Costco printing services: After hearing how many other posters like costco printing, I gave it a try again. The first time was several years ago. Back then I hated the prints and...

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

After hearing how many other posters like costco printing, I gave it a try again. The first time was several years ago. Back then I hated the prints and decided not to use them.

A couple years after that I tried again, just to see. This time I made both small and lager prints. The large prints looked wonderful, the small prints looked terrible.

After showing the big differences to the tech there, no explaination could be given.

Another year and I tried again. Same thing, big was great, small terrible. This time a tech told me the large print machine used a color dye that made the difference.

Skipping a few years later, I tried the small again. Yuck. (Another refund)

The prints have been attempted both with and with out their color correction.

I tried printing at three different Costco. locations.

I've tried calibrating to their machine. Still the same outcome. Big good, small stinks.

Anyone here have any ideas as to why?

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

GENorkus wrote:

After hearing how many other posters like costco p... (show quote)

I use COSTCO for 4 x 6 and never have a problem. Can you define "Big Good"?

Quixdraw Loc: x

Three times is the charm - stick to the big prints. Buy a Canon Selphy for the small ones, it does an excellent job at reasonable price. Have done at least a thousand Selphy prints.

Don G

The small prints 4x6 are automatically done in the Noritsu or what ever, The enlargements they take better care with. I have seen the same thing. Where I live we have a Meijers store and they send it out , the negs are great but the prints have a slight magenta cast. I think I will send my next film to a store called Hite photo in Troy mi. They were always better. I just got lazy with last roll and since it was to check out a canon t50 not a problem

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Hmmm.
I'll have to try a 5x7 and 4x6 next time.
I've never had anything smaller than 8x12 or 8x10 printed by them.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

PixelStan77 wrote:

I use COSTCO for 4 x 6 and never have a problem. Can you define "Big Good"?

"Big" is larger than 8"x10". This is when Costco has to use their larger printer instead of the stock 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 size prints.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

quixdraw wrote:

Three times is the charm - stick to the big prints. Buy a Canon Selphy for the small ones, it does an excellent job at reasonable price. Have done at least a thousand Selphy prints.

Surprisingly, I've had a Canon Selphy ever since they hit the market. They did work very well.

It's somewhere in my photography pile. I'm guessing that it hasn't been used for close to ten years. Might be time to look for it.

Thw only bad thing is that it doesn't have the ability to pring over 4x6". (I know. You did say to buy one.)

Quixdraw Loc: x

GENorkus wrote:

Surprisingly, I've had a Canon Selphy ever since they hit the market. They did work very well.

It's somewhere in my photography pile. I'm guessing that it hasn't been used for close to ten years. Might be time to look for it.

Thw only bad thing is that it doesn't have the ability to pring over 4x6". (I know. You did say to buy one.)

Urgent! If you decide to get your old Selphy working be sure to order the "old kit" - I wanted to use the Selphy for an event and ordered the kit for the new Selphy which won't work with the old one. Had opened it, so was stuck with it. Have mostly used my Canon Pixma Pro 100 the last few years, the Selphy still does a good job for small prints, and they seem to hold up, have prints going back a dozen years or more.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

GENorkus wrote:

"Big" is larger than 8"x10". This is when Costco has to use their larger printer instead of the stock 4x6, 5x7 or 8x10 size prints.

That may explain it.
If the BIG are dome on an inkjet compared to the smaller being photo emulsion prints.

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

I haven't tried Costco. I have noticed that their prices are significantly lower than Walgreens where I have been doing my prints. At Walgreens I can do some editing before the prints are made. At Costco I would simply hand them in and pick up the prints when they are ready.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Bigmike1 wrote:

I haven't tried Costco. I have noticed that their prices are significantly lower than Walgreens where I have been doing my prints. At Walgreens I can do some editing before the prints are made. At Costco I would simply hand them in and pick up the prints when they are ready.

I edit, send to Costco on-line, pickup later, or in the next day or three.
(I wouldn't edit at Costco, or any other place, if I had the capability. All editing is done prior to printing.)

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

I send images to Costco for all print sizes--no problem.

Kmgw9v Loc: Miami, Florida

Longshadow wrote:

I edit, send to Costco on-line, pickup later, or in the next day or three.
(I wouldn't edit at Costco, or any other place, if I had the capability. All editing is done prior to printing.)

anotherview Loc: California

Good morning. Did you try submitting your images in the sRGB file format? It avoids color management of your files.

Adobe Photoshop has a utility for saving files as JPEGs in this format. Find it here, beginning in the Menu Bar: File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy). It presents several options.

Alternatively, did you ask the Costco technician which file format(s) to use when saving your photographs for printing?

Others here may offer better advice.

Good luck.

GENorkus wrote:

After hearing how many other posters like costco p... (show quote)

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

I don't know about the 4X6 but in the larger prints in the last or next to last computer step it asks if you wan them to fix or something. Make sure you have it on NO