photo lab printing

[guanaco]

Hola,

 

all you guru's out there. I am a profesional when you put me in a room of

kids, lol. Na, i am a beginner and reading the forum last week it commented to

go to a photo lab if wanted better than a drug store.

So my question is this, I do my printing at wallgreens. Is this a "drug store"

or "a photo lab". and can you explain the difference.

sorry if its a dumb question, just look at the good side, you could answer it

in your sleep. :) gracias

[patricklavoie]

a place that sell shampoo and print your image are not a lab, they are whatever you want to call them.

 

a place that sell photo equipment, do print and have speccialized personal...thats is a minilab or a lab depending of the type of business they do.

 

Wallgreen is not a lab.

 

denada

[dave_redmann]

As far as I know, Walgreen's does not give you a 'don't correct my picture' option, which means that they will always make changes THEY think are appropriate to its color, sharpness, etc. This takes away some of your control and hinders your learning. Also, they don't offer matte paper at most stores, and if you're willing to wait for the mail (or FedEx), it's better to deal with a reputable lab like Shutterfly or Mpix.

[doug_axford1]

Well, yes & no.

 

Most drug/grocery stores have the identical equipment that a pro lab has. Fuji Frontier is the standard. With rare exception, they will produce identical prints. The staff at a pro lab will be trained on how to adjust equipment to allow you to get prints from your files properly. Most drug/grocery lab staff are trained to do what they do best, pump out amateur stuff.

 

Some Walmarts & Costcos actually produce excellent prints for pros. Anyone can produce output profiles for any of these labs if they know how to and the lab staff can be taught to 'not touch anything' if they are trainable.

 

It's not clear cut as you might think.

[gary m]

Well... to tell the truth, I've had just as much luck at Walgreen's as I have had at professional mini labs. It all comes down to the luck of getting a skilled operator - or at least one that won't screw up your photos too much. I usually make my own prints since I deal in small numbers, but if I was a wedding photographer or something, I would have to work hard to find a lab that did consistently good prints. I just know that the results I get from mid-level 'professional' labs isn't always that great.