Bulk digital prints, where to go?

Hey all. I need aprox 600 prints done for a freind who has hired me

to scan what seems like all of her family photos.

 

There are actually only about 150 photos, but she want's copies for

her family. I got about 100 prints done as a dry run at my grocery

store. They used to be pretty good, but these prints were terrible.

They were dark, and undersaturated. All shaddows went completley

black.

 

Now, I only paid $20 for these prints, but still, that's a lot of

money for prints that didn't come out very good. So I need to get

them printed online, as the only other options in town are Wallmart

and a pro lab. Wallmart I've heard does poor quality prints at 27

cents a piece, while the pro lab does great prints at 69 cents a

piece. There is no way we can afford the pro lab, and I don't trust

Wallmart.

 

I see that DotPhoto will do 550 photos fo $100, that's $.18 a piece.

But can I trust them? I would go for Adorama in a heart beat, but I

don't see any bulk rates. They price for the same 550 photos would

be about $160, and I think that's a little too much.

 

Anybody have any other ideas?

 

I kind of need these prints soon. One of her family members is

dying, and she wants her to be able to see these photos before she

goes.

 

Thanks in advance,

Dan O.

$160 or 550 photos done right is not bad at all. Do you want to waste more money, or get it done right?

<i>I kind of need these prints soon. One of her family members is dying, and she wants her to be able to see these photos before she goes.</i>

<p>

Adorama beckons...

It depends entirely on the equipment and operator at Wal-Mart. One out of six stores

in my area has a Fuji Frontier and the prints are acceptable. Would suggest you try a

small batch. Then there is ofoto.com and fed-x...jf

I second what Brian said and i ask for photo.net that if you go with Adorama, use the software on the Photo.net page wich supports them.

www.costco.com, photo center, Kodak picture center. Printed by Kodak on their DuraLife paper. 4x6 are 18 cents a piece. Shipping and handling used to be $1.59, regardless of the size of the order - even the order for over 500 4x6 and 20 8x10 I had done last year. I was very happy with the numerous orders I placed before a local Costco got their own Noritsu digital printer and I switched to local.

If your walmart has a fuji frontier and you can talk to the operator and tell them NOT to adjust your files, they will likely be happy to oblige. Lots less work for them. You would need to do some tests to see how your monitor is compared with the frontier output. Quality should be good as YOU can make it. Your prolab price of .69 is pretty good too. You often get what you pay for, and for .18 ea. they cannot spend much time on your order. Good luck.

I know cost is an issue, but I use Adorama all the time. A skilled operator at Walmart can do a good job, but I trust me photos to those who are consistent, and Adorama gives me consistent results. I shoot digital weddings and unless luster or some other pearl matte is requested, I will continue to use them.( Adorama, if you're listening, please offer a luster upgrade)

So, nobody here has experience with www.dotphoto.com?

 

I understand that Adorama has the best quality, but how much better is it than dotphoto? Is Adorama really worth the extra $60?

 

Perhaps I need to do a comparison before I have her make her decision. I'm thinking of getting the ten free 4x6s at Adorama, and getting 10 duplicates at dotphoto.

 

BTW, I just looked up CostCo, they charge 24cents, not 18cents.

 

Thanks for your replies,

Dan O.

Wal-mart actually has a operator by-pass station where you feed it the flash card and c-prints pop out. Worth a test run

try clubphoto.com, printed on kodak paper matte or glossy, your choice. 4x6 $0.25, they have bulk rate, that is cheaper.

goodluck

Depends on how much work you want to do. If you are color correcting and sizing, then go with the local or online printer that is cheap. If you need someone else to do the color correction and/or sizing, then pay for a lab to do it.

 

unless you have a very high speed upload connection, I would look local for printing or overnight a CD of the images. Might take just too long for uploading to be successfull.

 

HTH

David

I know this answer is too late for you but you might want it for the future. Dotphoto.com gives me excellent prints. I occassionally get a washed out print that probably started a bit washed out but got worse with the automated corrections made by the dotphoto system. I have been using this service for a year now and only have one hang up. I send a file through for processing and it looks great in 4x6 but not in 5x7 or vice versa. The system that runs the 4x6's is making corrections to expsure and color. The other systems do not. It is a bit of a shock when your 4x6's were perfect so you reorder in a different size and they are NOT perfect.

 

Customer service is excellent. I asked them about adding 2 day service to their shipping options. They said they would look into it and 2 weeks later, there it was on the site. I've emailed them about 5 times so far and every question and request was well handled.

 

I print about 200 prints of 40-50 images per month. Every single one is with dotphoto. They do a nice job.

Costco is usually a good deal. There prices and equipment vary depending on the location. For example, my local Costco charges 19 cents for 4x6 on a Noritsu 2901. I just got back from the Orlando area where the price was 18 cents for a 4x6 on a Fuji Frontier. The next cheapest thing in that area was 29 cents for a 4x6 - I beleive that this was from Target.