Printing in Sydney

[Grumpy]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here.

I was curious about how you print your images. It seems like our American colleagues have a lot more options when it comes to ordering prints from your own computer via the web etc. What options are there around Sydney?

Personally, I get my 6x4" done at the local Agfa kiosk at our local Big W, and have found they do a good job for about 40c a print. I have printed one 12x18" at a kodak shop, which came out quite nicely, but it was about $25 and I am sure it can be cheaper than that.

Also, how big have you printed? I have heard some people have got great 20x30" shots. Do you need to use any special software to interpolate, or is a bicubic resample with the 10% thing the way to go?

Regards

Adam

[Onyx]

Grumpy - firstly welcome to our forums. Hope you enjoy your time here.

I believe Big W has specials now with 4x6" prints costing only 38 cents. It's certainly getting competitive for prints this size, as the competition heats up. At that price, I believe it's excellent value and much less expensive than the self printing option - even if one had a continuous ink system and could source photographic inkjet paper cheaply in bulk. It's the larger print sizes that the cost of home printing looks more favourable compared to the professional outfits. eg. even one size up to 5x7" prints most places are asking $1 or thereabouts, and when you get to A4 size, it's like $10 each!

I have in the past printed quite a number of 6x4's at the local labs, for placing in an album. For the larger stuff, or sometimes when I can't be bothered going professionally I do home prints on my ~$100 inkjet that has surprisingly great output given its price and single colour ink cartridge. I don't print that often, so I haven't really added up the true cost of home printing but I'm sure it exceeds the labs by a bit. The reason for home printing is the convenience factor and the control over every aspect of the image from capture to output that some people seem to enjoy or even demand.

[Nnnnsic]

I recently went to Photoking in Randwick and got a 20 x 24 inch done... looks brilliant. Cost me just under $20 and took just about 2 business days to do.
However, I did use a plugin called GF PrintPro to make it bigger.

[gstark]

GF == Geniune Fractals, IIRC.

They do make good stuff.

[jdear]

I came across created for life. Basically Ken Duncan set up the printing company because he couldnt find anyone to print his prints at the quality and size he wanted.

they are a little pricey for large photos, Ill certainly use them when Im happy enough with a photo I take.

They use Ilfochrome classic high gloss paper, which has unbelievable colour fastness and image quality.

If you ever hold an photographic exhibition and want to see your photos at high cost, consider using them!

JD

[Flyer]

I print all my 6x4's at home. Have a HiTi 630PL dye sub printer.
I get paper/ribbon from US as they are more then double here (got the printer from US as well).
Works out about 38~45 c a photo. Very happy with the results.
Also do some 8 x10 on my old HP printer. Good for its price, but after seeing some prints from latest batch of printers I am starting to get printer lust..

[MHD]

Too many lusts not enough money

That Ken Duncan site looks nice! Big money though!

[Glen]

Jdear, thanks for that snippet of info re Ken Duncan. Very deceptive by CFL, some of their ads say how Ken Duncan chooses them. I am sure he would if he owns them! Not even mentioned on their website. Well pointed out

[Grumpy]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.

I think I might pass on the Ken Duncan lab. It is convenient to blame the lab for my poor shots, and I can't blame them if Ken Duncan puts his name to them Seriously though, I am a newbie to photography. I am not after perfect prints, but ones good enough to hang on my wall. Not selling them or anything like that.

I think for the moment I will stick with the Big W prints for 6x4s. (I was there today and yes it is 38c a print), but there prices quickly rise for enlargements, and I think they only go to 10x15".

I have done a couple of searches and found two places that do larger prints. (Photoking doesn't publish their pricelist except for by request so I havent tried them yet). Has anyone had any experiences with either
http://www.hydrophotographics.com.au or http://www.fstoponline.com.au?

(Please state any affiliation you have which may bias any comments)

[Dargan]

I haven't used them yet but plan to do larger prints at work. They have an AV section and full graphics capabilities with large size plotters and all the good gear. Many large organisations have similar departments. I work at a university and some of you might consider them although I do not know about comparative pricing. The thing to do is to establish a connection with someone who will take the time and care to calibrate properly and go though the options with you. Not always an option itself I know but in my case I do have a friendly work colleague with a genuine interest in graphics. This might be another case for forum members finding out the best places in each of the capital cities and giving them our seal of approval.