Best place to get high quality prints of digital pics?

[LoneWolf121188]

I normally never print off the pics I've taken, I just leave em on my comp. However, I now need six 4x6 prints printed out using some very high-quality method, and I don't know where to go. They will be framed and displayed, and I need em to last. Cost isn't TOO much of an issue, quality is key. I'd also like to get em fairly quickly. I figure there's better places than those Kodak kiosks or Wallgreens, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[crfracer290]

The Kodak Kiosks at places like Walgreens and CVS, while very easy, do not have the greatest possible quality. One option would be to send out your pictures to Kodak and have them print them, you can get this service at Walgreens or CVS. Another would be to have the digital print done on the One Hour machine in store, that is if the machine is capable if digital prints. The reason that the Kodak Kiosks are not to best option for top notch digital prints is because in side that large machine is a rather small, simple Kodak photo printer, which is not handleing high resolutions very well and will sometimes display your prints very pixelated.

My suggestion would be to find a store that has a newer One Hour machine that is capable of digital prints and have them do it. That should get your the highest quality and it is alot quicker than sending them off for a Kodak service.

[XxNightfirexX]

^^^ Agree 100%. I ran a photo lab in a store for 2 years, and I can guarentee using a lab that uses newer digital equipment, run by the lab techs, will get you far better quality than the DIY kiosks. Most of the kiosks use nothing more than a bigger version of the photo printers you can pick up for $100. The digital systems used in our store labs were $10k high res printers that rival the quality of prints from negatives.

Sending your pics out to be printed will also get you quality prints, but having dealt with two different outside photo contracters, I'ld advise against it if your pics are very special, or irreplacable. It's a far too common issue, with your disk/pics changing hands as many times as they would, losses do occur. I know the ones we sent out went through the hands of 4 transporters, a shipper and reciever, and god knows how many people's hands at the contractor's facility.

Also from my experience, kodak equipment produces higher quality prints than fuji equipment, so you might want to take that into account when choosing a lab to print them.

[pcmaker401]

lol...on the front page it said "Best place to get high...":clap:

ahem...well I send my photos to Clark Color Labs..I dunno if they are high quality or not, but they send the pics back quickly and seem to be pretty good imo.

[crfracer290]

Yeah, at the moment I am working in the Phot Lab of CVS Pharmacy. Even though our old POS machine cannot print digitals, I know of a location near us that can and the quality if far better.

Its true, the printers for the Kodak Kiosks are no different than the ones from Office Depot besides the fact that they use ribbon ink instead of cartridges.

As for sending them out, what I reccomend customers to do is use the Kiosk to save their pictures from a memory card to a CD and then send out the CD. That way, if it does get lossed/damaged you have only lossed 299 for the Cd and you still have the pictures on your card.

[theELVISCERATOR]

But who cant put their own pictures onto CD from mem card at home? That way it only cost you what a nickel?

[hafa]

Heh, like pcmaker401, I found the way this displayed on the home page...intriguing...

Check around with your local professional photo processing shops to find one which will print out digital images to photographic paper. The color saturation, clarity, sharpness and longevity will be excellent.

[LoneWolf121188]

I ended up going to walgreens. They had a Fuji printer, but the pics all came out great. :shrug:

[ctrl_alt_del_]

IMAGESTATION.com from Sony - I get incredible pictures, mostly $.10 each and sometimes free shipping. It is awesome and if you like you can pick it up at CVS within an hour.