Photo Restoration - - Making Xmas Cards, Postcards, etc. - Page 2

Vikki · #16 09-09-2002, 04:52 PM

Heather, I love your calendar!!
What a great gift.

Lampy · #17 09-09-2002, 06:57 PM

Thanks for the positive feedback on the calendar. Lots of work but they will be able to enjoy the pictures year after year. Also I'm only doing the first few months and I'll add more as gifts at Mother's Day and birthdays. So it won't be so bad.

Tim_S here's a few tips about Ofoto I've learned. They do a zoom and trim on pictures. Meaning if your image doesn't fit the 4x6 dimension perfectly it will be croped and trimed to fit. That works fine for most snap shot prints where the image is in the middle with lots of room to crop around the edges but if you are like me it can be a disaster! I tend to use photoshop ahead of time and crop it myself so if Ofoto does it as well I usually end up with things trimmed off. Anyway you can choose to turn off the crop and trim and what you up loaded will be printed with blank spaces where the image wasn't big enough. I recommend previewing the pictures in the edit area before having them printed.

Secondly I've found that if you manipulate images on-line using the tools Ofoto provides and save the changes the quality of the image is dramatically reduced. Again this is fine for the snap-shots but not so great for portfolio pics or even if you are using them to print client work.

To avoid all of this I recommend figuring out the exact pixel size and resolution needed for each print size you want and work on your photographs in photoshop. Save each image in it's different size then upload.

I find the interface of Shutterfly to be much easier and if you like putting boarders on images they have a better selection. However, I've found Ofoto's prints to be a bit crisper (as long as I haven't re-saved too many times) and Kodak claims some degree of archival longevity.

Shipping....

Ofoto is great if you have your prints shipped one or two day or you order larger format prints. These items will arrive really fast.... but the 4x6 and 5x7s ordered for regular mail delivery will literally take a full two weeks to arrive. Even though the online status will say processed and shipped within 24 hours of the order I always get my 8x10s the next day (regular mail) and my small prints a full two weeks later. It's a bit annoying because they must leave them in a bin and not send them out for a week or so if the 8x10s can arrive so timely.

Anyway I hope this helps,

Heather

Vikki · #18 09-10-2002, 05:01 AM

Heather, have you ever tried Walmart for prints? They have great prices, excellent prints, and turn-around time is usually 3 days.
You can find them online at:
Walmart

Vikki

Ed_L · #19 09-10-2002, 05:20 AM

Every card presented is outstanding! Thanks for the ideas, and thanks for the info on making them.

Ed

Lampy · #20 09-10-2002, 11:14 AM

Vikki

Nope, I've never tried Walmart. I'm afraid I refuse to shop at Walmart because they have killed the character of many small towns by putting the small businesses in the downtown areas out of business. To top it off I'm especially not thrilled with them after hearing that they take insurance policies out on their employees and make money off of their deaths. That's just sick.

I'm not suggestioning that anyone else change their shopping habits I just don't want to shop there myself.

Also I wanted a shop that uses a Kodak Pegasus LED Digital Printer because I like the print quality and the process used is suppose to be as archival as you can get for color photographs from digital images (this was a couple years ago so I'm not sure now)....anyway Ofoto uses this printer. I would be interested in other on-line shops that offers good quality matte prints from this printer so if anyone knows of one post it!

--Heather

Bob Cronin · #21 09-10-2002, 01:18 PM

No great graphics skill shown here, but it is one of my favorite pictures of my grandson. It sits by my computer, and I enjoy it each day.

jerry · #22 09-10-2002, 05:22 PM

Danny

Is there something familiar with respect to your xmas card and this thread.http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/sho...hreadid=3425.. Are you busted or am I slow on the uptake..Birthday boy...

Jerry

Bob Cronin · #23 09-10-2002, 06:22 PM

No, I don't feel "busted". I never claimed the hat was an original idea, or even very well good one. However, I have not seen whatever pic you are referring to. Thank you for sharing that, though.

The child is now 2 1/2 years old and the pic was done for Christmas, 2000.

I am disappointed though. I was expecting a nice comment about how cute the baby Hunter is.

Ed_L · #24 09-10-2002, 06:48 PM

Cute kid!

Very neat Santa Bob. I'll bet someone liked getting that one.

Ed

jerry · #25 09-10-2002, 07:02 PM

Bob
Your baby is very cute.. I was kidding with danny. Sorry for the confusion.

Jerry

Bob Cronin · #26 09-11-2002, 07:30 AM

Jerry,

The error was mine. I guess I have spent too much time reading step-by-step and how-to around here and not enough time absorbing the culture of this friendly group. I'll have to pay more attention to that now. Thanks for the kind words. Bob

summertimerules · #27 09-14-2002, 01:07 PM

We do a lot of this where I work...I am the desktop publisher/graphic designer at a local copy shop.

we do calenders too...although they are pretty generic.

I am lucky that I have access to our Cannon 5500 digital copier/printer
we use HP 80# matte paper...it's a very nice paper, however it does crease on one side when folded. We use to use gloss paper but it didn't run through the machine very well so we got rid of it.

cendres · #28 09-15-2002, 07:22 AM

On a slightly different, but similar theme I just completed a project that will be a x'mas present to my son's grandparents.

I do a lot of manipulations, holiday cards, and other graphic art projects that mainly feature their grandson.

I just completed a ten minute movie / slideshow that puts them all into one nice presentation. It has stills of the images, titles, transitions, animation all with a music soundtrack.

Since this thing took me forever to put together the way I wanted, I felt it needed to be presented in nice packaging as well. Some of his grandparents have DVD players others have VHS so I had to do this in 2 formats. The VHS package became a graphic art project in itself.

I posted a picture of the final packaging in the gallery, here is a link if you care to take a peek.

http://www.retouchpro.com/gallery/sh....php?photo=746

designs21 · #29 09-20-2002, 04:52 PM

Phyllis, you do a great job, just looked at the web site. I do so much like you but the part I am getting into more is the restoration of photos. That is not easy with some of the old photos, do you learn by trial and error or who was your teacher? I have my own t shirt and sign business that I have learned so much from, I also work at a studio where I do retouching where ever I get a chance. This is a great site to learn from, so much to read so little time. I am looking for the paper that the camera stores use for making photo calendars, I have some but the paper they have is not too thick but thick enough where you can't see through it. Office Max is one that has the paper, but not for re sale. Any help??

Ed_L · #30 09-20-2002, 07:29 PM

Hello Designs 21 (if that's your real name),

Welcome to the site. I'm assuming that you've already visited the "challenges" area, but if not, do so. You will find a lot of submissions with excellent explanations on how they were done. Also, if you haven't seen Katrin Eismann's book "Restoration & Retouching", try your local library. It's a book that a lot of us consider a "must have". Above all, try some of the challenges. Post your results, and ask for feedback. Also check out the tutorials and tips sections of the site. You'll pick up good techniques in nothing flat.

Ed