Wal-Mart printer

[JohnT]

How well does the printer at Wal-Mart, the one you use yourself, print in terms of color faithfulness? Someone just ordered two 4x6 prints of an image from an event, but I'm not about to get them from Mpix and pay shipping for such a small order.

[kenw]

personally I would use the online process, as it uses the Fuji printer that is normally better maintained (depending on the store of course). Note that it uses a matte paper.

For very small orders like that, I've switched to Walgreens as they allow me to pay when I pick them up. They use the same Fuji printer, but with glossy paper. The one near me does a very good job, but I can't vouch for all of them as the quality will vary with the operator.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by kenw

personally I would use the online process, as it uses the Fuji printer that is normally better maintained (depending on the store of course). Note that it uses a matte paper.

For very small orders like that, I've switched to Walgreens as they allow me to pay when I pick them up. They use the same Fuji printer, but with glossy paper. The one near me does a very good job, but I can't vouch for all of them as the quality will vary with the operator.

Thanks, Ken, I'll check into Walgreens. They're right down the street from me. BTW, when you say "glossy," do you the glossy with no texture whatsoever?

[kenw]

yep, it's definitely glossy. As in fingerprint magnet. But it looks much sharper than matte.

I failed to mention it earlier, but for Walgreen's I'm using the online (Fuji printer) , not the walkup kiosk (Kodak).

[123canon]

i have always had good luck with the HEB's that use the noritsu machine. they print matte and glossy

[DeannaD]

I printed some 4x6's at Ritz last week. I was pleasantly surprised with their quality.

[photonewb]

strangely enough I've had decent luck with the Kodak machines in Target. Also at Kinkos.

[ara.bentley]

i have a Sams membership just so I can use their services! They are super cheap and produce great prints. they also have an online service where you can upload and pick-up in an hour. I never use the do-it-yourself machines.

[toverman]

For such a small order, I'd use my home printer. It's just a $99 Epson R260 (or something like that) and does a surprisingly faithful job. But in a pinch, we've used Ritz for prints up to 16x20 and usually (not always) get good results.

[AndrewCCM]

If you use the provided profiles, I actually find Costco to do a very decent job (at least the one here in Arlington). We use them for all of our snapshot, non-customer images. I use WHCC for everything else.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by toverman

For such a small order, I'd use my home printer. It's just a $99 Epson R260 (or something like that) and does a surprisingly faithful job. But in a pinch, we've used Ritz for prints up to 16x20 and usually (not always) get good results.

I think that's what I'm going to do. I've got a fine Epson R1800 that's just dying to have some 4x6s run through it. I'll just print 'em and mail 'em.