Budget printing or send away?

[JohnN]

Hi,

I'm thinking of gathering up some of my better shots and putting them up in the hallway - most likely at around A4 which I think will be big enough for most things.

What path would you guys take bearing in mind its a tall hallway so will fit quite a few and I don;t want to blow a fortune on either prints or frames (not that I've found any thing for this part yet either!).

Anyway any advice appreciated.

Cheers,

John

 

[Irishman]

For prints go to DS colour labs and for frames somewhere like Ikea

 

[realspeed]

I prefer to print my own photographs as I consider it is the final part of taking a photo as part of my hobby. No doubt if I was doing photography as a business time might dictate otherwise and resort to a lab to do the prints

 

[dizidav]

I prefer to print my own photographs as I consider it is the final part of taking a photo as part of my hobby. No doubt if I was doing photography as a business time might dictate otherwise and resort to a lab to do the prints

 

[JohnN]

Thanks all, I think I probably prefer to use labs, and at what looks like 65p an image thats hard to beat! I do get wht you mean about the final stage of the process though.

 

[dizidav]

Also if you do it yourself if you are unhappy about how the image looks, you can reprocess and print straightaway.

 

[Paul Bennett]

If you have ""The Range" anywhere near you give them a look for frames. £1.90 for frames big enough to take a mounted A4.

 

[JohnN]

Aye David, true - but I would have to but a decent printer, decent paper and keep it inked, but yes you;re right - that 65p is hard to beat though and unless its awful I don;t think I'm picky enough to notice.

Thanks Paul, it seems we do have one pretty close - I'd never heard of them, but the A4 certificate frame looks okay on the site.

 

[viewfromthenorth]

It might just be me, but when I'm looking to display my best work (home or other venues) I **personally** look for the best possible quality printing and framing rather than the cheapest. But I know from experience that buying lots of frames can get expensive (try putting on an exhibition!!!) nevertheless I'd take a good quality frame over a cheap one any day.

 

[ChrisR]

It's worth doing a test print as you might be surprised how much it differs from your expectation from a screen viewing.

On framing (or rather not), I use a clip frame (exactly A4 size) for £1 from Wilkinsons for shots that I hang on a temporary basis (eg for evaluation). For longer term use, I'd always use a mount, but have found a few of the Ikea frames quite good.

I also sometimes crop to 10*8, seems to work better than A4, and quite a lot of frames and mounts are cut for that. Should cost the same as A4...

 

[J.D.]

Thanks all, I think I probably prefer to use labs, and at what looks like 65p an image thats hard to beat! I do get wht you mean about the final stage of the process though.

DSCL are well regarded and I've had good results with their c-type prints, but for those special shots that I'd want to frame I'd recommend The Print Space. At A4 the cost increase isn't massive, and they have a good range of papers, which can make all the difference.

Worth spending that little extra IMO to get the right printing process and paper for the image.