Who do you use to develop your photos?

[DisneyDreamer08]

Just curious- who does everyone use to develop their Disney photos? I usually always use snapfish. However, we recently moved and there is a Walmart about 5 minutes away. When we returned from Disney, I spent hours on my computer editing my photos and I was quite proud of them. Last night, I uploaded all of them to Walmart.com and today I picked them up. I cannot believe how terrible they look! Most of them are horribly dark and many are out of focus. These photos looked so great on my computer and now, over $150 later, they look like crap!

I defintely need to re-order some of them so I was just wondering who other people used.

thanks!

 

[Disney Soldier]

Just curious- who does everyone use to develop their Disney photos? I usually always use snapfish. However, we recently moved and there is a Walmart about 5 minutes away. When we returned from Disney, I spent hours on my computer editing my photos and I was quite proud of them. Last night, I uploaded all of them to Walmart.com and today I picked them up. I cannot believe how terrible they look! Most of them are horribly dark and many are out of focus. These photos looked so great on my computer and now, over $150 later, they look like crap!

I defintely need to re-order some of them so I was just wondering who other people used.

thanks!

Have you ever used COSTCO? If you have one near you, it is worth having them do hard pictures. They print on Fuji paper and you can customize your printer profile, all of the instructions are on the website. I do not print for customers just because of what happened to you at wally world. I am not going to be responsible for a bad print job and give someone what appeared to be good shots on screen but the printer screws them up. I do sell the customer print rights and they are always satisfied. I do recommend COSTCO to everyone I shoot for on pro jobs or just stuff I do for family. I've had good experience at Wal-Mart and the photos I didn't like I didn't pay for. $150 is real high for picture printing. haow many images did you have done? Were there any specialties (8x10 or other than 4x6) that you had done? What kind of equipment are you using? I hope this helps a little and sorry for the novel. I believe they do mail order as well if you're not close to a store. Here's the web page:

http://www.costco.com/PhotoCenter/PhotoCenter.aspx

 

[Victoria]

Just curious- who does everyone use to develop their Disney photos? I usually always use snapfish. However, we recently moved and there is a Walmart about 5 minutes away. When we returned from Disney, I spent hours on my computer editing my photos and I was quite proud of them. Last night, I uploaded all of them to Walmart.com and today I picked them up. I cannot believe how terrible they look! Most of them are horribly dark and many are out of focus. These photos looked so great on my computer and now, over $150 later, they look like crap!

I defintely need to re-order some of them so I was just wondering who other people used.

thanks!

If you have a Target near you, I would recommend trying them. Target stores that have a real lab (not just those thermal printers attached to a self service kiosk) should be able to print you decent pictures. I have worked in a Target photo lab for 4 years but I used them to develop pics long before I worked there. I don't know if it is true of all WalMarts, but the one near me is notorious for how bad pictures come out.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Thanks guys. I do have a target near me, not sure about a Costco but I will defintely look into it.

Believe it or not, I had about 1000 photos! I know, crazy right? I had just gotten a new camera and was having a good time trying out the settings. Plus I went crazy in Toon Town since it most likely will not be there the next time I go back! All the photos I printed were standard 4x6.

thanks for the tips, I will look into both!

 

[Victoria]

Thanks guys. I do have a target near me, not sure about a Costco but I will defintely look into it.

Believe it or not, I had about 1000 photos! I know, crazy right? I had just gotten a new camera and was having a good time trying out the settings. Plus I went crazy in Toon Town since it most likely will not be there the next time I go back! All the photos I printed were standard 4x6.

thanks for the tips, I will look into both!

Just for the record, 1000 pics at Target will be 15 cents each on the Basic Kodak paper (which is plenty sufficient).

 

[KeithVH]

To the OP - I could buy that they are dark due to a problem with monitor calibration. But if they are sharp on your screen, the out of focus condition could mean a machine issue in printing. If you have a laptop, take some in and show what you have on the screen compared to the prints. Or just burn a few to a CD, which they can read right there, to show the manager the difference. If they're that bad, you should have a good case for reprints.

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

Thanks Keith. I was thinking of doing that. I sent an email with my order #. I'm hoping they refund me. I wouldn't mind returning them all it would just be a pain. I've already spent several hours sorting through them (they were out of order when I picked them up) and putting them in albums. When I was slowing going through them one by one I realized how terrible they really were. I even pulled up a few on my computer to see the difference and it is noticeable.

 

[rileyspaw]

I'm a scrapbooker and have printed 1,000's of pics over the years using WALMART. Most of the times my pics were fine BUT the times I did have a problem they were more than willing to work with me and correct the problem to my satisfaction.

 

[MissM]

My mom has printed photos at WalMart before and she just declines the ones she thinks aren't good, doesn't like, etc. I can't believe she does that but she says she does it all the time. Perhaps you can talk to them and have them reprinted or tell them you're not pleased and ask for a refund on the lot.

 

[PhotoDave219]

When i have had to do this, we've used Costco to do large, bulk printing needs. The Costco Las Vegas, just off the strip, inexplicably had its photo lab removed much to our disappointment. Highly recommend Costco. Never had a problem, ever.

Generally, I use the Wolf/Ritz/Whateverytheyrecalledinyourneighborhood when i have a few prints that i want done alas i usually have a few conversations with the manager when their tech tries to blame me for their problems. I use them because they're cheap and closer than Target. 75% of they time, i get good results.

I have never had positive results from the two times i used WalMart.


To the OP - do you have these photos online that are supposedly dark and out of focus? I would like to see just to give you a direction of how to prevent it next time.

 

[bigm23]

I stopped using businesses to develop my pictures. It got way too costly, plus the wait, plus the quality.

Once I switched to a Digital Camera, I stopped going to those places. I don't trust those places where you bring in the card and use the machine or download it there. I do it myself at home. The printer for photos was cheap and I buy my own paper. That way, I can choose what ever size I want and print as many as I want and edit them myself instead of just having them print at store and not like them. This made it much easier for me to create scrapbooks and photo albums. Much better then going out there and it ended up costing me the same in the end and I had more control and more prints. I won't use them again. This also makes the photopass much easier as all I have to do it get the CD and then do what I want at home and get what I want.

Can't wait to do it again.

Leave in 30 days....:sohappy:

 

[reptar77]

We upload and use flickr or smugmug. You do not get picks right away but they are inexpensive and really good quality.

 

[Monty]

I buy my own paper and print at home.

 

[Rob562]

For more than just a few pics (and if I don't need them right away), I usually order through Kodak's website. I've never had a problem with them.

If I need prints right away, I go to my local CVS.

-Rob

 

[StitchMom84]

Since I worked in the photo industry for almost 20 years, I am very, very picky about the quality of my photos. I used to work for Ritz camera and have worked in all phases of developing/processing way back to the days of having to actually know color theory into the digitial age.
Now that most of the Ritz stores are gone in our area, I have not had consistant luck with any other place around here, so I finally tried Snapfish and Shutterfly.
I have to say I was pleased with them both, but I believe that Snapfish had the best price by using their prepaid plan.
My last order consisted of about 1500 prints and there were only four out of that entire order that I would like to see re-printed.
I was very happy with how quickly they arrived, and I like not having to go and stand in front of a kiosk somewhere to order them. Also, they seem to do some color and density correction for you as well.
I have co-workers that use Sam's club and Costco, and I've tried them each a couple of times and they were okay..but, at this point, for me, I prefer Snapfish first and then Shutterfly

 

[ZuzuPetals]

I buy my own paper and print at home.

Must have a pretty good printer to get them to look decent...and wouldn't that be crazy expensive for ink? :shrug:

I have been very happy with Shutterfly. But you can't always wait around for the photos through the mail, even if it's just a matter of being impatient to see them. So in that case, I take them to Rite Aid. The guy who runs the lab is very knowledgeable and I'm always satisfied with the prints. Unfortunately, with any chain it will probably vary depending on location.

I would suggest placing a few smaller orders at different places that have been suggested (Target, Rite Aid, Costco, etc.) and see what you think. There's always a chance something could go wrong with a large order but at least this way you aren't risking as much. And I would definitely see if you can work some kind of deal out with Wal-Mart, no one should settle for subpar prints when the originals are better quality. Our Wal-Mart is also notorious for awful print quality and I avoid them at all costs. Good luck!

 

[Victoria]

Must have a pretty good printer to get them to look decent...and wouldn't that be crazy expensive for ink? :shrug:

I have been very happy with Shutterfly. But you can't always wait around for the photos through the mail, even if it's just a matter of being impatient to see them. So in that case, I take them to Rite Aid. The guy who runs the lab is very knowledgeable and I'm always satisfied with the prints. Unfortunately, with any chain it will probably vary depending on location.

I would suggest placing a few smaller orders at different places that have been suggested (Target, Rite Aid, Costco, etc.) and see what you think. There's always a chance something could go wrong with a large order but at least this way you aren't risking as much. And I would definitely see if you can work some kind of deal out with Wal-Mart, no one should settle for subpar prints when the originals are better quality. Our Wal-Mart is also notorious for awful print quality and I avoid them at all costs. Good luck!

This seems to be the company standard. The equipment technician that services my Target also covers a few Wal Marts in my area. He said their crappy quality is mainly due to having very poorly trained employees and they never do any maintenance on their machines. At least all Target and CVS stores have quarterly maintenance contracts with Qualex. :shrug:

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

I would suggest placing a few smaller orders at different places that have been suggested (Target, Rite Aid, Costco, etc.) and see what you think. There's always a chance something could go wrong with a large order but at least this way you aren't risking as much.

That is actually a good idea! I might just try that!

I am still waiting to hear back from Walmart. I am hoping they just refund me without me having to return them all. That way I can just reprint the ones that came out terrible. If I do I have to return them I will, it will just be a pain. I honestly spent about 5 hours yesterday sorting the pictures and putting them in albums. Its going to be so sad if I have to take them all out again!

thanks for all the tips!!

 

[DisneyDreamer08]

To the OP - do you have these photos online that are supposedly dark and out of focus? I would like to see just to give you a direction of how to prevent it next time.

I do have some photos up online. However, online they look fine to me. It is only the Walmart versions that look dark or out of focus.

For example, this picture of Terk was one of my favs. The one I got back from Walmart was so dark that Terk totally blends in with the background. Its hard to even see who it is. (This is the original)

Here is a link to some of the photos I put up on photobucket. I only uploaded the ones I used to write my trip report for this site.

http://s564.photobucket.com/albums/ss87/jadomings/?start=all

 

[PhotoDave219]

Yeah, its walmart's fault. There's nothing wrong with your photos where they should print that dark or out of focus. Take them elsewhere. Odds are you are out the cash.

A lot of places will just push a button and let it go automatically and print everything with the same settings. You want a place that will do a decent job, or you can go to one of those automated DIY kisoks that you see in a bunch of places.

(BTW, My laptop is calibrated)