LaurenT wrote:
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......
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.