COSTCOS PRINTING

[Delano Color]

Whoa. I haven't read all five pages, just snippets. I have a lab...a Fuji Frontier with both the pro software and I use pro paper. There IS a difference...although minute. What many of my customers like about it is the text on the back that states it's a professional photo and that immediately puts other labs/businesses on notice that it's copyrighted.

Mark, you do great at competition and it shows it's not the camera, the printer or the paper but the photographer. Some need more help than you do.

For the individual who is having trouble getting the prints to match your screen, know your-and their-limitations. There has been a big swing to put your files in Adobe rgb...it's a bigger color space. At THIS time, there is no printer in the world that can print that larger color space. There are printers that can print IN that color space but not all the colors will be represented in the final output.

The Frontier doesn't even play nice with Adobe rgb and if you have your files in that color space, who knows what you'll get in a print. I had a customer tonight come in, he has had wonderful prints for years and now it's all gone to he((. He had made a change in cameras and it embeds the Adobe rgb color profile in the files. I printed out several tests for him to see what was happening on our end and he finally saw the light and will convert--not assign-to the srgb color profile and we'll do more tests for him. I know what the results will be but some have Missouri blood in them. (Missouri is the 'show me' state, they have to see it, not take your word for it)

The 'funny' thing is, we color correct his files and they print out totally different than what we send because the conversion takes place on the way to the printer.

This was a local customer, we've been through this with other longer distance customers and with shipping, it just takes longer.

[Mark McCall]

Linda,
Not sure if you remember, but I believe you and I met in Wichita at the Kansas Professional Photographers Seminar a few years ago.
Doug Box and I were serving as guest jurors at the folio competition.

[Delano Color]

Sure do remember you, didn't figure you'd remember me. Loved your talk, still use pics to exe and the online album page turner album (not so much any more, maybe I should dig that out!) I rarely buy the cds offered but I did yours. I'm a fan of both your work and your workflow. I've developed my own which always needs tweaking as I'm sure yours has changed in the last...3.5 years??

The lab's still chuggin' and I opened a studio this spring since the majority of my customers are outside of Wichita, no worries about competing with my customers. I have several local retired mentors but have studied with Kieth and Holly Howe several times and my goal this year is to make it to, or host a Don Chick seminar. The Howes were supposed to spend a day with me in October on their way to the SWPPA. The original idea was to kidnap me and take me with them but staffing issues at the lab prevailed. Their day got cut short when their basement was flooded with the lousy workmanship of the people installing their new sprinkler system.

I also remember being bombarded after your talk...I had left the room...by several who came to repeat something you had said...that I couldn't let slide. *sigh*

[Delano Color]

Well, the Frontier had some problems and needed to call in the repair guy.

He let me know that Wal-Mart and Sams are doing away with their wet process printers. No more traditional photographic paper from them so for you who use them, try their new process and see what you think but don't be fooled, it's not the same stuff.

[gumper]

Wal-Mart and Sams are doing away with their wet process printers. No more traditional photographic paper from them

My local Costco photo manager informed me that their regional manager will be switching to inkjet for the large prints (16x20 stuff) that normally gets sent out to one regional lab. They will be printing them in house now (within the year), which his impression is that all wet process will no longer be used in store eventually.

He did not know how the price would be affected because of it though. He did say that they are going to be droping the overall price (a few pennies) on printing here shortley to help spur interest in having consumer prints made as the economy is having a big effect on the labs profit margin.

I asked, "a few pennies?" He said "ya, I know but a few pennies from a regional standpoint is a lot of money lost".