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Author Topic: Best online photo printer?  (Read 6839 times)

The View

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Best online photo printer?
« on: February 24, 2008, 01:04:18 am »

Where do you go when you have to print your photos online?

There are so many online photo printers, but which one do you choose when you go for quality - good print on good paper?

Thanks.



PS: I'm rephrasing an older question, which had been phrased incorrectly.
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kaelaria

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Best online photo printer?
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2008, 01:35:39 am »

For anything but fine art print, I love mpix.  Easy to use site, mostly very good prices, wide range of products, lightjet output on great paper, EXCELLENT turn around time and shipping costs.

WHCC also gave me great results, but the prices are a little more, and the site isn't as easy to use.

EZprints has given me hit or miss quality in the past.  I used to use them for larger prints because of the price - but sometimes there would be obvious horizontal lines - like no one actually checked it before shipping.

I have never ever had a quality issue from mpix, and every order has been 100% perfect.  They are so far the only vendor I can say that about.
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The View

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Best online photo printer?
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2008, 06:16:27 pm »

Thanks for the recommendation!

I'll check this out.


PS: How long was the shipping to Kazakhstan?
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kaelaria

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Best online photo printer?
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2008, 07:51:41 pm »

It has took far too long.  New delivery worker sister of asshole neighbor Nushuktan Tulyiagby.
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fennario

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Best online photo printer?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2008, 12:27:00 am »

mPix and Pictopia

mPix:
sRGB JPEG only
ICC Profiles (have to email to get... ensures most current version)
Large range of products, metalic paper, etc.
No custom sizes
Good pricing

Pictopia:
While mPix is very good, I prefer Pictopia's prints.
aRGB is accepted (you can use their ICC Profiles as well)
TIFFs are accepted (8bit only)
ICC Profiles available for download
Custom sizes
Minimum size is 8x10
Limited products (no buttons, metallic paper, calendars, etc.)
More expensive
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The View

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Best online photo printer?
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2008, 08:15:31 pm »

Quote
mPix and Pictopia

mPix:
sRGB JPEG only
ICC Profiles (have to email to get... ensures most current version)
Large range of products, metalic paper, etc.
No custom sizes
Good pricing

Pictopia:
While mPix is very good, I prefer Pictopia's prints.
aRGB is accepted (you can use their ICC Profiles as well)
TIFFs are accepted (8bit only)
ICC Profiles available for download
Custom sizes
Minimum size is 8x10
Limited products (no buttons, metallic paper, calendars, etc.)
More expensive
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=177901\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks. I'll look into Pictopia, too. Great they accept TIFF.

Two things:

1. I have never heard of aRGB.

2. How do you work with ICC profiles?
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fennario

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« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2008, 08:41:39 pm »

Quote
Thanks. I'll look into Pictopia, too. Great they accept TIFF.

Two things:

1. I have never heard of aRGB.

2. How do you work with ICC profiles?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178122\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

aRGB stands for Adobe RGB which has a larger gamut than sRGB.  On dSLRs you can usually set the default colorspace for JPEG as aRGB, which, if you shoot RAW, will also have the side effect of making your histogram more representative of what it will look like in ACR (decrease JPEG contrast and sharpening as well to increase accuracy).

The ICC profiles are specific to printer/paper combinations and should be checked to ensure that you have the most current version.  These profiles represent the gamut which that specific paper/printer is able to reproduce. You can use them in a couple of ways, but the most common is to "soft proof" your images.  In doing so you are able to determine what the print will actually look like once printed vs. onscreen.

You can also convert your image to a specific ICC profile which will align your image with the printer/paper's gamut.  There are a couple of options within the "convert to profile" menu, the most common being either relative or perceptual rendering, both with black point compensation.  Do not use "maintain RGB numbers."  Once converted, save the image, making sure to embed the profile within the saved image.
« Last Edit: February 28, 2008, 08:47:40 pm by fennario »
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The View

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Best online photo printer?
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2008, 01:12:40 am »

Quote
aRGB stands for Adobe RGB which has a larger gamut than sRGB.  On dSLRs you can usually set the default colorspace for JPEG as aRGB, which, if you shoot RAW, will also have the side effect of making your histogram more representative of what it will look like in ACR (decrease JPEG contrast and sharpening as well to increase accuracy).

The ICC profiles are specific to printer/paper combinations and should be checked to ensure that you have the most current version.  These profiles represent the gamut which that specific paper/printer is able to reproduce. You can use them in a couple of ways, but the most common is to "soft proof" your images.  In doing so you are able to determine what the print will actually look like once printed vs. onscreen.

You can also convert your image to a specific ICC profile which will align your image with the printer/paper's gamut.  There are a couple of options within the "convert to profile" menu, the most common being either relative or perceptual rendering, both with black point compensation.  Do not use "maintain RGB numbers."  Once converted, save the image, making sure to embed the profile within the saved image.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178128\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

So aRGB is Adobe1998.

Regarding the ICC profiles, can you do that out of Lightroom?

I have all my images in the Lightroom database.
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