Printing Instructions

As you know, I offer to you (for sale) a disc of all of your photos that I take along with the copyrights to print them.  I do this to save my customers money because I'm a mom myself and know how expensive photos can be! I struggle with this a little because when I hand the disc over to you, I lose some quality control with printing. Therefore, I thought I would share with you some hints and tips on how to get the best prints you possibly can.

Without getting too technical, I will just tell you that my photos are set up for printing with my online vendor. I have actually downloaded their printer profile and I set up my editing for their lab. Therefore, you will most certainly get different results depending on where you go for printing. I will discuss printing locations later, but now for the basic rules that I follow/suggest for printing:

1. Turn off any auto color correct feature if your printer has one.  If you do not turn this option off, it will mess up all of the editing and proofing that I do for you.

2. I suggest that you print on a matte or lustre finish.  You get less fingerprints and the prints have better visual quality versus the glossy finish.

3. If you print to a Walgreens, Wal-Mart, or Target or any other drug store or chain like that, you will need to lighten your photos before printing them.  I’ve seen some of my customer prints from Walgreens and they look very dark.

Now for printing location information:

My recommendation is to use my online vendor.  My photos are not only tailored to their lab, but they also have trained staff that looks at the photos and makes adjustments if need be so that your prints come out superb!  They are also very fast in delivery. I do not make hardly any money on this as their fees, my website vendor fees, and PayPal fees are all built into the costs.  The lab is called Mpix and they print in matte finish.  You can purchase lustre for an additional cost.  I don’t feel it is necessary.

However, if you want to print locally and save money, here is what I recommend:

I did an experiment.  I blew up a photo of my daughter to an 8x10 and sent it to three different labs in town that are most commonly used by photographers.  They will remain nameless, except for one...COSTCO!  Folks, if you have a membership or know someone that has one; this is where you want to go for prints.  They use the same equipment that the other labs have, but theirs is newer and they do a great job for such cheap prices!  And they are one-hour, so you can have your prints FAST!  Their (Costco) prints were just as good as other labs in town that charge a lot more.  No, they did not pay me to say this nor do I get any royalties.  When I print locally, this is where I go.  They offer everything from prints to canvases and photo books.  They are wonderful and their customer service is outstanding. The only downfall is that wallets are printed by the sheet and you have to cut them out yourself. You must turn off auto correct feature when using them and choose lustre finish if you want it.

As always, should anyone have a problem with printing or have any questions, please contact me! 402-960-5053!  Thank you!

Instructions on how to order through my website

General printing instructions