I just have my pics printed at the closest labs to me since they both use a Fuji Frontier digital printing system. I use their online submission form and pick up the prints an hour later.

Anyway you do it, most digital photolabs are actually cheaper than printing at home so don't fuss too much about price.

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"the best things in life aren't things at all."

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I like Shutterfly myself for mundane stuff; I've used their services off and on since they got started. I've even had one of the largest size prints (2 hex 30", I think) done and it's a steal considering the price. I didn't do a calendar this year, but those are pretty swank, too.

If you want to dabble with high-end digital printing services (and pay the price), you can the same labs that the pros use since everyone ships FedEx, UPS, or snail mail.

Locally, I'd try Calypso Imaging in Santa Clara. I forget if West Coast Imaging has printing services, but their drum scans are king. The de facto standard for SoCal labs is A&I (Alexander & Ishihara); it has been years since I checked, they may still run their own Kodachrome line (one of the few in the country and possibly the reference K-14 line, including Kodak's). I would not hesitate to try out their digital printing services (I've had a PhotoCD or two scanned there years ago).

Considering where you are, if you're looking into the pro digital lab, you have to consider Portland Color (www.portlandcolor.com). Possibly the best pro lab in New England, according to some old photo buddies.

Some of these high-end shops will have access to other output devices. A few years ago, the IRIS inkjet was the rage. It could print onto almost any thin substrate including cloth, watercolor paper, plastic film, thin sheets of metal, etc. Artists loved it. It really kicked ass. I don't know what's the hot output device these days.

Good luck.

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"Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things - even meat." - Coupling

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Sign up for all the services and check out what they have to offer. It costs nothing to register and upload a few images.

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The difference between a "pro" and a "consumer" lab is the color correction when it comes to printing negatives (and the fact that they develop your rolls cleanly). Something that doesn't apply to digital images that you take yourself (and correct yourself). They don't do any color correction when you submit a digital photo to them. They'll print it out and how much it'll be different from what you see from your screen will be determined by whether they have the correct ICC profile.

So forget about whether it's a "pro" or "consumer" lab. Focus more on the paper (and system) they use. The low end Kodak paper (kodak edge) is shit. Kodak Royal is the bomb. I haven't been able to discern the differences between Fuji papers because they're not marketed separately like Edge, Endura, and Royal. They're all called Crystal Archive and main difference seems to be their thickness and whether it's matte or glossy. They all seem to look fine to me.

Another point. If all a place says is that they use Kodak paper... It's probably the shitty Edge. If they use a better version like Royal or Endura, they would definitely market that.

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However, online consumer sites like Shutterfly, Ofoto, Snapfish, etc. live and die by what they do. I've only had to contact Shutterfly's customer service a couple of times, and each time they were very responsive. The online services get a truly wide range of clientele, so they really do have to do a decent job. What they won't have are all the machines and specialist operators that a high-end pro lab would have.

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I've also used the local Target to have some 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10s done.
What I found is the 4x6 look great at target and the other sizes aren't that good. YOu can see banding.. yuck! they wouldn't give me a refund or a discount for the poor quality.

I've also made posters at Kinkos, 5 feet by 5 feet, they came out looking nice.

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We'll probably make our own frames, but if anyone knows where you can get plain, wood frames (aside from ikea) I'm all ears.

My stupid canon i850 (that prints black bars on photos) was such a waste of money.

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University Art is a local chain; I'm most familiar with the store in Palo Alto. They have a pretty impressive selection of frames, especially simple wood ones. Also, one of the nice photo stores (non-chain) has a great selection of pre-cut mattes.

If you really want to treat yourself (or a photo) nice, use a real framer. Have fun!

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