# Costco Photo Printing - Quality?



## ryan_caldero

OK so the last few times I took my images to costco to be printed in an hour and they look like crap. They are not sharp and colors are not vibrant after editing.
I printed 5x7 at 300dpi and they just look like crap, so its either me or maybe their photo processing is crap, is it better to take to a pro photo lab place like Sammys, Ritz, etc????

Suggestions, Comments? Help my pictures not look like crap!


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## Derrel

A talk with the lab manager would be a good first step. Costco's finishing can be excellent, but each outlet is its own entity...so keep that in mind. How are you preparing the images? Have they been shot in sRGB or Adobe RGB? Are you adjusting the images on your computer and burning them to discs? Or are you printing images directly off of your storage cards? There are a few ducks that need to be lined up in neat rows...


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## vinithbraj

Just my 2 cents, As already pointed out by Derrel, each outlet is different. So what you need to do is sample the outlet where you intend to print. What you see on your computer and what comes out as print could be very different.
Print out a couple of test shots at the costco location so you know exactly how to calibrate your images/monitor so they appear the way you expect in print.


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## ryan_caldero

They are shot in sRGB and then I upload them to their site. Sometimes they are printed ok, but the last few times its just not up to my standard. I am using a Canon 50D. I am at home right now and not in my office so I should have posted one of my pics. These are the steps I followed
1. Image>Image Size
2. Uncheck "Resample Image"
3. Change DPI from 72 to 300DPI
4. Check back "Resample Image" (Leave at Bicubic)
5. Changes inches to 5x7 inches from the the much larger size
Thats IT!


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## kundalini

Most of the time it is user error.  :raises hands:  Make sure you download their (whatever lab) color profile.  Make sure you provide them with their required file format.  Make sure your monitor is calibrated.  Make sure you're printing on the right paper type.

1-800-help-me-out-cuz.  A simple call to the lab's customer helpline may be of a benefit.


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## BuS_RiDeR

The Costco here does a great job on anything I've brought them. 

However, I do find that they use cheap/thin paper.  But at 5 or 8 cents for a 4x6....  its hard to argue.

They use Fujifilm paper.  And I believe that is company wide...  At least it is in Canada.


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## ryan_caldero

I forgot to mention that I then save it to JPG
JPG Options:
Quality 12 - Maximum 
Format Options:
Baseline Standard 
Should it be Optimized? Progressive?


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## PavementPilot

I realize you asked about Costco, and we don't have one here yet. We've used Walmart with great satisfaction. Maybe give them a try with the prints you were unhappy with. See if you them or not.


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## IgsEMT

Price vs quality.
Send it to a pro lab and you'll get the quality. Send it to kid who presses a button - let's hope your shot doesn't need any further processing.


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## Robin Usagani

ryan_caldero said:


> They are shot in sRGB and then I upload them to their site. Sometimes they are printed ok, but the last few times its just not up to my standard. I am using a Canon 50D. I am at home right now and not in my office so I should have posted one of my pics. These are the steps I followed
> 1. Image>Image Size
> 2. Uncheck "Resample Image"
> 3. Change DPI from 72 to 300DPI
> 4. Check back "Resample Image" (Leave at Bicubic)
> 5. Changes inches to 5x7 inches from the the much larger size
> Thats IT!




Why do you have to change it from 72 to 300?   I'm putting my money on user error.


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## ryan_caldero

Schwettylens said:


> ryan_caldero said:
> 
> 
> 
> They are shot in sRGB and then I upload them to their site. Sometimes they are printed ok, but the last few times its just not up to my standard. I am using a Canon 50D. I am at home right now and not in my office so I should have posted one of my pics. These are the steps I followed
> 1. Image>Image Size
> 2. Uncheck "Resample Image"
> 3. Change DPI from 72 to 300DPI
> 4. Check back "Resample Image" (Leave at Bicubic)
> 5. Changes inches to 5x7 inches from the the much larger size
> Thats IT!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why do you have to change it from 72 to 300?   I'm putting my money on user error.
Click to expand...


when I resize it from the original size which is 44 in x 66 in at 72dpi.. This is what comes from the camera, I then resize it to 5x7 at 300dpi. I am guessing its operator error, some pics come out awsum but the last ones I got back were not sharp, but in PS they are slick looking. Its like they are getting washed out and sharpness is degraded. 

If others can share what steps they follow in order to get maximum results and slick quality pics using PScs4


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## cyngus

so you're using costco as a digital lab and your wondering why your print quality is... ****ty?

really?

if there isnt a photo lab in your area just check out the many online.. AdoramaPix - Home has always done me right.. and they are cheap


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## Derrel

It sounds like a color profile mis-match to me...I think the printing machine is ignoring the color profile you have assigned, or just as likely, your software (well, your processing preference choices) is not assigning color profiles to the images....I suspect there's a color profile problem with the files. Sure, they can be shot in sRGB, but if either your software or the printing machine is NOT on the same page as it were, the pics will look crummy. So...again, a talk with the lab manager, and a rundown on how the machine is set up: does it accept whatever profile comes with each file? Does it CONVERT images to a predetermined color profile space? Does it assign a color profile to the files that are loaded into the machine? What, what, and what are questions the lab manager should be able to help you figure out the answers to.

Some customers are going to want NO color correction or profile manipulation done to their files, while others might wish to have color management done on their images. So...again, the need to talk to the person in charge of the printing setup...


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## Robin Usagani

Dont resize it. Just leave the size the way it is. Just select save to highest quality (12). No need to resize the image. What matter is the pixels. You will ruin your file if you resample it. No need to size the file to the print size. Leave it be. And if your print has a different width and height ratio, they will give you a warning and ask you to crop it on their website (lab I use anyway).


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## MohaimenK

Printed from Costco with very good quality. Pics came out matching my monitor at about 95% and very good finish. Client liked them


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## ghache

Printed pretty much all size at costco here and they came out perfectly, colors where great


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## doziergraphic

wouldn't it be better to save as .tif and never get to the jpeg setting? And am I wrong, but if you go from 72 to 300dpi - wouldn't that screw up the pixels?


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## ryan_caldero

MohaimenK said:


> Printed from Costco with very good quality. Pics came out matching my monitor at about 95% and very good finish. Client liked them


I think the problem is that I was uploading at a high upload speed rather than HIGH RESOLUTION Speed... The faster upload speed possibly degraded the resolution of the picture. I am going to use their sites HIGH RES speed to maintain the quality of the picture. Costco gives you 2 options to upload pics to thier site, fast speed and high res speed. Obviously the high res takes longer but I am sure it does not kill the quality of the picture. I also did not resize the picture and just uploaded the original size. See what happens


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## Robin Usagani

I am pretty sure resizing was your problem.  The high speed upload is fine if you only planning to print small print (4x6 or 5x7).


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## Tbini87

We have been using Costco for a while and have no complaints. We have never used a pro lab so can't really comment on the difference of quality though. Others have mentioned that the "auto adjust" color option thing may mess up some colors so we just turn that off whenever possible.


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## ghache

if you cropped your picture to a 8X10 and then resized it to a 5X7 its normal that its all ****ed up. crop your picture to a 5X7 dirrectly from the orginal file. you dont need to resize.


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## ChadHillPhoto

I LOVE LOVE LOVE White House Custom Color.

I do not work for them, but am a pro photog and love their quality and prices..plus free 2 day fed ex shipping on orders $12 or more.

www.whcc.com


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## KmH

doziergraphic said:


> wouldn't it be better to save as .tif and never get to the jpeg setting? And am I wrong, but if you go from 72 to 300dpi - wouldn't that screw up the pixels?


Many labs won't accept .tif's because the file size is so much larger.

For digital photos, there is no such a thing as dpi (dots-per-inch), it's ppi (pixels-per-inch). Dots are round, pixels are square, or rectangular.

The ppi simply defines the size of the image based onthe images pixel dimensions.

A photo that has pixel dimensions of 4828 x 2488 pixels:
Printed at 100 ppi will be 48.28" x 24.88" in size
Printed at 200 ppi the same photo will be 24.14" x 12.44"
Printed at 300 ppi the same photo will be 16.09" x 8.29"

Most print lab's printer RIP software take care of everything related to size, the consumer just needs to pay attention to the pixel dimensions.


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## sobolik

ryan_caldero said:


> OK so the last few times I took my images to costco to be printed in an hour and they look like crap. They are not sharp and colors are not vibrant after editing.
> I printed 5x7 at 300dpi and they just look like crap, so its either me or maybe their photo processing is crap, is it better to take to a pro photo lab place like Sammys, Ritz, etc????
> 
> Suggestions, Comments? Help my pictures not look like crap!



It is probably them - their machine set up. I would go to Walgreens for great prints. Then mysteriously something happened to turn some or all blue. Since I printed hundreds or thousands at a crack I did talk to the big wheels. No solution. The best I figure the repair tech had made a setting that went goofy on my Photoshop embed or something. I went to Target instead. I've had no problem with Target. Now and then I would try Walgreen's again and zap some would be blue.


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## CNCO

i had good success with costco as most have. here are a few things, either lighten your images or calibrate your monitor. HUGE DIFFERENCE!


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## oldmacman

I'll chime in with a thumbs up to costco. If you check their photolab site, they list the colour profile for each location. Download that colour profile and preview your pic in PS before sending it off. Don't embed the Adobe RGB profile (check box when saving) when you save the image.

Costco also has a checkbox that indicates whether you want changes made to the final image. If you allow that, then the computer reads the overall ambience of the image and tries to apply a global tonal correction. This normally isn't bad for regular lighting shots, but when you have controlled or specialized lighting, it can really screw with the image.


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## doziergraphic

I have a Costco by my house, called up and they said $1.49 for an 8x10 for one hour service, and just 2.99 for 11x14.

 My question, is the one-hour service the same quality you all are referring to in this thread?

I've taken mine to Walmart with decent results, but the cost was around $4.50 for an 8x10 and they have to send out of 11x14s for around 9.99 I believe.


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## skyy38

BuS_RiDeR said:


> The Costco here does a great job on anything I've brought them.
> 
> However, I do find that they use cheap/thin paper. But at 5 or 8 cents for a 4x6.... its hard to argue.
> 
> They use Fujifilm paper. And I believe that is company wide... At least it is in Canada.


 
I don't find Costco paper particularly thin, at least on the 8 x 12 print I got recently.

Roger on that Fujifilm paper-it's used up here at Anchorage Costco.


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## oldmacman

doziergraphic said:


> My question, is the one-hour service the same quality you all are referring to in this thread?



It's the same processing for the 1hr vs 24hr at our Costco.


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