Prints from WHCC

[greyflash]

I have been having prints made locally at Costco, WalMart, and Inkley's and thought that they were all about the same. Recently I found that many pro's use White House Custom Colour (WHCC) in St. Paul, MN. Their procedure to get signed up with them and to submit your first order is cumbersome at best but once you get by that hurdle they are outstanding. My prints are the same price as Costco and they have free shipping with minimum orders of $12.00. I made a test by getting an 8x10 printed at both places and the difference is dramatic. My customer was pretty impressed with WHCC as well. Now my prints match perfectly with my calibrated monitor.

In the past I had been dissapointed with Shutterfly and EZ Prints but WHCC is fast, high quality and low cost. They use UPS 2 day air for shipping your prints (free) and so far my mine have been uploaded, printed and back in 5 days. As I mentioned the start up with them is cumbersome and includes filling out a questionair, submitting 5 8x10 test prints (free), obtaining Smart FTP software, and figuring out their upload procedure, but once done the rest is easy and pleasurable. In addition they have Glossy, Lustre, Metalic, Linen, Embassy, Pebble, and a spray lustre finish that you can order for your prints. They also have mounting services for a good price as well.

I recommend them highly. http://www.whcc.com

Disclaimer: I have no association with WHCC other than as a customer.

 

[Flew]

Good info Gordon.

Thanks!!

Frank

 

[PGB]

Another place that I have used for large prints is El-Co color labs.

The internet specials page has all their info.

http://www.elcocolor.com/hot_internet_only_specials.htm

The quality is great and the turn around is very fast. I'll have to give WHCC a try too.

Thanks Gordon,

 

[PhotoDawg]

Thanks Gordon!!

 

[JerseyJay]

Gordon,

I will give WHCC a try and compare with local Costco. I'm curious how big is the difference.

Are they printing 8x12 ? I see only 8x10

What finish did you use Lustre / Glossy / Metallic ?

Any tips would be helpful

 

[greyflash]

Gordon,

I will give WHCC a try and compare with local Costco. I'm curious how big is the difference.

Are they printing 8x12 ? I see only 8x10

What finish did you use Lustre / Glossy / Metallic ?

Any tips would be helpful

When you go through their registration process they will do five 8x10 prints for you free and in addition send you a booklet explaining the entire process. Like I say it is a little difficult to get started but once there it is quite simple. You will also receive six 4x6 prints with the different finishes on them. I have been printing 8x10 but you can get custom prints in any size that you want. Their customer service is excellent and if you upload prints on the weekend you will have them delivered to your door by Wednesday. Minimum order is $12.00.

I like there lustre prints the best but also like their linen finish and have tried their Kodak Metalic finish and it is quite nice for some images. The metalic finish is 20% higher in cost. I have placed four large orders with them so far and they have been excellent.

 

[GeeJay]

Thanks very much, Gordon.
This is very helpful information and I'll try it.

Best,
Gaye

 

[JerseyJay]

Gordon,

Thanks a lot. I will give them a call tomorrow and ask for "not standard" sizes. I wonder if they will print 8x12 and if that will cost me extra.

 

[greyflash]

Gaye, Jay, I'm glad this post was of some help. I think you will like WHCC.

 

[Gale]

gordon,
Good info. Have considered using them. All reports on them over the years has been good.

How do you size your file. What color space do you use.

Thanks
Gale

 

[JerseyJay]

How do you size your file. What color space do you use.

Gale,
You could read all the details here http://www.whcc.com/pricing/WHCC_2005_Pricing.pdf

 

[mrdinh]

gordon, i've been using them for a little while now...what i like about them is for large prints...you can send them a image file with the exact print size you want and they will upsize it for you...free...not sure what method they use but i'm happy with the results

 

[Jarrell]

All my printing is done by WHCC. I calibrated my monitor with an Eye One unit, got the 5 8x10 test prints made by them and have been a customer ever since. You do need an Ftp program to upload to them, but there are a few free ones out there if you don't have one.
Jarrell

 

[greyflash]

gordon,
Good info. Have considered using them. All reports on them over the years has been good.

How do you size your file. What color space do you use.

Thanks

WHCC requires you to size to the actual print size at 300 DPI and saved as a JPEG at quality level 10 in sRGB color space.

 

[JerseyJay]

I know this is probably another topic but I'm still thinking about calibration device. If it wasn't for $200+ I would buy it now but damn..... that's a down payment for nice lens.

What are your thoughts. Is there something else less expensive or is it "ok" to print without calibration. So far my Costco prints were close to what I see in person.

 

[greyflash]

I know this is probably another topic but I'm still thinking about calibration device. If it wasn't for $200+ I would buy it now but damn..... that's a down payment for nice lens.

What are your thoughts. Is there something else less expensive or is it "ok" to print without calibration. So far my Costco prints were close to what I see in person.

I too struggled with the this expense but finally broke down and bought it. That said, WHCC will send back your five free prints and you can compare them to your monitor display of the same images and if you are satisfied you could skip the calibration device. Keep in mind that any monitor will drift or change over time. I personally calibrate my monitor every month. What it really boils down to is whether or not you are satisfied with the prints you are getting from the printer. If not I would look inward and not at the printer as being at fault.

 

[JerseyJay]

FYI,

I called WHCC and asked for 8x12 format. They don't have it listed but will print 8x12 on 10x12 paper for $3.35. They can cut the empty area for $.25 each.

They are still waiting for 8x12 paper, which should be available soon.

 

[Jarrell]

Gordon, I bought and use the Eye One calibrator and have been pleased with the results. If monitors would just stay the same with one calibration it would be great, but they don't. Maybe one day they will. The area that I found periodic calibration was of benefit was in portraits of people, I was constantly getting slight color casts in the skin tone. Once I starting using the Eye One that problem was easier to deal with.
Now.... all that said... there a many very very good photographers that don't believe in calibration at all. They simply adjust their monitors to the printing output. This photographer is one of them..
http://www.portranet.com/
So, who is correct and who isn't... I really don't know. But I do know I'm more satisfied with an calibrator than without.
Jarrell

 

[greyflash]

Gordon, I bought and use the Eye One calibrator and have been pleased with the results. If monitors would just stay the same with one calibration it would be great, but they don't. Maybe one day they will. The area that I found periodic calibration was of benefit was in portraits of people, I was constantly getting slight color casts in the skin tone. Once I starting using the Eye One that problem was easier to deal with.
Now.... all that said... there a many very very good photographers that don't believe in calibration at all. They simply adjust their monitors to the printing output. This photographer is one of them..
http://www.portranet.com/
So, who is correct and who isn't... I really don't know. But I do know I'm more satisfied with an calibrator than without.
Jarrell

I do know that many just adjust their monitors to the print output but I find that difficult and open for vagaries in vision. I like the Blue Eye 2 that I use with my LaCie CRT monitor because it automatically adjusts it with no intervention on my part. Makes it pretty simple and fast to run.

Thanks for your response Jarrell. Whatever you are doing keep it up as your images look really great to my eye.

 

[greyflash]

FYI,

I called WHCC and asked for 8x12 format. They don't have it listed but will print 8x12 on 10x12 paper for $3.35. They can cut the empty area for $.25 each.

They are still waiting for 8x12 paper, which should be available soon.

Yes Jay I knew that. I was just attempting to point out that they will print to any custom size for a fee. I have had them print an odd size for me and then I just trimmed my own image to size.