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Digital printing


mercsadies

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I would like to know what other professional photographers do - especially in a

wedding situation - but even with portraiture in general ... Where do you get

your prints made? What are the best places to send your files for the most

professional prints? How much should I expect to spend?

 

I realize with the emergence of all the digital processing sites online there

are more than a few to choose from. However, I have been trying them all out

(the least expensive ones first, of course) and find that a lot of them alter my

images. That is fine and dandy for my mom shooting pictures of the grandkids in

the backyard ... having a 1/16 of the background cut off to make a bleed won't

even be noticed. However, images that I have carefully altered and added borders

to don't come back to me the way they should. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

Any site/company references will be greatly appreciated.

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Two labs are generally mentioned in this forum, and both have quality that you would expect

from a professional lab. White House Custom Color, whcc.com and mpix.com. You really

can't go wrong with either. Their prices and services are listed on their websites, and the

pricing is fair. I have used both and have not had any mystery cropping issues.

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Before I add any borders or anything fancy like that - I always work in my finish size. Therefore if the print is a 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, etc. it's in its proper size before being sent in.

 

Almost every time I have done something to a 4x6, sent it in as JPG, I get the print back in some altered way - like everything was forced left so that the margin comes out wrong; there was an even border all the way around in my file but the print shows an uneven border.

 

I have even emailed the services that this happens with ... asking them how I should be submitting images in the future so that this can be avoided. The responses I get, confirm my belief that they don't even know that they are doing something wrong. They don't know what I'm talking about and at best they've said, its because of their equipment and there is no way of predicting when it will happen. Scary.

 

I never worked in a photo lab and I don't know how their equipment works. But I was a press tech and I understand that documents (images or otherwise) need to be setup differently if they bleed. If photo printers that the general public can go out and buy print to the very edge ... isn't that what pro equipment has been doing all along?

 

I'm checking out the sites that have been suggested. Thank you guys very much!!!

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