Use a GOOD Local Lab
To Get Prints Fast

Remember how you used to take your film to the local lab or the "One Hour Photo" lab in your grocery or drug store and get prints back while you shopped? Well, you can do the same thing with your digital pictures. These days, virtually every photo lab in the world has the capability to take your digital images and turn them into prints.

Of course, some local labs are better than others. Quality photo printing hasn't changed just because you're now shooting with a digital camera.

In fact, QUALITY is even more important.

There are two components to this quality issue:

1. The quality (size, format, resolution) of the file you deliver to the store, and

2. The ability of the local lab to handle your file in order to get maximum quality out of it.

First, some general guidelines about how you prepare a file to be printed:

Well, that's one of the most wonderful benefits of shooting digital instead of film. You can - in effect - check out and FIX every original BEFORE taking them into the lab.

It's always better to review and edit your files first. The simplest way is to open them using the software that came with the camera, or with Adobe Photoshop or a similar image editing program.

Learn to crop, sharpen, reduce red-eye, auto enhance ... whatever you want to do to make your picture just right. If you're using Photoshop or some other image editing program, you can also resize the image at this point (most camera makers don't offer this).

If you can't resize the image - remember when I said ALWAYS shoot at your camera's HIGHEST quality setting? - here's where things can get confusing ... and also where a lot of new digital camera users get really upset.

All local labs are capable of printing high quality images. Their equipment is pre-set to print images at an optimum resolution for maximum quality. That resolution setting is usually between 200 and 300 dpi (dots - or pixels - per inch).

So, if you deliver a file that's, say, 4x6 inches at 72 dpi, don't expect a photo-quality print at that same size. It simply isn't going to happen!

Look at your files first. Know what's reasonable to expect. Don't expect the lab to do it for you. They won't!

Save Files

Files can be saved either to a CD or (if you're using an external card reader) back to the card on which they were originally recorded.

In either case, it's best to put them in a folder you've clearly identified as the ones you want to print. Just remember to tell the store WHICH files you want printed from the card or CD (in case you've left some originals on the disk or have other files collected on the CD). It's probably smartest to simply re-format the media card before recording back to it, or - in the case of a CD - record ONLY those files you want printed. CDs have become so inexpensive recently, it's kind of silly not to choose this method.

Now it should be relatively easy to go into your local lab and get the prints you want.

The important thing is to know that your files are edited - cropped, enhanced, the right size for the print you expect to get, and completely ready for printing. Because the sad truth is that many so-called photo labs are staffed by people who have absolutely no idea about file quality and resolution and things like that. They've been trained to pop the media card or CD into a slot, hit the auto button and walk away to take care of another customer ... or sweep the floor.

Once you're sure that your files are properly prepared for printing, do not accept poor quality! And if your prints don't come out the way you expected them to, find out why. There's no need to get angry. Just ask intelligent questions ... and expect intelligent answers.

If that doesn't happen ... well, it's time to go down the street to another local lab.

Yes, I'm sure it'll cost a little more to use the pro lab. But - remember - these are photos you want. These are the memories of your life. And twenty years from now, when you pull out the old family album or go through your scrapbook from your vacation ... are you really going to remember how much the prints cost?