Printing for the pros

[i_am_beam]

Hey everyone, I have just a few questions about the printing process. I am looking to pick up a part time job as a photographer and am starting to put together a portfolio, but my prints just aren't that high quality. I've heard that some of you send away for your prints. Should I be thinking about that as an option? Where should I send them? How much does it cost? I have an inkjet photoprinter, are there printers out there that I could buy so I wouldn't have to send them away?

Any help is appreciated.

[tingeliM]

Well we've taken my dad's work and some of mine to these photo/camera-shops where they print them. For us it's much cheaper in the long run with lots of photos to do that than print them at home. And the quality is better too. I have no idea i there's these kind of shops in US so someone else can probably help you out more.

[7701mistyc]

Have you looked into kodak gallery? www.kodakgallery.com you can get the prints very very cheap and they can ship to your home or for free shipping you can have them shipped to a retail store and just go pick them up. I have used them for 5 years now and i think the quality is great!! hope this helps.

[Japaslavian]

It really depends on your idea of professional printing.
If you want a real professional printer, you're looking at Epson, but know that the cheapest one runs about $1200. These are more-or-less pre-press printers used for test proofs before sending something off to press, but they serve photographers well for proofing, and short run printing.

Just know that home printing takes a lot more know-how than just clicking print.

-You have to have everything calibrated all the time so your colors come out correct.
-Know how to prep images (dpi, color space, ICC)
-You need to understand gamut, as in which colors print and which don't. Having basic knowledge of the Zone System, and histograms can help with this.
-Understanding how different inks work on different papers ie luster, semigloss, gloss, linen, cotton, recycled, coated, uncoated....... the list goes on...

If 100% correctness isn't that important to you, cheaper photo printers do an okay job...

Online printers like MPIX or something like that do a good enough job that I think it would be a better option for you, if you don't want to deal with doing it yourself. I've been pretty happy with their quality.

[idcrewdawg]

Check your local photo supply store (not walmart). I use one here called Snappy Photo. They do prints as small as 8X10, and then all the way up to poster size.

Online MPIX is good, though you pay for shipping, the cost is comparable. Also look into the type of paper you have them print on. A friend of mine gets his done on metallic paper, they look good in his portfolio, but I don't like how they look on the wall.