Hi folks...I'm curious to check out Costco's photo printing services given their unbeatable prices...but I'm not able to give them a large .tiff file, or even a large .jpg file. It seems that their in-store kiosks and on-line servers only handle the small native sizes of say a 10MP camera. If any have you have prints done at Costco, how do you submit your files to them? Are you satisfied with them?
Hello Kartik. I use Costco to print proofs for my portrait clients by uploading the files to the website. For portraits and photographs I give to clients I use another lab. I've used Costco for their poster-size prints for my own personal use and have been pleased, however my standards are a little lower for stuff I hang on my own walls. Costco's prices can't be beat for proofing.
Posted by Dan Truong on December 5, 2007 at 7:04 AM
I have printed with Costco before. The price/quality is pretty good, but you should not expect the same service as a pro photo lab. It surely is good enough to hand on the wall.
I think I generated JPG for them. There's no point giving them a TIFF or anything since they won't touch it up. Just a good quality 3 to 6Mpix JPG is fine.
Kartik: if you use a calibrated and color-managed workflow, and use Dry Creek Photo's excellent and FREE Costco printer profiles, you can expect EXCELLENT prints! I have used them for prints 12x18 and smaller, and print accuracy is always astounding (from my Costco anyway). I'm not very fond of their consumer-style Fuji Crystal Archive "Luster" paper (cheap-looking surface and thin), but the glossy prints are very nice. I only wish that they offered Crystal Archive with the 'Matte' surface that pro labs do.
All, thanks for the info. Michael, since you shoot 4x5" film, I'm curious how you submit your files to Costco. While a DSLR's native output .jpg is small, even a 12x18" 300 dpi scan of a 4x5" print should be a large file of about 25MB in .jpg. How did you submit a file of this size to Costco?
Discussion
5 repliesI think I generated JPG for them. There's no point giving them a TIFF or anything since they won't touch it up. Just a good quality 3 to 6Mpix JPG is fine.