Hi all,
I've not used commercial printing facilities before, but would like a few pictures printed to give as gifts. First of all I'm trying to select the place to do it. Boots seem to use photobox.co.uk, and looking at the website there are a lot of options, and they seem OK (Which? best buy, apparently!). However on this forum many people seem to recommend DS color Labs who I've never heard of before. In brief, what are the main differences I can expect between the major high street names catering for consumers and the likes of DSCL?
I have a Canon MP610 printer and could probably get decent results on good paper, but only up to A4 size. Will a commercial facility provide exponentially better results?
Secondly, my images are 4272 x 2848, which at 300dpi is 14.24 x 9.493 inches. The nearest standard size for prints and mounts seems to be 15 x 10". What's the wisdom regarding scaling? I'm usually very particular about processing and sharpening my images exactly to the final output size. Is it customary for the print shop to scale your images up to the nearest size, or do they just leave a white border at the edge if the picture is smaller than 15x10"?
How about if I wanted to end up with something twice as big on the other hand? Is it common for you guys to scale an image up in Photoshop to something bigger than the original (but re-interpolating and sampling to remain at 300dpi)? If so, do you get good results with the final print, or is there a noticeable lack of clarity?
Finally, there seem to be lots of output options such as Poster print, Aluminium, canvas, Matt, Acrylic, etc. What are their relative merits and how do you choose between them?
Finally, most places offer a whole package of print, mount and frame. I'm just after traditional black frames and simple white mount. I notice people here seem to go to different places for the print, the mount and the frame. Any reason for this? Does it work out better value or something?
I realise these are a lot of questions. I would appreciate any input at all on the above as I'm just starting with this and have little prior knowledge.
thanks!
I've not used commercial printing facilities before, but would like a few pictures printed to give as gifts. First of all I'm trying to select the place to do it. Boots seem to use photobox.co.uk, and looking at the website there are a lot of options, and they seem OK (Which? best buy, apparently!). However on this forum many people seem to recommend DS color Labs who I've never heard of before. In brief, what are the main differences I can expect between the major high street names catering for consumers and the likes of DSCL?
I have a Canon MP610 printer and could probably get decent results on good paper, but only up to A4 size. Will a commercial facility provide exponentially better results?
Secondly, my images are 4272 x 2848, which at 300dpi is 14.24 x 9.493 inches. The nearest standard size for prints and mounts seems to be 15 x 10". What's the wisdom regarding scaling? I'm usually very particular about processing and sharpening my images exactly to the final output size. Is it customary for the print shop to scale your images up to the nearest size, or do they just leave a white border at the edge if the picture is smaller than 15x10"?
How about if I wanted to end up with something twice as big on the other hand? Is it common for you guys to scale an image up in Photoshop to something bigger than the original (but re-interpolating and sampling to remain at 300dpi)? If so, do you get good results with the final print, or is there a noticeable lack of clarity?
Finally, there seem to be lots of output options such as Poster print, Aluminium, canvas, Matt, Acrylic, etc. What are their relative merits and how do you choose between them?
Finally, most places offer a whole package of print, mount and frame. I'm just after traditional black frames and simple white mount. I notice people here seem to go to different places for the print, the mount and the frame. Any reason for this? Does it work out better value or something?
I realise these are a lot of questions. I would appreciate any input at all on the above as I'm just starting with this and have little prior knowledge.
thanks!
