Getting a single photo Printed

Ac1dh0u$3.

Ac1dh0u$3.

Ac1dh0u$3.

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Hello..

So I took a photo last night, and I would like to get it printed, I have no idea how to go about this, There's a Snappy Snaps near me, So I'm wondering do I just go down the with the image on a card and do it that way ?

How do I ensure the picture doesn't get stretched etc ?

I'm not sure how to link the photo here from 500px so I'll just link my account

Its Week 4 "The Waiting Game" was taken on a Nikon d7000

Thanks in advance

http://500px.com/acidhouse316
 
If all you want is a standard 6x4 or 7x5 etc then the automatic machines at boots and the like are great. Personally for stuff like this I use ASDA's 1hr service as in my opinion they produce the nicest prints of any of the high street printers I've tried and it usually only takes 15 minutes if you ask when paying.

I'd do a quick edit first to make sure you picture is cropped to the right aspect ratio to avoid any quirks from the machine shouldn't be a problem for 6x4 but 7x5 will need a little crop and by doing it upfront you guarantee the crop you want not the one the machine thinks you want!
 
Cheers for the advice guys, I should have explained, that I'm after a large print and getting it framed.

Where do people go to get that sort of thing done ?
 
It all depends on where you are printed and how big. Your sensor is 3x2 so print photos in that ratio. So don't print 7x5 or 10x8. You end up with parts chopped off. Print 24x16, 6x4 etc.

Check out DS Colour Labs.

I use DS colour labs for general prints and Loxley for Fine Art prints. The costs difference can be quite big. A Fine Art print from Loxley at say 32x24 could be £50 after shipping whereas in DS Colour labs on normaly print is less than £5 after shipping. I use DS Colour labs to print the odd photo to put on my desk at work which I am not too fussed about if someone spill coffee over it and Fine Art print when I want to make it permanent and frame it. I've only done the latter once
 
It's all there in their web page, there's a table. I'm on my phone atm.

Loxley you need an account, it's not open to the public.
 
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Snappysnaps isnt too bad, and their online ordering system is good as it lets you crop etc to make sure you get what you want.

Theres also a company up in Manchester which my dad has tried which are very good, though the colour cast is slightly blue on those. Cheap though. Cant remember the name, will find out this eve
 
Big sale (up to 76% off) on canvas, large prints etc at Photobox at the moment. Won't be Loxley sort of quality but should be good for the price.
 
Thanks for a the help guys...

Raymond I went on that DS Colour lads and had a poke around I decided to give them a go why not...

I haven't ordered yet because I picked a larger size 36" x 24" and when I go into the the image viewer it says "DPI 130" which it does say is "Good" but its in yellow text. Should this not be around 300, am I getting confused with PPI or is it because I'm trying to print too large ?
 
I've had to use prints for my portfolio project work, after using trying various outlets, retail and online, I use my local Kodac center.

They produce quality professional prints and use decent printers which are calibrated daily. It's good to talk to someone about specific requirements rather than just sticking your USB sick into a machine or uploading.

This may help you locate your local center
http://www.kodakexpress.com/united-kingdom/home.php

Maybe worth popping along and asking them :)
 
Ideally you want 300dpi, although I have done it with even 240dpi and it was fine. 130dpi does seem a bit low and it's not something I've seen in person. It might look okay right up to close up scrutiny.

If it's canvas you can get away with it, if its gloss print then it would be more noticible.
 
Hmmm, If I drop the size down to 24" x 16" it goes up to 196DPI. Is that just something that happens when you increase the size or is because of the way I have exported the picture from lightroom ? It was a RAW exported to JPEG at 300PPI
 
It doesn't matter as much how many DPI you export it as, it matters how many pixels your photo has.

I just remember, I've printed a photo from a 30D (8mp) to 32x34 once and it looked great. It was black and white though.
 
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