Digital cameras have become very popular in recent years due to their convenience and large capacity. At every event or celebration you're in right now, at least a few people are snapping.Once you pay for the camera and memory card, the cost is zero until you actually have the image you want to print. If you take 40 photos of your newborn child, niece, nephew, grandchild, etc., and only 2 good photos are taken, you will be charged for those 2 photos.
In fact, it's definitely faster to have your own photo quality printer. Some people even bring a small printer to print out for other guests—it's as easy as using a traditional Polaroid camera. The big chains have intervened heavily in this battle. Walmart, Blacks, Business Depot, and many more. All this competition makes for low prices. A typical 4x6 print from a major chain costs less than the retail price of the do-it-yourself paper that the same chain sells in photo centers...and at home, you still have to pay for the ink!
Here are 6 things to consider when asking a photo lab to print your digital images.
- Price. All major players offer his 4x6 sizes at very competitive prices. However, larger sizes such as 5x7 and 8x10 are usually more expensive than what you can do at home.
- Delivery. Does your photo lab allow in-store pickup or do you have to wait for the post office or courier? In-store pickup should be a free option. If so, is it easily accessible?
- Timekeeping. how fast do they work? Photolab has a reputation that he completes most orders in one business day. The other one is a little cheaper but takes a week.
- Taxation. Can digital images be uploaded over the Internet (very convenient), or must they be distributed on floppy disks or CDs?
- Quality. You may need to discuss it with relatives, friends and colleagues. Find someone who has already tried another printer. Photolab's website states that they don't print images that are too low resolution (less than 150 DPI allowed). This can be jarring, but ensures a high quality print. Speaking of resolution, a 4x6 print at 200 DPI requires a digital print of 800 x 1200 pixels. Older 1.0 megapixel cameras can easily do this. If you have a more modern 3.3 megapixel camera, you can make a 200 dpi print which is equivalent to 8x10. One of the advantages of using a better camera, say a 5MP camera, is that you can "crop" part of the image and still keep the 3.3 megapixels needed for an 8x10 camera.
- The standard "snapshot" size for photo albums is 4x6. The ratio is 1.5 times. Most new cameras have an aspect ratio of 1.33. What if you send a 1.33 photo to a photo lab and ask for a 4x6? Cut off ("crop") part of the photo you took and shorten it along the longest side. They may not like the cut out part! The best internet photo lab upload systems let you specify what can be cropped. Alternatively, use a computer program to scale your digital images to the correct size and proportions before uploading.
