commercial card printing

[delianeal]

Hi, new to DPS and the forums - very encouraged by all the advice, expertise and information available here!

Anyhoo, I took an AZ Hiways photo/photoshop class a few months ago and one of the instructors was pretty enthusiastic about getting prints done at Costco - which I've been doing. As far as my amateur eye can tell, they do a pretty good job and I've matted and framed some big landscapes for my office - with nothing but high praise from folks who drop by to view the "Gallery." (my co-workers have been kind enough to encourage me to hang my prints up in the hallways and common areas - which has been a great way for me to view my stuff with a more critical eye)

I decided to get some cards printed up for possible sales/Christmas gifts and, after some hemming and hawing, ordered folding, laminated photo cards from Costco. These are the higher priced ones ($7.50 for ten 5x7 cards plus envelopes) and they are advertised as high quality.

Well they came today and I'm pretty disappointed - there appears to be quite a bit of noise in the cards that feature some bright red berries in sharp focus against a brownish blurred, bokeh background. The other photo - which was of a forest scene (I was blessed with absolutely perfect lighting that day and the 16x20 print has an ethereal, 3D quality that I was totally unprepared for) is ok - but doesn't have nearly the depth of the original. It also seems to have more noise on it than the original had.

I was hoping to offer these in sets of 4 for $20, but now I'm almost embarrassed that I put my little copyright and contact info on the back. I may be too critical, and I'll certainly use these, but I'm not at all happy with them.

So, can anyone recommend another place that might do a better job? I do have a Canon Pixma printer that does a decent job with photos, but I've been hesitant to use it for a ton of printing because of the cost - plus Costco prints seem to more accurately reflect the image I see on screen. I see that Red River Printing sells glossy cardstock for printing up cards, so I know I can get good paper from them. . .

Any advice/input?
thanks in advance

[BigFuzzy]

In the end this might be one of those "you get what you pay for scenarios".

I'd look locally to any labs because I've found I like it a lot more when I can walk in and talk to the person who runs the lab/printer in case I'm unsure why things are turning out the way they are (usually my fault!).

As for online printers, I can't really say as I've not done a lot. The one I've actually used, Snapfish, did some surprisingly good poster sized prints for an exhibit I did. The prints were done from their European printer, so I'm not sure where yours would be printed so I can't guarantee anything..

Good luck!