Are you making life difficult on your photo lab? A few things that’ll make them love you.

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Does your photo lab run and hide when they see you coming or are you the perfect customer? With so many ways to prepare digital files and so many image format choices, you might not be sure exactly what your lab is looking for.  Should you be sending JPEGs or RAW files? To crop or not to crop? A few little details can make a big difference when it comes to the final result… an image that will hang on your or your customer’s wall for years to come.

If you crop the image for a 4"x6" on the left, an 8"x10" print must be heavily cropped so leave some space on your file.

To answer a few of these questions, I went to DigiPixArt, a professional photo lab I use in Vienna, Virginia. DigiPixArt serves the entire country, but luckily for me they’re only a few miles away.  I sat down with owner Danny Chu to figure out how you can not only make life easy on your lab, but also ensure you get the best results.

So what are a few mistakes people make when they give you image files to print and what can they do to correct them?

Sending too big of a file… People use Adobe Photoshop and the misconception is the bigger the file size, the better the quality, but just because it packs a lot of information doesn’t mean it’s a better picture. People send a 300MB Tiff file thinking that’s what it takes… not really. Based on our experience, if people shoot well, a 2MB file can make a 24”x36” print quite well.

Another common mistake I find is photographers can resize their images and make them too small.  If you shoot RAW files don’t resize them; just make a JPEG.  Some will resize it to make a 4×6 and I say that’s a waste of time. A good lab is going to take care of that.

Incorrect cropping is also a common mistake we see. Some photographers don’t have a concept of proportion. They crop it so tight for a 5×7 and then want an 8×10 too. If you do plan on doing your own cropping then use 8×10 as your baseline. If you crop that 8×10 a little loose and leave room around your subject(s) you can easily make wallet size, 4x6s, 5x7s, and 11x14s also.

Another common mistake is they perform color corrections at home but they don’t calibrate their monitors and don’t understand color space issues. I’ve had people save files as ProPhoto RGB and there are no printers even printing ProPhoto RGB.

What can someone do that has never calibrated their monitor?

If they’ve never calibrated their monitor just find a good lab.

Is it better for people to do their own white balance?

If they shoot JPEG obviously they should send us a white balanced image since we can’t do much with a JPEG. If they shoot in RAW and have a calibrated monitor they should do their own color corrections.

What is your ideal customer?

Our ideal customer, in my opinion, shoots RAW, has a calibrated monitor and some knowledge on how to correct their color. They can even be off a little, but if they have a good exposure on our end we can still do a good job.

Here are a few of my own tips for printing images:

Don’t be afraid to spend money on a print.  If you’ve spent $1000 for your DSLR and lens, why would you  want to spend 19 cents for a print?  If grandma is going to proudly display that photo on her mantle spend a little more. It will be worth it.

Try out a lab first.  Your first order shouldn’t be fifty 8x10s because if you’re not happy with the results that’s a lot of money wasted.  Order one small print or an 8×10 and make sure it will be on the same machine and same paper as your large order. If you’re not happy with the result, work with the lab to get that print looking good before you move forward.

Looking for a printer online? Why not send out the same file to a few labs and compare the quality of the prints when they arrive.  Then you can simply pick the lab that did the best job before you submit a large order

A few final tips from Danny:

If you have specific tastes, give the lab a sample. If you do decide to use a pro lab, communicate with the lab. There is a color range that’s very subjective.  A good lab can listen and comply so provide sample prints so the final results won’t be a surprise.

Improve your photography. We’ve found that the stronger the photographer, the more they understand shooting, the less work they do on their end, the less destructive they are to the image and the better the print.

If you have good exposure, then finding a good lab is easy.  That’s how simple it is.

And one last question… If your exposure is way off, is there a way a good lab can produce a nice print from a bad image file?

Danny says with a smile “Turn it into a black and white.”

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DigiPixArt is a full service photo lab whose specialty is seamlessly integrating their on-line Photo Store into a business’ website, which allows the business to retain its own brand and website appearance. Looking to integrate an ecommerce photo gallery on your site? Read a little about DigiPixArt’s E-Commerce solution.

Tagged as: 4x6, 8x10, cropping photos, DSLR, finding a photo lab, jpegs, photo lab in va, photo labs, printing large files, RAW files, RAW vs. JPEG, tiff, va, vienna