printing advice

[imagination]

February 3, 2014 at 11:10 am

Hi all,

I have two basic questions.

1. what sizes would people recommend for printing – some family portraits and also some of individuals?

2. Any recommendations of where to get them done? I would go for quality over cheap and cheerful but maybe I can have both!

Do printers do minor tweaks to photos if they are a little dark. I used to go to Harvey Norman in Dundalk and sometimes a photo which looked ok on my computer needed lightening up as it was coming out dark on the printer…

Any guidelines would be welcome.

Thanks

[Murchu]

February 3, 2014 at 1:03 pm

I believe there is a known issue with the kiosks in some places auto-correcting your images, even if you do not choose that option. Its like a default level of correction that is applied automatically, and perhaps can be overridden by the desk staff if they know how, or at least that is what I discovered before when I was doing some homework.

Online printing companies like photobox.ie or snapfish.ie are supposed to be good also, or at least for colour, as I’m not sure how good they are for black and white. Neither seem to be based in Ireland, but rather UK operations, which ship/ target here also, so most orders you’ll be looking at at least a 3/ 4 euro delivery charge minimum. This drawback is usually offset by the very low prices they offer, where even more value can be derived by availing of one of their offers, which they periodically email you with once you sign up.

Size-wise, your intended purpose should help dictate that. We all have limited wall space, so anything from 7×5 to 11×14 will probably suit best. Small prints can be quite nice too.

I’m presuming with all the above, that you’re printing family images. If printing and selling images of others, I would probably find a good local printer.

Good luck, and don’t forget to report back with your experiences, trials & tribulations :)

[imagination]

February 5, 2014 at 11:09 am

I’ve uploaded some photos up onto photobox website – ordered 5 a4 size photos.

its costing just over €2 per photo – web site is easy to use so hopefully it will be good quality! I’ll post back up with my opinions on the quality.

Thanks

[Murchu]

February 5, 2014 at 2:04 pm

Ah cool :) I tend to like Photobox’s range of print sizes and paper options, and imagine they are quite good for colour prints. I think Snapfish does a keenly priced 12×8, at something like 89c the last time I checked too, but of course that would be irrespective of shipping costs. Interested to hear your experience though, especially of any of the images in question were b&w :)

[markcapilitan]

February 6, 2014 at 11:56 am

There’s a massive difference between using a pro lab and using Photobox just so you know. Photobox prints look almost soft when put side-by-side with a pro lab print…that applies to small 5×3.5 prints and up.

[Mark]

February 6, 2014 at 12:55 pm

I think that if you’re going to be doing portraits on an ongoing basis then you should consider using someone such as 360-dpi (stcstc here on the site) for printing. The turnaround time might be quicker, the quality will certainly be better out of the box as opposed to say using the likes of photobox which might take a couple of reprints/reorders so as to get the level of sharpening correct and colour looking the way you’re expecting to see it.