Pro Photo Supply
Costco
Snapfish
Shutterfly
Creative Memories
ScrapbookPictures.com
We received four of the six photo sets back last week so tonight I forced Darr to do side-by-side comparisons to see which set had the greatest number of pictures developed to our liking. As expected, he preferred one set and I preferred another. Here's the current ranking with some specific notes for each set:
Pro Photo Supply (tied for first)
Printed on: Kodak Royal Digital Paper
Size: Standard 4x6
Cost: $0.19 (sale price)
Web URL: www.prophotosupply.com
Notes: This is my favorite so far. PROS - 1) Most true-to-life colors; 2) Processing method hid scratches and flaws, particularly on close-up face shots of Henry; 3) Best matte finish;
4) Details not lost in shadows; 5) Supports local business. CONS - 1) Too bright; 2) Processing method caused some detail to be lost when flash used; 3) Length of time to upload pictures to site when ordering.
Creative Memories (tied for first)
Printed on: Konica Minolta paper
Size: Standard 4x6 or 4xD option (4xD is the industry term for a print that is 4x5.33 inches)
Cost: $0.19
Web URL: www.cmphotocenter.com
Notes: This is Darren's favorite so far. PROS - 1) Bright colors; 2) Great details, showing some flaws; 3) Photos taken with flash not washed-out. CONS - 1) Hard to navigate site and place order; 2) Some photos too dark, particularly on pics with shadows; 3) Not true-to-life colors.
Shutterfly (third place)
Printed on: Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper
Size: Standard 4x6
Cost: $0.12
Web URL: www.shutterfly.com
Notes: PROS - 1) Bright colors; 2) Photos taken with flash not washed-out; 3) Price. CONS - 1) Orange tint; 2) Showed all flaws.
Costco (fourth place)
Printed on: Fujicolor Crystal Archive Paper
Size: Standard 4x6
Cost: $0.17
Web URL: www.costco.com
Notes: PROS - 1) Photos taken with flash not washed-out; 2) 1-hour processing and local pick up. CONS - 1) Too dark; 2) Slightly orange tint; 3) Lustre finish (the non-glossy option) is too shiny.
UPDATE: I'm posting scanned photos per B.E.'s suggestion. Just know that my scanning abilities are NOT GOOD.
The following shows the variances in light and dark from the four photo developers I've received pictures back from so far:
The next two photo comparisons are from Pro Photo Supply and Creative Memories, both tied for first. In the first example, note the shadows (and try to ignore any weird lines/grooves that are present as a result of my bad scanning):
And next, the lighter photo has colors more true-to-life than the slightly darker almost-orange tinted photo.
6 comments:
It would be great if you could post scans of the returned pictures, or at least those areas that best illustrate your comparative observations. Thanks for the research.
Just to throw out another element to consider. With most companies (I know Costco & Pro Photo) you can calibrate your software & monitor settings so the picture on your screen looks like the picture that will print. It eliminates the flash and color surprises. Plus you can adjust things in the picture before sending it.
Glad to see CM made the top two. One more thing about them - any pictures that you upload are backed up two more times. So, if something happened to their main server the pictures would still be backed up in two more places. I'm sure there's a more technical way to explain it, but basically I know that I won't lose the pictures that are on there.Yeah, the site is kind of different to navigate...but now I'm so used to it.Also - I buy the bulk packages of photos so end up paying $0.12 a print.
Have you looked into Kodak Gallery at all? I would just be curious at the comparison for them, because that is who I usually order from. I really like the top left one in the set of four that you scanned. Which company is that?
Your son is so cute and thanks for stopping by my blog!
Elaine,
I have ordered prints from Kodak via iPhoto before but they didn't offer a matte finish for photos smaller than 8x10. For this reason Kodak prints were not included in the review. I did like the glossy prints from them that I ordered and have hanging around my house, though.
The top left picture of the four-scanned photos comparison is from Pro Photo Supply. It's a local developing spot in Portland, Oregon. We got our wedding film (actual film!) developed there at the recommendation of the photographer who shot our wedding - she squeezed us in on a day she already had an event booked because she is fabulous and part of the deal was that she would just hand over the film, which means we got the negatives. (I hear this is very rare since having folks order prints after the wedding is shot is how the photographer can make some extra money.) Anyway, all that to say that they do really good work, although my husband found some of their prints to be too light.
Noodle's mom,
Yeah, the lady at Pro Photo was just telling me about calibrating your computer. It might be worth it to have it done and just commit to get our photos from one place, eh? Have you done any research on photo umbrellas yet?
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