Online Printing

[Jill]

First....I hope I am doing this right! My first new post.
I have been checking out different web print sites and have compaired two so far. dotphoto.com and printroom.com. I sent in the same picture and had them print at 5x7 size. The pictures came back on Fuji archival paper, very good weight to it and they looked just like a true photo. No dots showing anywere. The color was adjusted on the dotphoto print, it was better than the original....I don't think I checked the box that said "do not color adjust" so my fault and it worked out fine. On both sites there are choices for not cropping picture to size....for example if you wanted an 8x10 from something you set as a 3x5 it would crop edges to fit.....gives examples of what it would look like so it is all your choice. The return time was 7 days from upload order to delivery for dotphoto and 4 days from upload and delivery from printshop. The price was more for printroom, still a great deal considering what I spend on ink for my H/P printer! I have submitted to two other company's and will report back with the info! OHhhh, I sent many many email question to both sites and got an answer from both the next day. Both very helpful....and both with free prints at the 4x6 size for compairing too. I will check back in with the other results soon. Have a great day!

[DJ Dubovsky]

Jill
For your first thread you did great! You got alot of good information out and the comparison to each company was a great idea. By sending the same file to each one you get a much better idea of how they reproduce the colors. You also added your experience with each one and time to completion. These are good points for us to know when dealing with online photo places. Thanks for the tip. Look forward to your next thread on this subject when you get even more prints back to review or any other subject for that matter.
DJ

[Ed_L]

Hi Jill,

Thanks for letting us know about that. I think there will be quite a few people here who will benefit from what you have to say. Comparisons are always good whether it's for photo printing, hardware, software, or whatever. Thanks again. I'll be looking for your update post.

Ed

[jeaniesa]

Jill, Thanks so much for sharing your findings with us. It is certainly of great interest to me and I'm sure many others. Looking forward to your future reviews. -Jeanie

[Jill]

oops!

First, Thank you for the positive feedback and I will get back with the other print info soon.....I need to correct a mistake, I said Printshop.com.....should have said Printroom.com! Sorry, I am going back to fix but for those that have already read it the wrong way, SORRY!

[Rick]

Jill,

As far as your first post, I think you did great on a subject I've been wondering for a bit.

The thought of working with an online printer never even occured to me. I might go ahead and submit a photo to them verses the ones that are here in town and see how they compare both in quality and cost.


Thanks!


Rick

[Jill]

I just recieved a new group of photos from printroom.com. They were printed on the matte paper and with not very good results I am afraid. Printed on a no name paper/little lightweight. They were all just a bit blurry with a yellow cast. I am using the same photos for all comparing. They say they guarantee all photos but, to much of a pain to reorder and wait if you had a customer waiting...so I will stick to glossy with them.
I did recieve back one print from shutterfly.com. It was on fuji crystal archive paper/good weight to it and great color/sharp and in focus! Also on glossy paper.
Almost all these company's have free prints with free sign up so I would love to hear how anyone elses comparisons worked out!
I just read somewere that Walmart and Sams club are going to be offering digital printing from the stores...has anyone else used this service from them.....I think the price from walmart was 20 cents per 4x6....???

(it is amazing we are all from different states with the same interests! I love this forum!)

[DJ Dubovsky]

Are there still more comparisons coming in yet? I am curious to which one you will finally go with as the best for the buck and time. I didn't realize the paper would make so much a difference in the color. Quality yes but color? Very interesting tidbit to keep in mind.

I just got my 16x20 print back from the local 60 Minutes photo and I got very good results from them. They matched the colors surprisingly well from my CD jpeg. For real large prints I will go back to them. The cost was $25 (with tax) which was actually the lowest quote I got.

I am really considering trying some of these online places but I haven't found one that does the big photos (Over 8x10). I am eager to hear all the comparisons you make on this subject. Thanks for sharing it with us Jill.
DJ

[jeaniesa]

Ofoto.com offers both 16x20 ($14.99) and 20x30 ($19.99) size prints. I've only ever used them for 4x6 (personal stuff) and have been pleased with the results, but I haven't compared them with anyone. Sometimes you don't see the faults until you see a higher quality, so I should really test out some of the other sites too. Anyway, thought you'd want to know about that one DJ. -Jeanie

[DJ Dubovsky]

Thanks Jeanie,
I swear I looked on Ofoto and didn't see anything over 8x10. I will have to check again. The prices look pretty good too. Worth checking into.
DJ

[jeaniesa]

The large sizes on Ofoto are fairly new, so perhaps you looked before they added them. (Just in case you thought you were losing it. ) -Jeanie

[Ed_L]

Hi Gang,

I know things haven't been real good lately, but I was wondering if anyone had anything else to say about print quality. BTW, what output resolution are you giving them for the prints? I'm a little curious since I haven't had any done yet. Do they let you know what they want? And will they do color matching?

Ed

[Jill]

Hi to all,
I recieved ofoto's pictures back and they were processed in less than a day! Very good quality Kodak paper and the color match was excellent. Nice and sharp picture. I had them printed on glossy and didn't have them crop to fit...I keep my pics at 200-300dpi. Now that I have compared these three companies, so far my favorite is 1-dotphoto...reasons: cost and quality 2-ofoto....quality and speed 3-shutterfly...quality and speed 4-printroom....now that I have compared I am not really happy with the color shift and the pictures are a bit fuzzy (could be the matte paper).
I still have lots of free prints to compare with so I will be checking back in!
I also have a slow computer but these companies have a fairly quick upload time (don't know how that works but it does!)
If you sign up with ofoto.com thru amazon.com you get a bunch of free prints plus half off etc....I hope some more of you give them a try to so we can figure out the best one! It is a lot of fun getting free prints in the mail! I am going to do a xmas card/picture and have them printed up to send out for xmas
Take care,

[Ed_L]

Wow! You sure answer quickly! Thanks very much for the update Jill. I'll take a look to see if I can find something to send to a couple of places. That was a *great* idea. Thanks again.

Ed

[DJ Dubovsky]

Ditto what Ed said Jill. You sure did a good job with this little research. We can all benifit from this one.
DJ