best image quality online printing service

Loxley Colour are very good.

DSCL are used by quite a few too, quality is not quite as good but they are a lot cheaper :)
 
So photobox have gone down hill?

Thanks for both replies anyone know about boots?
 
Personally I wouldn't use anyone like Photobox, snapfish, boots, asda, tesco etc... when you get prints online from an actual lab for not much more :)
 
just seen loxeycolour price list not paying 0.70 per print for a 6X4 that is way to much when dcsl are charging 0.11
 
topcat07 said:
just seen loxeycolour price list not paying 0.70 per print for a 6X4 that is way to much when dcsl are charging 0.11
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So your original post is inaccurate as you put image quality first then price but then disregard one of the most respected labs based on price !
 
testbloke said:
So your original post is inaccurate as you put image quality first then price but then disregard one of the most respected labs based on price !
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I guess I know the best quality now was just shocked by price that's all, your point is valid that was my question.
 
Mank said:
Personally I wouldn't use anyone like Photobox, snapfish, boots, asda, tesco etc... when you get prints online from an actual lab for not much more :)
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For standard sized prints they are all using the same Fuji machines, just a matter of picking someone who know how to use one properly. Now I've use two Boots stores, one on a retail park (not bad) and one in town where they have a dedicated lab on site, but not on show and they are very good.

Asda, tesco I've found to be poor, but max speilmans are complete crap, and I really mean that, even a total idiot would refuse to except the prints I tried from there.


It's really when your getting large prints or more exotic print media that labs like Loxley or point101 really make a difference and worth the extra money. IMHO of course.

I've also found snapmad (different from snapfish ) to be just as good as loxley for larger prints and cheaper too.


If your going to be getting lots of prints, I found it worth while sending the same image to many different printers to get a like for like comparison.
 
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acetone said:
For standard sized prints they are all using the same Fuji machines, just a matter of picking someone who know how to use one properly. Now I've use two Boots stores, one on a retail park (not bad) and one in town where they have a dedicated lab on site, but not on show and they are very good.

Asda, tesco I've found to be poor, but max speilmans are complete crap, and I really mean that, even a total idiot would refuse to except the prints I tried from there.

It's really when your getting large prints or more exotic print media that labs like Loxley or point101 really make a difference and worth the extra money. IMHO of course.

I've also found snapmad (different from snapfish ) to be just as good as loxley for larger prints and cheaper too.

If your going to be getting lots of prints, I found it worth while sending the same image to many different printers to get a like for like comparison.
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Loxley do not use fuji printers
 
acetone said:
For standard sized prints they are all using the same Fuji machines, just a matter of picking someone who know how to use one properly. Now I've use two Boots stores, one on a retail park (not bad) and one in town where they have a dedicated lab on site, but not on show and they are very good.

Asda, tesco I've found to be poor, but max speilmans are complete crap, and I really mean that, even a total idiot would refuse to except the prints I tried from there.


It's really when your getting large prints or more exotic print media that labs like Loxley or point101 really make a difference and worth the extra money. IMHO of course.

I've also found snapmad (different from snapfish ) to be just as good as loxley for larger prints and cheaper too.


If your going to be getting lots of prints, I found it worth while sending the same image to many different printers to get a like for like comparison.
Click to expand...

Its a lack of consistency I find with the likes of the companies I mentioned above. For someone who's doing regular print runs its just not worth it. :)
 
I used the Boots free offer (100 6x4 prints) recently just to see what they were like. I edited each photo with various sized black borders and most the pics have come back cropped to the inner edge of them, so there are black lines along two opposite edges.

I've just used the live chat to ask if they resize images and was told the online preview was a true representation of the print. It obviously isn't, so if that is important to you, dont use such print services (i'm sure someone has mentioned this practice in previous threads).

On the other hand, they've credited my account for the same amount of prints and postage, so i'll be using that up for another bunch of fun photos (y)

Oh, they are a little duller than I expected, but that may be my monitor.
 
I always try and find the cheapest, or even those with free batch of prints when you sign up, then get a batch printed, see what they look like printed (rough idea), then pick what i consider the best or favourites and get them redone somewhere that produces higher quality stuff.

I know its not the best value for money but it works for me.
 
SimLab are excellent quality and good value.

Loxley apply too much sharpening by default for my taste and I have to ask for no sharpening. There is no gain in quality over Sim for the extra money.

For black and white however I would only use Ilford. I've tested all the top labs and because they use the colour process for producing black and white prints, the prints suffer from illuminant metameric failure, a feature of Fuji Crystal Archive paper and shows as a blue/gree cast when viewed in daylight. However, not everyone can see it.
 
I highly recommend diginate.com. I've purchased prints from them to exhibit and they have always been of a high quality, especially their 'art paper'. Good value too.
 
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