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Photo Printing

A_Lee

A_Lee

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Does anyone know where in SF is a great place to get a photo printed professionally?
I am leaning towards Oscars Photo Lab as I've heard a lot of good things about them, but I am entirely open to suggestions!

I want to get this printed and mounted in a 20x24:
5022312132_026368c909.jpg
 
Not in SF, but I've used whcc.com before. Free shipping fast turn around. Had a 72x12 printed and shipped to me in two days. Then my friend had it mounted to a piece of PVC at a sign shop.
 
Okay, silly question time:

How do I know that when I get a picture printed, if it will be all pixelated (and distorted) when enlarged to say, a 16"x20" print?

Should I go into cs5 and "re-size" my file (what file should I use? tiff? jpeg?) to 16"x20", and bump the dpi before submitting for printing?

Or should I just submit my original 5mb jpeg?

My original image:
5573x3716
5.9MB

After I resized image to 16"x20"
11998x8000
20.4MB

Does the latter image have an advantage when printed?
 
With whcc.com you have to resize it to the right size if you want it printed that way. It needs to be the right size in inches and dpi (I think it might be 300 dpi). It will say what DPI it needs to be in on the site.
 
printing method matters.

Back many years ago when digital printing via inkjet/laser etc wasn't that great, I got a digital photo print made. I don't know the name of the process, but I do recall that the process actually involved projecting the image onto actual photo paper. The result...I couldn't even detect the slightest hint that the photo was taken digitally. It looked like a genuine film print.
 
iani said:
With whcc.com you have to resize it to the right size if you want it printed that way. It needs to be the right size in inches and dpi (I think it might be 300 dpi). It will say what DPI it needs to be in on the site.
Click to expand...

Okay, thanks Ian!
So with whcc.com, move my high resolution jpeg photo into photoshop, and resize to 16x20 inches, then export in 300dpi (on their site).
When I resize a jpeg, is their any degradation of image quality?
 
if you need JPG, convert as the last manipulation you do before the final save.
IMO, if they are a worthwhile company, they will accept an uncompressed format like a tiff.
 
If you do go with WHCC, go to photofocus.com (pretty good podcast if you are interested in photography) and click on their ad on the right. Gets you 5 free 8x10 prints. I have only used mpix before but I am surprised that whcc doesn't take tiff's. I would avoid going to jpeg if possible.
 
Resize to 16x20 or whatever is necessary and resave it as a JPEG. While TIFF has less degradation than JPEG compression, the size difference of your enlargement isn't enough to notice. There is a noticeable difference when you enlarge the print to 600% of it's normal size, which you haven't hit w/your resizing.

BTW, what dpi are you resizing the picture to? Looking at the:

My original image:
5573x3716
5.9MB

After I resized image to 16"x20"
11998x8000
20.4MB

Your source image at 300 dpi is equivalent to 18.6x12.4 and your resized image comes to 40x26.7.

I use genuine fractals when I have to resize an image vs. CS3/4/5 at 300 dpi ("print resolution") and submit to whcc when I need a print sent out to someone. I've done so at 16x24 using a 6MP images from the D70 as well as 12MP images from the D2X. I've even seen some images first hand of an enlargement of D2Hs file (4MP resized to 24x30) and it actually looks quite film like in that instance.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've placed an order for a 16"x20" print, and it should be here tomorrow. I was very satisfied with even just the quality of the test prints they shipped me a couple days ago. Great company to deal with.
 
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