Tempe, AZ Photographer: The 411 on Printing Your Photographs
You’ve had the most epic family photo session of your life and your photographer just delivered the full gallery. OMG!!! Once you’ve picked your jaw up from off the floor, because of how incredibly amazing you all look, you now have some decisions to make. What to do with all those beautiful photos?
The way I see it, you have 3 options:
Leave them on your computer to live in their digital folder forever.
Print them out using a consumer print lab…like Walgreens, Costco, Walmart, etc.
Print them out using a professional print lab, hang them on your walls, hand them out to friends and family and live happily ever after.
Today I want to share with you why you should be using professional print labs to take care of your precious memories.
I get it, consumer labs (like Walmart) are easy and affordable and convenient. You can upload them from your computer and pick them up at your next visit to the store or even bring in a flash drive and upload at the store and shop while you wait. And they can often be done for no more than cents a piece. So if consumer labs are so easy to use why should you use a professional photo lab? Because the benefits of a professional print lab go way beyond what a consumer lab has to offer.
Here are a few benefits:
#1 Professional Prints are Printed on Professional Paper
Hold a photo printed on consumer paper and one printed on professional grade paper and you will immediately be able to notice a difference. But there’s more to it than just the feel or weight of the paper. Professional grade paper can handle a wider array of color which makes reproducing skin tones more accurate, vibrant colors more vibrant, and blacks with more depth and contrast. Your photos will retain the color spectrum they were meant to have.
#2 Professional Photo Labs Use Better Ink & Chemicals
Consumer labs can make their prices so low because they cut costs on ink and chemicals. Professional labs use high quality inks and chemicals and all of the latest processes because THAT is their sole job. Consumer labs don’t specialize in just photos, you can buy your groceries and your clothes and your pictures all at the same place. But a professional photo lab, that’s their sole job, to provide superior photos, it’s the heartbeat of their business.
#3 Professional Photo Labs Offer More Options
When you have your pictures printed the only options you usually get are matte or glossy. But what about metallic or linen or lustre? What would your images look like with a different finish? More options gives you more tools to create photos (or a wall space) that is visually pleasing and something that truly speaks to you as the individual.
#4 Professional Photo Labs Offer More Sizes
We’re all used to standard sizes like 4x6 or 5x7 or 8x10. But maybe you want to create something more like a grid and you need a 5x5 or 8x8. You’re not going to find custom sizes at your normal consumer lab, but you will find a wider array of sizes at a professional print lab. Once again, this opens up so many creative possibilities to display something truly custom in your home.
#5 Professional Photo Labs Use Color Calibration & Color Correction
This is a big subject, and I’m not going to break down all the details here so you’re going to have to trust me on this. This is important! Professional photographers color calibrate their monitors on a regular basis to make sure they are getting all of their colors, skin tones in particular, just right. Professional photo labs do this as well so they can reproduce your photos are closely to what you delivered to them. And because they have actual humans working for them you can be sure that you will have a set (or two) of eyes on your pictures to make any color corrections that may be necessary.
#6 Professional Photo Labs Use Professional Grade Printers
How would you feel if you showed up to your photo shoot and your photographer whipped out a point and shoot camera or a polaroid? That’s not what you paid for!! Likewise you’d hate to get your pictures back from the printer and they’re streaky or have been cropped poorly. You can trust that a professional photo lab will use the absolute best printers on your images. These printers help to fuse all those high quality chemicals onto their high grade paper to give you a superior print.
There are a plethora of professional printers out there to choose from. Lucky for you, when you book with me, you can order professional grade prints right from your gallery through WHCC. I have been ordering my photo products through them for over two years now because they do exceptional work!
Here’s my last bit of advice…whatever you do just get those memories on the wall!
Tempe, AZ Photographer | Shannon Ly Photography
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