Where to Print Photographs
You might think that because we make archival albums and binders, we would prefer our local photo lab when it comes time to print digital photos. Or that we would send our photos to one of the many online labs to be printed.
The truth is, we print most of our photos at CVS. Yes, the one-hour option at our local pharmacy.
Why? We put photos into two different categories: everyday prints for albums and binders, and larger prints or those worth framing.
Local One-Hour Printing
When it comes to making a family album at the end of every year (one of our traditions!) we use local, one-hour printing. The technology that most pharmacy printers utilize is called dye sublimation. This process is quick, affordable, and high enough quality for albums and binders.
Photos emerge completely dry, smudge-proof, and waterproof the instant they exit the machine. The quality is good enough for our needs, and today's dye-sublimation prints can be long-lasting when properly stored.
Photo Printing Labs
But if "good enough" is the starting point, where do we go for photos that may be subject to direct light or the environment? For larger photos, or photos we expect to frame, we use our local lab, which uses the silver halide process.
This is the gold standard for wedding albums.
Both processes are similar in one important respect: dye sublimation and silver halide are continuous-tone printing processes. The difference is in the range of colors and tones, and in the paper.
While our local one-hour printer produces prints with very good color reproduction, silver halide labs use higher-quality photographic paper, and the printing process can reproduce a wider gamut, allowing for better blacks and more subtle color variations.
The question we ask ourselves is: how much better? Is a lab worth the expense over one-hour printing?
Sometimes.
If we print anything larger than either 4x6 or 5x7, we always use a lab. When we print our yearly photos for our annual year-in-review album, we use one-hour printing. So what are the pros and cons of one-hour photo printing versus photo labs?
One-Hour vs Lab Printing
DYE SUBLIMATION (ONE HOUR PRINTING)
Pros: Affordable, quick, simple, good quality
Cons: Better quality is available elsewhere
SILVER HALIDE (LABS)
Pros: Higher quality, and oftentimes technicians are available to talk with before printing
Cons: More expensive, longer wait time
Online Photo Printing Services
We could share a TOP TEN ONLINE PHOTO PRINTERS IN (insert year here) for Google searches, but that would get stale fast, and we're not familiar with all of them.
Our recommendation has always been: use the photo printer you trust.
If you have an account with Mpix, Shutterfly, or Snapfish, and you're happy with their services, there's no need to look elsewhere. The technologies used by online printers are generally similar to those we've already discussed, so the choice is often simply a matter of convenience, experience, and trust.
Glossy vs. Matte
This may be a personal preference, but we choose a matte finish when we're printing 4x6 or 5x7 photos for photo albums.
The benefits of matte-finished prints are simple: there are fewer reflections when viewing them, the texture reduces fingerprints on the photos, they slide in and out of photo sleeves more easily without sticking, and they're softer and have a more natural, organic feel.
However, there is one situation where we prefer gloss to matte: photos that will be framed behind glass.
In this case, a gloss finish allows for greater sharpness and detail, especially when viewed behind glass in a frame.
The Photograph Is More Important Than the Printer
It's easy to get caught up in paper types, printing technologies, color reproduction, and how long a photograph might last.
Those things matter. But perhaps not as much as the photograph itself.
For the photographs of our everyday lives, we think "good enough" really can be good enough. The family vacation. The birthday party. The cat asleep on the sofa. The photograph of everyone around the dinner table.
Someday, the thing that matters about that photograph probably won't be whether the blacks could have been a little deeper or whether a professional lab could have reproduced a slightly wider range of colors.
It will be who's in the photograph.
If worrying about where to print your photographs is keeping you from printing them at all, use the pharmacy around the corner. Pick up twenty prints tomorrow.
You can always use the professional lab for the photograph you're going to hang over the fireplace.
Photo Longevity
How long will a printed photograph last?
There's no single answer.
The printing process matters, but so do light, heat, humidity, air quality, the materials touching the photograph, and how the photograph is stored.
A photograph hanging on a sunny wall has a very different life from the same photograph kept inside a closed album. Direct light is particularly hard on photographs, which is another reason we'll spend more money on prints we intend to frame and display.
Photographs kept in albums have an advantage: most of the time, they're in the dark.
They're also protected from some of the everyday handling, dust, and environmental exposure that comes with displaying a photograph.
So while print longevity is worth considering, we wouldn't choose where to print our everyday family photographs based on a lifespan claim alone.
Use a reputable printing service. Keep your photographs away from excessive heat, humidity, and prolonged direct sunlight. And if you're putting them into an album or binder, use materials intended for the long-term storage of photographs.
That's where the album itself starts to matter.
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