Ordering Prints online

calex71

Has anyone used an online service for digital prints?
not sure how many ill need yet but definately in the region of 100+
images mostly in 4x6 but ive a handfull i want in 6x8

ive seen some sites like foto.com that offer a 50 free prints but theres
probably a catch i didnt see. Basically what im looking for is a reliable
good quality service. I did a search on this forum but strangly did find
anything.

Thanks

mike

Carrigman

Look no further: www.photobox.co.uk

nilhg

calex71 wrote: »

Has anyone used an online service for digital prints?
not sure how many ill need yet but definately in the region of 100+
images mostly in 4x6 but ive a handfull i want in 6x8

ive seen some sites like foto.com that offer a 50 free prints but theres
probably a catch i didnt see. Basically what im looking for is a reliable
good quality service. I did a search on this forum but strangly did find
anything.

Thanks

mike

I've used both photobox and foto and found both to be fine, as always with digital how close prints will be to what you see on your screen depends on your monitor and how it's calibrated.

If you have never had prints from any of these it might be worth getting a small sample done first. Photobox send out a calibration print with your first order which you can compare with your screen.

calex71

that was something that occured to me after i posted re: difference between screen and print. I have some i did myself a while ago so ill
compare the print to the screen in a bit.

What would you guys recommend for calibration of my screen? i dont think its too far off though to be honest.

thanks for advice so far

rymus

photobox.ie is all you'll need.

JMcL

Avoid foto.com for 6x4s they apply a pretty aggressive sharpening before printing. I'd go for Photobox for those. Foto are fine for larger sizes (A4/12x8 etc), and I just tried Aldi for a bunch of 12x8s and was happy with the results, though I can't comment on their smaller sizes.

For calibration, if you can stretch to a hardware solution this'd be the best bet. The Pantone Huey is supposed to be ok, and cheap, though Spyder 3 and Eye One are better though pricier (I have an Eye One Display 2 and it's excellent). If you can't strech to that, try Adobe Gamma (installed with Photoshop, or Quickgamma (free and does the same). They're better than nothing.

Fireman

I use bonusprint ( UK) all the time and never had a problem with there quality and very reasonable
check there website for prices

quilmore

pictures from photobox were dull and high contrasted
aldi pictures are bright but a bit too much and colours are totally off (compared with other printers and with a calibrated Sony CRT)

I've just got some 8x12 from foto.com, I have to say that they are printed in the best and heaviest paper I've ever in the last decade (kodak royal)
colours are saturated (as they should be, nothing more, nothing less) and contrast is OK, may be to the strong end of the "still OK" rating

4 8x12 including delivery in a plastic giant blister where the pics are flat costed 6 euro

challengemaster

Would have to agree with the photobox prints being dull, the last 1-2 orders I got from them have been really really dark, and I've used a spyder3 to calibrate my monitor.. Not at all what they looked like here.

must try foto.

construct06

how do ye fare out with large orders from photobox. ive ordered recently but when coming to final purchase, only option for postage is courier which is 36 eur! a lot more than 2.50 eur...!

Anyone know there thresholds, weight restrictions etc....How wud u even know what cost wud be? is there a standard weight for 100 photos...?

photo_gaa

i like foto.com

12x8 prints 50 cents

here in wexford it will cost you 6 euro

12 prints online for the price of one images here in wexford

JMcL

construct06 wrote: »

how do ye fare out with large orders from photobox. ive ordered recently but when coming to final purchase, only option for postage is courier which is 36 eur! a lot more than 2.50 eur...!

Anyone know there thresholds, weight restrictions etc....How wud u even know what cost wud be? is there a standard weight for 100 photos...?

They're a pain, I've been caught by that a few times, it makes a mockery of some of their "offers". There's no real way of knowing unfortunately in advance. Basically anything over 2kg they'll only offer courier delivery at €36, I've asked them why they can't split the packaging or offer something more reasonable, but surprise, surprise got nowhere. Their quality is great, but I'm tending to use them less these days for this and this alone.

DaireQuinlan

JMcL wrote: »

They're a pain, I've been caught by that a few times, it makes a mockery of some of their "offers". There's no real way of knowing unfortunately in advance. Basically anything over 2kg they'll only offer courier delivery at €36, I've asked them why they can't split the packaging or offer something more reasonable, but surprise, surprise got nowhere. Their quality is great, but I'm tending to use them less these days for this and this alone.

Yeah, bigtime. I put a big order in a couple of weeks ago when they had 10x8's and 12x8's at about 75c each. Great value, got about 40 or 50 prints done :-) The number I got done though was completely dictated by the above, I just added them in batches of 10 until the postage went from 3 euros to 36 euros, then subtracted them one by one until it went back down again. It -is- a little bit stupid :rolleyes:

-edit-

Would have to agree with the photobox prints being dull, the last 1-2 orders I got from them have been really really dark, and I've used a spyder3 to calibrate my monitor.. Not at all what they looked like here.

I've never had a problem with this, and my monitor is fairly roughly calibrated at best (did it myself by eye). Are you sure you're converting to sRGB if neccesary before saving the image out and uploading ?