Endura Metallic for Canadians?

<p>Does anyone know of a pro lab that prints on Endura Metallic and is either based in Canada (and takes orders online) or has decent shipping to Canada?<br>

I've searched here and most posts seem to be older and not too helpful. Most of the Canadian labs I've found seem to push their editing services or some sort of online storage/consignment sale scheme, and just say "by the way, we also do printing" with no real info.<br>

Basically, what I want is MPIX, but without the $16 shipping fee to Canada.<br>

Thanks.</p>

<p>Don's Photo does. They have shops in Edmonton, Sask, and Manitoba. <a href="http://www.donsphoto.com/photolabservices.html">http://www.donsphoto.com/photolabservices.html</a><br>

There is also Technicare Imaging in Edmonton. They service most of the pros in the area: <a href="http://www.carouselphoto.net/">http://www.carouselphoto.net/</a><br>

I'm sure there are other print labs in other areas as well on the west coast and for sure in the east.</p>

<p>Pikto does it if you're in Toronto. They're not really set up for mail order though.</p>

<p>I thought I replied to this earlier but it doesn't seem to be posted.<br>

Thanks to both of you for your responses. I'd heard of Pikto but missed that they had the paper. I see it now, and I am in Toronto so that's a viable option. I hadn't heard of the two places out West. <br>

The thing with all 3 places is the prices seem to be triple what WHCC or MPIX charges per print, so if I'm ordering more than 2-3 prints, I'm better off just biting the bullet and paying the high shipping from the states. I'd rather support Canadians, but that kind of price difference is hard to swallow.</p>

<p>Hey John, I didn't realize the prices were that much higher. How does it all wash out in total with the shipping fees, duties (will these labs mark it as 'Gift' to avoid and what about Free Trade anyway - heheh) and everything else added in? Also, does their color management work well with their ICC profiles? Can you get your prints to match your monitor? The nice thing about Pikto is you can use their digital darkroom where the computers are all calibrated directly to their printers. You can do your final softproofing there and be pretty much assured of a good final result. Also, the cost per print is substantially lower than when they do it and the cost of the first hour of computer rental is waived on orders of $45 or more I think (an hour should be way more than enough time to softproof one, two, three or more images). Did you use digital darkroom prices to compare or lab prices?</p>

<p>John,<br>

I compared the lab prices, though I am curious how much difference there is in the result if I have them do the final adjustments. With free trade, worst case is 13% "duty". I was looking at 5x7 prints which are $1.29 US at MPIX (adding exchange and duty, that would be $1.77 Canadian) and 8x10 prints which are $2.49 US ($3.44 Canadian). Pikto won't do 5x7 or 8x10 and 8x12 is $7 ($7.91 with taxes). So to go from $3.44 up to $7.91 is just rediculous in my opinion and it's even worse for 5x7's if my clients want a smaller album, should I order 2-up 8x12's and trim them, that's extra work and higher costs? With the $16 shipping fee from MPIX, I basically have to order just 4 prints to break even. </p>

<p>Of course it's the quality that counts, but it is the same paper and people here seem to swear by MPIX, so they must have the quality down.</p>

<p>8x12 Kodak Metallic prints from the digital darkroom are $4.50. Download the PDF and scroll near to the bottom. <a href="http://www.pikto.com/lab/">http://www.pikto.com/lab/</a></p>