Posted by Brian Jackson on October 4, 2009 at 6:28 PM
I know several people here use CostCo for smaller prints. Well they now are able to print 16x20 and 20x30 locally. A 20x30 is a whole $9, which is just too cheap. I believe they are using the Epson 7880. I just printed one out this weekend and it looks pretty good.
Posted by Bryan Maltais on October 4, 2009 at 6:34 PM
Do you have to be a member to use their photo services?
Posted by Jody Grigg on October 4, 2009 at 6:48 PM
Yes you have to be a member Bryan, but it only costs around $40-50 if I remember for the basic membership, well worth it IMO.
Posted by Roger Rouch on October 4, 2009 at 7:01 PM
That's great news! I've used them a lot for smaller prints with good results. I wonder if they will be changing their printer profiles?
Posted by bill meikle on October 4, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Like Sam's they are fast and cheap but you will get better quality from online companies, for a few dollars more a few more days to ship. It is horses for courses, cheap and fast or slightly more expensive and much better quality.
You do need to monitor Sam's and Costco quality too, watch for print lines, roller marks and finger creases. They should always run a clean cycle on the Epson printer before you use it.
Costco at least get their printers calibrated, Sam's don't.
Posted by Chris Rice on October 4, 2009 at 8:26 PM
Interesting. They used to use Snapfish's services for 20x30s. That was in 2006... and they were HORRIFIC looking - so bad I sent them back for a refund.
The Noritsu machines at the centers are super - calibrated daily at Arvada (allegedly)
The 7880s must be running nonstop - which is what theyre designed for.
I have used Costco. In the beginning I was very pleased and I liked the inexpensive prints. Due to where I live, I needed to have them shipped back to me. Over the period of one year, I stopped using them altogether. It was too much of a crapshoot if I would get usable prints. The best one was 4 prints from a digital file. I got 2 prints each with different color casts. I will not use them for anything I plan on selling. I tried the calendars this year for personal use and they came out fine.
Posted by Les Barstow on October 6, 2009 at 3:59 PM
Corinna,
It's been my experience that the shipped Costco prints aren't up to the same quality as the walk-ins. Most of the stores have printers calibrated with ICC profiles available at DryCreekPhoto.com; for cheap prints with good quality, they're hard to beat.
I am very very interested in which Costco had the Epson on-site for printing large prints, and what their color profile policy is on those prints. More information, please, Brian!
Posted by Brian Jackson on October 6, 2009 at 4:28 PM
I'd have to agree with the comments that Costco prints are not always going to be up to par with the online pro prints like whcc or west coast, but the one that I have used (CostCo in Parker) I have had really good results. I can't really tell the difference between whcc and CostCo in the 8x10 and smaller. I have had issues when printing glossy as half the time I see lines in the prints. But if I print lustre which most of the time is what I do, they come out great. I'm sure the prints depend on what store you go to.
As far as my 20x30 print, I don't think they have any profiles yet so I just used sRGB and sized it for 360 ppi. It came out pretty close to what I had on the screen. I have to admit the picture is not perfect. Looking at it from 1 foot away I can see a few horizontal lines. But stand back at 3 - 5 feet and I can't see them. At 20x30 I don't see me standing 1 ft away to often.
I use CostCo to test my prints. Basically I print them out there and once I like them I send them off to whcc. You just can't beat a 12x18 for under $3. And now I can test 16x20 for $7 and 20x30 for $9. If I like them I'll send them out to a pro lab but will spend 3 - 4 times the amount, but I will know the print will look good and I won't had to redo it.
I just order a 20x30 of the exact print I did at Costco from whcc. Should be here on Wed. I'll compare the results and pass them on if you would like.
Discussion
9 repliesYou do need to monitor Sam's and Costco quality too, watch for print lines, roller marks and finger creases. They should always run a clean cycle on the Epson printer before you use it.
Costco at least get their printers calibrated, Sam's don't.
The Noritsu machines at the centers are super - calibrated daily at Arvada (allegedly)
The 7880s must be running nonstop - which is what theyre designed for.
You can get Costco profiles from Dry Creek Photo.
The Rockies are in the NLDS.
Broncos 4-0.
It's been my experience that the shipped Costco prints aren't up to the same quality as the walk-ins. Most of the stores have printers calibrated with ICC profiles available at DryCreekPhoto.com; for cheap prints with good quality, they're hard to beat.
I am very very interested in which Costco had the Epson on-site for printing large prints, and what their color profile policy is on those prints. More information, please, Brian!
As far as my 20x30 print, I don't think they have any profiles yet so I just used sRGB and sized it for 360 ppi. It came out pretty close to what I had on the screen. I have to admit the picture is not perfect. Looking at it from 1 foot away I can see a few horizontal lines. But stand back at 3 - 5 feet and I can't see them. At 20x30 I don't see me standing 1 ft away to often.
I use CostCo to test my prints. Basically I print them out there and once I like them I send them off to whcc. You just can't beat a 12x18 for under $3. And now I can test 16x20 for $7 and 20x30 for $9. If I like them I'll send them out to a pro lab but will spend 3 - 4 times the amount, but I will know the print will look good and I won't had to redo it.
I just order a 20x30 of the exact print I did at Costco from whcc. Should be here on Wed. I'll compare the results and pass them on if you would like.
Hope this helps.