balance and ICC color management are the complementary keys to getting the results you want from your lab or home printer. One without the other is a wasteful game.

Indeed. Most commercial printing has been eliminated by web sites and PDF documents. My wife is a marketing manager. Back in the 1980s, her company had a 60,000 square foot warehouse full of trade show booth junk and hundreds of racks of printed brochures and fliers. Now they still attend shows, but all the literature is virtual. Potential clients download it at will. No inventory.

If it's a big print, it might even be an Epson inkjet print. Worth a try.

I own a vinyl LP of that Greatest Hits album. Carly made some amazing records back when I was in school! James was a troubled soul back then. I have a few of his albums, too.

These days, I listen to a lot of jazz. But pop and rock have evolved, and if I'm listening to women singer-songwriters performing something resembling pop, it has elements of folk, classic rock, hard rock, prog, metal, jazz, classical, and even country and punk mixed in. So these ladies are more my style, as they take us on an eclectic journey of musical surprise and amazing lyrical prowess:

https://youtu.be/oqXcNOVmcjc? (folk ballad Revenant from their third album)

https://youtu.be/dq6k4v9i8kc? (poppy, smoldering anthem of unrequited love angst 23 from their third album)

https://youtu.be/PDFH9AcPpyA?si=1TD24D_LrA0fTYeu&t=18 (Hard rock bedtime pillow talk Automatic Sun from their next album)

https://youtu.be/3CJ1KRhMxeE? (pop anthem Show me the Light from their first album)

They're bilingual Mexicans, 24, 22, and 19, now, but started performing as a band at 12, 10, and 7. Currently playing to sold out audiences in Europe... I have all three of their albums (no bad songs on any of them). A fourth album, Keep Me Fed, is on the way in June.

Do you mean Walmart?

In 2024, most labs do a fairly decent job of printing photos, given the following caveats:

1) You calibrate your monitor with a hardware and software device kit from Datacolor or Calibrite.

2) You provide the lab with a file in the ICC color space they expect (usually sRGB).

3) For best results, you use their printer profile as a proofing or simulation profile in your software during final image adjustment.

Traditional silver halide chromogenic (wet process) color labs have many variables to control. Process control and printer control are the two biggies.

If the chemistry is properly mixed, replenished, and adjusted for pH and specific gravity as needed, The color you get will be more accurate than if the chemical activity drifts out of control.

If the printer is properly calibrated for linearity so it produces a true gray at every value between pure black and paper white, AND if it is custom-profiled so the color engine in the controlling computer can convert the image file color profile to the characteristics of the specific printer and paper, you will get more accurate color.

All those stars need to align for best results. If the lab has good quality control, it will deliver consistent quality.

Generally, labs serving the professional community (known in the trade as professional color labs) will keep a steady watch on their chemistry and machine calibration. Calibration changes every time the lab loads a new emulsion number of paper. ICC profiles need to change every time the paper manufacturer re-formulates the paper's spectral response characteristics. That's different from an emulsion batch change, and usually happens every few years.

The question of whether Walmart does any of this sort of thing, or just runs inkjet mini-labs, is one to ask them. Chances are, the person you ask won't have a clue. If you ask a lab like WHCC (White House Custom Color), Bay Photo, American Color Lab, Printique (formerly Adoramapix), Full Color, H&H, UPI Lab, etc. they will be happy to explain the care they take.

He used the same terminology in both posts...

It is for anyone who uses precise language. The Op used the term ‘Printer.’ ‘Lab’ is what he wanted. Be careful what you ask for. You might just get it.

Once again, 'printer' means a device used to print.

The correct terminology in the photography world is photo lab, color lab, professional photo or color lab, or giclée service bureau.

The term 'printer' DOES mean a company in the context of an offset lithography, intaglio, letterpress, web offset, or gravure printing company.

I worked for a company that owned both types of businesses. Never the twain shall meet... under the same terminology.

I still use ExFAT when needed, but I have a big note taped to my hub cable that says, UNMOUNT DRIVES! It's important, since I use a MacBook Air for everything.

The correct terminology to use would be "color lab" or "professional color lab" or "photo lab" or "print service bureau" or "giclée service bureau."

A printer in the context of photography is a device or peripheral. In the graphic arts, a printer is a company that does offset, photogravure, intaglio, or letterpress printing.

Context is, regrettably, the trigger...

I didn't see your post or I would have read it. What is your question? What do you need/want to print? Which is more important to you, print permanence or ink cost or color gamut or media compatibility or printer reliability or low utilization or...???

Be specific...

ExFAT IS cross-platform compatible, but it is very dangerous. If you unplug the drive when it is mounted with open files , there is an EXTREMELY high likelihood you will lose data. I know this from personal experience. Fortunately, I had a double backup.

Talk to the lighting director and learn the native white light color temperature. White balance for that. Let the filtered color fall where it may. That will more accurately capture the color the lighting designer wants the audience to see.