DS Colour Labs - any good? +++UPDATE+++

redmonkee

redmonkee

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PHILIP
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I've heard the odd recommendation for these, so took a look at their site and was amazed at how cheap their prices were.

This left me wondering what the quality is like. I notice they use glossy and lustre paper. Anyone know which paper produces the best prints.

I currently print all my sports images which I sell to parents. I use the Epson R2400 and Epson Premium Semi Gloss stock, the results are superb but the inks can be a little on the expensive side. How do the prints from DS colour labs compare to these?

Cheers

Phil
 
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yes. one of the best.

don't know how it'll compare to your home prints, but give them a shot... if you like gloss prints, the pearl process is expensive but pretty awesome.
 
They've got a special offer on the pearl prints at the moment, £1.10 for an 18x12!

Which paper produces the best prints? Depends what you're printing in some respects... If you're intending on the images to be framed, gloss can be a bit shiny and coupled with glass can cause a lot of reflections, so lustre/matt is a better option.

At the prices, why not order some of each and compare them to your home printing, then you can make the decision.
 
Works out as cheap for me to use DSCL as use my home printer! (I usually print A3+)

Very good quality so long as you prep your files right so read the techie stuff first especially the bit about sizing, they won't check you have sized right but just print it and send it back. It's all printed on Fuji paper and just looks and feels great :)

I now have actions setup to size and colour profile for DSCL so I know they are right before I send them.

I really like that I can upload at night and if I upload on a Monday night I know I should get the prints on Wednesday. Love their upload service.
 
Alison, is your action in Lightroom? If so could you share a few details?

As for DSCL, they are superb. The prints are of great quality!
 
Agree with Ali. If you're set up correctly they're great. Truly brilliant quality for the money.
 
redmonkee said:
What's the quality like on the cheapest 6x4 prints in either glossy or lustre?
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bloody good. to put it simply :P

it's the same paper and process as their larger prints. the lustre/matte (which ordering system you use defines what they call it, all same thing though) is outstanding, I'm generally not such a fan of gloss, but the pearl is great too, never used their standard gloss as I offer matte as standard.
 
In lightroom when you export there is a dialogue box to change the colour profile - change it to the one supplied by DSCL on their website.
 
tiler65 said:
In lightroom when you export there is a dialogue box to change the colour profile - change it to the one supplied by DSCL on their website.
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Sorry, its really dim question time. Would that then mean that the photos would print out and look the same as the do on my calbrated monitor?
 
menthel said:
Sorry, its really dim question time. Would that then mean that the photos would print out and look the same as the do on my calbrated monitor?
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That's the idea, yes.

If you take a look at their profiles page, there is a link to send them an email requesting a sample profile print.
They will send you the print and then you can match that the to image that they supply on the site.
Hopefully they should look the same;)
 
ecoleman said:
That's the idea, yes.

If you take a look at their profiles page, there is a link to send them an email requesting a sample profile print.
They will send you the print and then you can match that the to image that they supply on the site.
Hopefully they should look the same;)
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If I received the profile print from them, how would I make sure my monitor displays the image correctly. On my Imac the only setting I can adjust is the brightness:thinking:
 
ecoleman said:
That's the idea, yes.

If you take a look at their profiles page, there is a link to send them an email requesting a sample profile print.
They will send you the print and then you can match that the to image that they supply on the site.
Hopefully they should look the same;)
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Sounds like a pain! I already have my monitor calibrated with my spyder pro 3!
 
TBH you might be making a mountain out of a molehill....

I've got a calibrated monitor, I outputted from LR using the default colour, finished editing in Photoshop (clone, etc), then saved the JPG at max quality, sent to DSCL, and it came back nearly exactly the same. And I used the "don't crop or colour manage my prints" option as well :)
 
I had a fairly large order of prints go missing in the post, gave them a call and their response was far from inspiring! Basically - tough luck. I asked if they could re-run the order, the answer was a blunt no.

Ive had similar problems with Loxley but revieved the missing prints a few days later.

You do get what you pay for.
 
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Yes. My iMac is also calibrated with the Spyder 3. I wasn't suggesting that you would have to make any more changes, but if you wanted to ensure that the prints would match your screen you could ask them to send you a sample print which you could compare with the onscreen image.

The idea is that the print and the screen should match if your screen is calibrated correctly.

If you don't want to do that, nobody is forcing you to. :razz:
 
ecoleman said:
Yes. My iMac is also calibrated with the Spyder 3. I wasn't suggesting that you would have to make any more changes, but if you wanted to ensure that the prints would match your screen you could ask them to send you a sample print which you could compare with the onscreen image.

The idea is that the print and the screen should match if your screen is calibrated correctly.

If you don't want to do that, nobody is forcing you to. :razz:
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Ooh, razzy are we! ;) That is good to know. I probably need to recalibrate anyways and I will ask them for the test print to see how I get on! Thanks all!
 
I had a fairly large order of prints go missing in the post, gave them a call and there response was far from inspiring! Basically it was tough luck. I asked if they could re-rum the order the, the answer was a blunt no.
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That goes against the Distance selling regulations. It is the merchants responsibility to ensure that your goods are delivered.
You should have taken it further. Also you can chargeback a credit or debit card for non receipt even if the sale is under £100.
 
ecoleman said:
That goes against the Distance selling regulations. It is the merchants responsibility to ensure that your goods are delivered.
You should have taken it further. Also you can chargeback a credit or debit card for non receipt even if the sale is under £100.
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I didnt know you had a come back with debit cards and also thought credit cards only applied to orders over £250.

It was last year so a little late to worry about it now, needless to say ive not used them since though!
 
Matt989 said:
I had a fairly large order of prints go missing in the post, gave them a call and their response was far from inspiring! Basically - tough luck. I asked if they could re-run the order, the answer was a blunt no.

Ive had similar problems with Loxley but revieved the missing prints a few days later.

You do get what you pay for.
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from their FAQ:

Q:What happens if my prints don’t arrive?
A: If your prints don’t arrive or maybe lost in the post? If after 10days your order doesn’t arrive we will reprint your order at an agreed cost with you and DSCL normally at 50% of the original order value.


if it had been sent recorded or special delivery, you would have a claim to make against RM. however cheaper delivery methods don't provide this.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
from their FAQ:

Q:What happens if my prints don’t arrive?
A: If your prints don’t arrive or maybe lost in the post? If after 10days your order doesn’t arrive we will reprint your order at an agreed cost with you and DSCL normally at 50% of the original order value.


if it had been sent recorded or special delivery, you would have a claim to make against RM. however cheaper delivery methods don't provide this.
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As mentioned above, IF you're ordering as a private customer, you'd be covered by the DSR... The DSR doesn't apply to businesses however, and their terms and conditions would govern the sale.
 
itsdavedotnet said:
from their FAQ:

Q:What happens if my prints don’t arrive?
A: If your prints don’t arrive or maybe lost in the post? If after 10days your order doesn’t arrive we will reprint your order at an agreed cost with you and DSCL normally at 50% of the original order value.


if it had been sent recorded or special delivery, you would have a claim to make against RM. however cheaper delivery methods don't provide this.
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Hmmm that's pretty off putting - every other company I've ever had stuff not turn up from has replaced it FOC.

And it's not you that would have a claim to make against the PO - it's the sender, ie DSCL.
 
Their t&c are against the law. It would be for them to claim against Royal Mail. If they can not prove delivery, they have to re-supply FOC.
This would apply to B2B sales as well.

yes you can chargeback a debit card, but only for Non-Delivery, you do not have that fallback for faulty or not as described goods. The £100 limit on credit cards is for faulty or not as described goods.
 
menthel said:
Alison, is your action in Lightroom? If so could you share a few details?

As for DSCL, they are superb. The prints are of great quality!
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My action sits in CS3 because I wrote it before I got LR! lol

Basically it just resizes and applies the correct colour profile to a batch when either processing via Bridge or outputting via LR.

If you notice on import on LR you can apply presets and on output you can apply actions so I output as a JPEG and apply "resize to DSCL 14x10" action and it's all done :) I'm a big fan of batch processing :thumbs:
 
Thanks for that. I am just getting used to Lightroom myself. I also really need to start actually getting some of my photos printed! Not that there are that many that warrant it.
 
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When you start out with 1200 shots from a wedding and have two to do in a week you soon learn that batch processing is your friend. :)
 
AliB said:
When you start out with 1200 shots from a wedding and have two to do in a week you soon learn that batch processing is your friend. :)
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Even from my 400 odd piccies on my infrequent birding trips its invaluable. Now to take a photo worth printing, mounting and framing!
 
I use DSCL all the time and haven't had a problem with them. Usually I get a three day turnaround and always use a signed delivery method - special, recorded or courier.
The one problem I did have last year was an order that was meant to be sent by special delivery but wasn't at their end and never arrived at my end. Another print run was done FOC and received within 10 days of my original call to them.
 
Just received my test prints from DSCL and OMG.... stunning quality:clap:

Colours spot on and sharpness superb :thumbs:

Ordered Wednesday night received today at 12, now that's good service.

My on issue is that I had them delivered to work, to simulate them getting delivered to a client and the invoice was left in the parcel showing DSCL prices which worked out at 50p a print. On my website I am charging £10 for said print.

Is there a way I can get DSCL to send the invoice separately to my home address so that the client will not see the print costs?
 
redmonkee said:
Just received my test prints from DSCL and OMG.... stunning quality:clap:

Colours spot on and sharpness superb :thumbs:

Ordered Wednesday night received today at 12, now that's good service.

My on issue is that I had them delivered to work, to simulate them getting delivered to a client and the invoice was left in the parcel showing DSCL prices which worked out at 50p a print. On my website I am charging £10 for said print.

Is there a way I can get DSCL to send the invoice separately to my home address so that the client will not see the print costs?
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yep, just put something along the lines of 'SEPARATE INVOICE' in the notes section (the exact text is in the text above where you enter postage details), at least on ordering method 3. not sure if it works in method 1, but they're phasing that out anyway.
 
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itsdavedotnet said:
yep, just put something along the lines of 'SEPARATE INVOICE' in the notes section (the exact text is in the text above where you enter postage details), at least on ordering method 3. not sure if it works in method 1, but they're phasing that out anyway.
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Cheers for that :thumbs:

What are they phasing out? Separate invoicing?
 
redmonkee said:
Cheers for that :thumbs:

What are they phasing out? Separate invoicing?
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phasing out ordering system one, for the newer web browser based systems
 
Seperate invoice or not, the packaging has DSCL all over it and easily go on said web page yourself to check prices. I always use them and very very impressed but quality price and customer service (when Ive needed it). My only grip would be I wish they would accept paypal. Ive emailed to ask and they say if thats the demand they will. We need more people to request this payment feature.
 
asterix said:
Seperate invoice or not, the packaging has DSCL all over it and easily go on said web page yourself to check prices. I always use them and very very impressed but quality price and customer service (when Ive needed it). My only grip would be I wish they would accept paypal. Ive emailed to ask and they say if thats the demand they will. We need more people to request this payment feature.
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I'm not fussed about paypal, it makes it easier for my accounting if it's a separate invoice / transaction every time really.

What would speed life up is having accounts that can retain addresses and bank account details for billing though, rather than having to enter them every time...
 
My address is is held, I just have to re-enter my card details, which I am very happy to do. I also go to collect sometimes and it is nothing like what you imagine a print shop to be like. Good service from a top shop.
 
I've not used these yet, but i intend giving them a go, i recently had some prints done from Loxley which i thought were very impressive, along with excellent service :)
 
I've used DSCL a few times now, perfect colour matches and super speedy delivery.

Cheap as chips too :thumbs:

I had an amazing deal on a set of 18x12 on pearl paper.
 
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