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06/26/2003 09:16:21 AM · #1 |
I started this thread the other day to ask about getting digital prints through a retail store. Retail Digital Printing I decided to give Wal Mart a try because they have a do-it-yourself kiosk and I like that. So here's how the experience was.
I decided to take some snapshots from a Halloween party and Christmas in because the quality on those isn't quite as big a deal as some of the other photos I want to get developed. To prepare the files I created an action in PS to auto-levels and sharpen each photo. I used that action in a batch command to prepare them enmasse.
Well, the first round I took in 39 photos and the machine could only read 4. I didn't crop them to 4x6 on purpose just to see how their machine would handle it. I thought maybe that was the problem.
The next round I cropped each photo then ran the batch on them. Only got 1 photo this time. I've had problems opening jpegs that were saved using the "Save As" command in PS before so I thought that might be it.
The last round I took in 52 photos that I cropped and adjusted myself in PS and then saved using "Save for Web." All of these transferred perfectly. The weirdest thing I couldn't figure out with the first two rounds is that they would load up on the kiosk but somehow the printer would have problems with them. Strange.
Anyway, the prints look pretty good. I didn't use a profile for this go just because I wanted to see the results with as little prep as I could stand. I noticed that blue tones tend to be deeper than expected and middle to deep shades of red also have the same result. The print quality is great though, I was very pleased with that. Next time around I'm going to grab a profile and use that in the prep to see what kind of results I get.
All in all I got 118 prints for about 34 bucks. To me that's worth spending several hours printing them off myself.
Quick questions though:
Can anyone explain why their system would have problems opening the files when I used "Save As" instead of "Save for Web?"
And if that's the case that "Save for Web" needs to be used, is there a quick way to incorporate that into a batch or a better alternative when it comes to saving? |
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06/26/2003 09:27:32 AM · #2 |
Originally posted by krets:
I didn't use a profile for this go just because I wanted to see the results with as little prep as I could stand. |
I had the same problem with prints opening on their machine also after i had burned some jpegs to a cd, and they didn't have an answer for this either.
reagarding the info i quoted...what exactly are profiles and how do they work? |
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06/26/2003 09:36:43 AM · #3 |
I would hazard a guess that the most likely problem was operator error (the clerk at walmart, NOT you).
The skill of the clerk plays a significant role in how your prints come out. I've completely stopped using the walmart closest to me for prints after the culminating experience of them handing me a black and white photo with a green streak in it and wondering why I was upset.
I've also found that if you hand them a disk and let them transfer the files rather than using the kiosk, you end up with fewer problems. I think the hardware itself has issues.
Suffice it to say that I found it was worth the investment to purchase both a 4x6 and up to 8x10 dye submlimation printer just to avoid ever needing walmart for a print for a customer.
Shari
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06/26/2003 10:02:03 AM · #4 |
It may not have been the Frontier operator.
The kiosk displays a lot of images that the imaging server (which the images are transferred to when you finish your order) cannot process (for reasons unknown to me).
In my experience, the two biggest things that will prevent the image from being printed, even though it shows up on the Fuji Frontier Aladdin kiosk just fine:
1) embedded color profiles
2) progressive (or interlaced) JPEGs
The aspect ratio shouldn't matter at all since you can print 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 (all of which have different aspect ratios). You can even go in and adjust the crop of each photo on the kiosk if you want to.
When you "Save for Web" you are stripping out as much extra information as possible so that the file size is small (for faster web transfer). This includes any embedded color profiles that may be included in the original JPEG, which may explain why that approach worked for you.
Try doing your "Save As..." test again, but make sure that the "ICC Profile" checkbox in the "Color" section of the "Save As" dialog box is NOT checked. (If you're working with a profile from someplace like www.drycreekphoto.com, you have to apply the profile to the image before saving it, as explained on their web site.)
Also make sure that on the "JPEG Options" screen that shows up next, that you select one of the "Baseline" buttons in the "Format Options" section - not progressive - or the Frontier won't be able to print the file.
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06/26/2003 10:39:50 AM · #5 |
That's exactly what it was EddyG. I had Progressive selected.
Thanks a ton that will save me boatloads of time. |
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06/26/2003 12:09:47 PM · #6 |
I did mine over the web, and I am happy with the results. Sam's Club and Wal Mart both have web sites to up load and print, you can even preview the print size, and crop or adjust the position of the subject within the image.
Message edited by author 2003-06-26 13:35:44. |
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06/26/2003 04:19:05 PM · #7 |
Me, I live in the same area code as Wal-Mart photo labs, so I've had a bit of experience with them.
Problems with Wal-Mart prints:
1. If you want snapshots printed, Wal-Mart's great. If you want professional quality digital, it's another story: the colors are always differently balanced than how you send them in, the prints are hastily machine-cut and sometimes bits of other photos get cut in with your shot, and the paper is light and relatively thin.
2. If you take a halfway-decent portrait or design a professional-looking *anything*, they will delay your printing and ask you to sign a form which states that it is actually your work. I was delayed several weeks this way once - they don't notify you by email, as would be expected, but rather leave a letter talking about copyrights in the folder your prints would normally be in when you pick them up from the store (nasty surprise, walking out to the car and opening the folder). This mostly applies to the electronic prints store, as in person they'll just question you to your face.
3. Ethical problems with Wal-Mart in general - these don't need to be revisited, most everyone knows but tries to ignore them.
I just print 'em off DPC, these days.
Martin |
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