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Archive 2016 · Costco printing at the club

  
 
vkobayas
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Costco printing at the club


Can someone please enlighten me on how to print at Costco so my prints match or even come close to matching what is on the screen. Just a little background, I calibrate my Dell IPS monitor with an X-Rite Colormunki. The file is edited in Lightroom and I choose do not color correct in the Costco settings. When I pick up the pictures the results are nowhere near what I thought it would be. The pictures are darker and there is often a color cast.

I heard there are printer profiles for the particular printer at Costco but how do I incorporate that in my post processing? Is there somewhere in Lightroom that I choose to use that particular printer profile? The reason I keep using Costco is that their holiday cards are very reasonable compared to the competition but I'm starting to think the cost is not worth the frustration. On a side note, I do the same process for files that I send to Adoramapix and the results come out amazing.



Dec 28, 2016 at 08:28 PM
rodmcwha
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Costco printing at the club


My guess would be the operator at Costco. He may be ignoring the "do not" The differences that a profile would make, while noticeable, should not be that extreme.


Dec 28, 2016 at 10:02 PM
gregfountain
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Costco printing at the club


One of the mistakes I made in the past was having my camera set to record images in sRGB, and then importing them into Lightroom as AdobeRGB. Make sure they match or the printer you send them to, including Costco, won't know which profile to use....I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure the Noritsu Printers Costco uses can handle sRGB or AdobeRGB without issue.....


Dec 28, 2016 at 11:33 PM
edl415
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Costco printing at the club


vkobayas wrote:
...
I heard there are printer profiles for the particular printer at Costco but how do I incorporate that in my post processing? Is there somewhere in Lightroom that I choose to use that particular printer profile?...



Here are the printer profiles for Hawaii Costco:

https://www.drycreekphoto.com/icc/Profiles/Hawaii_profiles.htm

Install the printer profile, select soft proofing, and add the printer profile under proof settings in LR develop module.



Dec 29, 2016 at 12:51 AM
wlpelzmann
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Costco printing at the club


Except for using the Costco printer profiles, you seem to be doing everything correctly - especially since the Adoramapix prints look good. I agree the Costco profiles should not make that great of a difference, but definitely give them a try for your specific store.

I frequently use Costco for 20"x30" prints and have never experienced your problem. If you have an alternative Costco nearby, I would give it a try and see if you get the same results.



Dec 29, 2016 at 04:17 AM
Ken_K
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Costco printing at the club


I've had the same problem in the past with Costco. I picked up an order several years ago and it had all the problems you mentioned. I submitted the exact same order to a different Costco store and the photos were perfect.


Dec 29, 2016 at 05:58 AM
OntheRez
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Costco printing at the club


Drycreek is their outsource for the metallic prints. Perhaps ego on my part, but haven't been impressed with the small number I've had them do. Best deal I've gotten was a stack of sports posters (Cubs and various NFL teams) nicely matted and framed. Rip the image out of it, fit your own, and viola - a $50 frame job for a 16x20 print.

Robert



Dec 29, 2016 at 09:29 AM
Mark Sisco
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Costco printing at the club


The only thing I've ever had to do in addition to monitor profiling, etc., is to 1) submit the images in sRGB and 2) ensure "autocorrect" is turned off so that their printer does not make exposure and color corrections. This assumes the lab does a consistent/great job with profiling and chemistry on their end, which mine does.


Dec 29, 2016 at 09:47 AM
vkobayas
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Costco printing at the club


Thank you everyone for your kind responses. I'll try all of the suggestions and see how it turns out.


Jan 05, 2017 at 07:27 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Costco printing at the club


Return those prints directly to that Costco photo counter and tell them to redo them lighter and remove the color cast.


Jan 05, 2017 at 09:33 PM
OntheRez
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Costco printing at the club


Mark Sisco wrote:
The only thing I've ever had to do in addition to monitor profiling, etc., is to 1) submit the images in sRGB and 2) ensure "autocorrect" is turned off so that their printer does not make exposure and color corrections. This assumes the lab does a consistent/great job with profiling and chemistry on their end, which mine does.


Mark,

The local Costco's around here ONLY take JPEG at least according to a pair of managers I've talked with. Assuming they left the OP's PP in good shape, COSTCO needs to reprint and show him a proof before running. Some of the folks on the machines really don't know what they are doing.

Robert



Jan 06, 2017 at 12:12 PM
CanadaMark
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Costco printing at the club


If your photos are coming out dark, your monitor might still be too bright even after calibration - a lot of people's are. Do you know the cd/m2 you calibrated at? The right brightness at the end of the day is what matches the print, but I calibrate mine at 100 cd/m2 and it's perfect for prints, so that might be a good starting point. Also make sure when you're judging photo brightness that you do so under the light it will be viewed in - prints often look very dark, but come to life when hit with some light.

Regarding color, make sure you're using sRGB start to finish, and if there is an actual color cast over the whole image that would suggest maybe you aren't seeing it as well as you think you are on the monitor, or there could be an issue on the printer side. Try the actual printer's color Profile and see what happens.



Jan 06, 2017 at 12:22 PM
retrofocus
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Costco printing at the club


The DryCreekPhoto printer profiles normally work well with the Costco printers - made only good experience so far. Make sure that you disabled the checkmark box at the end of the photo submission process with Costco to avoid automated color correction.

Main disadvantage with Costco prints is the limited choice of papers and especially the thin paper thickness. But overall Costco is an excellent option to have photos printed with their available printer profiles.



Jan 06, 2017 at 12:59 PM





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