Ordering digital prints... any recommendations?

[tvp2003]

Want to get some standard 4x6 digital prints made, maybe some enlargements as well. Any recommendations on where to go? We usually just go to Superstore, and the quality seems adequate, but I'm wonrdering if I can't get better results elsewhere.

Lots of options these days; I think most of these have an online site as well as a photo kiosk in-store:

- Superstore
- Costco
- Walmart
- London Drugs
- Future Shop
- Blacks
- Others?

Also, is there any difference to uploading online versus doing them in store? I know that many years back, uploading online would mean they were processed differently (and back then yielded inferior photos). Any difference nowadays?

P.S. Did a search but the last thread was three years old, and I know that things have changed a little since then

[DownhillGoat]

Costco does a really good job.

Submit online and pick up in store. We got most of our wedding pictures (the ones off our camera at least) printed there.

[Russic]

I've heard good things about Costco as well. Personally I use Blacks for all mine (recommended by Neeper actually). One hour in-store pickup or 2 hour online and I've been blown away with the quality.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Russic

Personally I use Blacks for all mine (recommended by Neeper actually).

Forgot about Blacks. I used to use them when I worked downtown. Now it's just too far out of the way. Fantastic quality though.

[HOOT]

Costco

[tvp2003]

Thanks Looks like Costco is $0.19 each, Blacks is $0.29 (although it looks like they have a special where you can upgrade to 5x7 for free, which is a good deal).

Any others?

[Winsor_Pilates]

Just had some photobooks made at Costco and was really happy with them.
Quality was great and service was awesome.
They rushed our order because we had family from out of town and she threw away the first print because the print heads left really small streaks we would never have even noticed. Nice to see them take pride in the quality, even though they could have cut corners and we would have been none the wiser.

[GGG]

Costco in my opinion is the best of the cheap places.

Mpix is the best in quality I have used but their shipping makes it prohibitive unless you have a large order.

Ezprints is also good (in my opinion better than Costco) but again shipping costs you.

[Fobby]

London Drugs or Vistek gets my vote...

[Russic]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Just had some photobooks made at Costco and was really happy with them.
Quality was great and service was awesome.
They rushed our order because we had family from out of town and she threw away the first print because the print heads left really small streaks we would never have even noticed. Nice to see them take pride in the quality, even though they could have cut corners and we would have been none the wiser.

Interesting you'd mention this. I talked to one of the professionals at The Camera Store downtown and he mentioned that he uses costco for his cheap printing because they don't release pictures if there is an error on their end or if something doesn't look right.

[pylon]

I always go to London Drugs. I like their in store user interface a lot more than anywhere else. Plus most of their places can turn a set of prints around in an hour. So usually I just go to the mall next door, or run a couple errands and they are ready to go. Never had an issue with quality with them.

[tvp2003]

Wanted to bump this thread for a couple of reasons:

- Placed an order through costco.ca and they were ready by noon the next day. Very impressed with their print quality.

- Their price for online 4x6 prints is actually $0.15; however, from today until Jan 2, they are only $0.10 each!

- Also, by setting up an account online, I got 25 free prints

[cral12]

A 5 yr bump (rather than creating a new thread)
- any updated recommendations - don't tent to print out pics so often these days, but useful this time of year
Thx

[darockwilder]

Originally Posted by cral12

A 5 yr bump (rather than creating a new thread)
- any updated recommendations - don't tent to print out pics so often these days, but useful this time of year
Thx

London Drugs maybe? I was going to use Walmart but their online upload service wasn't in use and the only way to get them to make prints was to go in store. I ended up using London Drugs, they were ready later the same day.

[REDVAN]

Can anyone notice the difference between having them done, and buying a decent printer and doing it yourself?

I suspect in the end, the cost is about the same per print (ink is expensive, so is the paper). But is the quality any better from LD/Blacks/Costco/etc? I personally haven't had any printed up at a shop in a couple years so I don't have any to compare to- but am always happy with what comes out of my printer at home.

[BlackArcher101]

I used to print my own with a dedicated Canon photo printer and always thought the images were sharper (than say Costco, walmart, etc), but on par with a print shop.

However, in the end it was much more expensive. I didn't do a lot of printing, so the ink dried up. Then you are looking at over $100 to buy new ink, so my $/photo was way higher than just getting an actual print shop to do it.

If you want to give it a go, I've got a printer I'm not using, just needs ink

[nik-]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

Can anyone notice the difference between having them done, and buying a decent printer and doing it yourself?

I suspect in the end, the cost is about the same per print (ink is expensive, so is the paper). But is the quality any better from LD/Blacks/Costco/etc? I personally haven't had any printed up at a shop in a couple years so I don't have any to compare to- but am always happy with what comes out of my printer at home.

How many photos are you printing at home? The number of photos you'd need to print to even break even for the cost of the printer would be close to 2000. Assuming you're saving 20 cents on each 4x6.

[DownhillGoat]

Yeah I used to do them all myself. Quality was good, but certainly didn't save anything after ink, especially for 10-20 cents a print now.