Most new photographers have little print experience. Of course, we all printed our images on our home printer or sent them to a local discount store for printing. Some of us have tried consumer labs, such as MPix, Shutterfly, Winkflash, or Flickr. Although these laboratories can produce high-quality prints at good prices, they are often not set up to ensure consistent performance through such interfaces that business photography must remain effective. For example, the ability to use online order management tools, such as the ROES (Remore Order Entry System) and FTP (File Transfer Protocol), is often a key requirement for a photographer who does normal printing work.
When I entered the professional business, I spent some time evaluating print laboratories and learned how to interact with laboratories. I found that most labs will work with new photographers when setting up an account, test prints and developing the interface between the photographer and the lab. During this trip, I identified several areas that you may want to consider when searching for print laboratories that will become your business partners.
Evaluation criteria for a performance evaluation lab
Cost of
Often the first thing you are looking for. Look at the unit price. If you are planning to do a lot of print checks, the cost of a bulk proof of 4x5 or 4x6 is important to you. If your main implementation will be 5x7 or 8x10, pay attention to the good prices for them. If you will be sending small orders (less than 20 hard copies per order), see if they have minimum order quantities. Also figure in the shipping if it is separately.
I like to identify a couple of “typical” order scenarios and evaluate them in different laboratories, such as:
Proof: 150 proof 4x6, without color correction
Small order: 5 wallet sheets, 5 8x10s and 10 5x7, without color correction
Large order: 20 wallet sheets, 30 8x10s, 5 11x14 and 60 5x7, without color correction
Find out how much each lab will be charged for your typical orders, including shipping.
Qualitative
It is not easy to evaluate objectively. First, you MUST color adjust your monitor with the profiling tools! I suggest choosing three or four representative images from your portfolio and printing them in each laboratory. Each image should be 300 dpi in print resolution - or in pixels for 8x10, 2400x3000 pixels. Choose at least one color of the headshot if you take photos of people, at least one black and white (transformed color space, not B & W space), and some with bright primary colors, especially red and yellow. Each of the laboratories of the printing device will have a different color profile, and the prints will be different. Without getting into profiling lab printers, you want to understand how their equipment prints your images.
If your lab offers color correction as part of an implementation, and you want to use it, ask some of the test images to be corrected in color and some not to set some measurements of exposure.
Delivery
How fast will the lab turn around your standard printing products? How about more complex printed items, such as cutting, lining, canvas, gallery wrapping, printing of printed items, books and specialty items? Most laboratories will list standard processing times for different types of printing. When you perform the samples, make sure that you mark their processing time.
Many laboratories will have a cut-off time for next day delivery. I know at least one big lab in which the third shift leaves on Sunday evening to catch all the orders for the weekend and send them on Monday. This is a huge benefit for those who like to quickly translate their customers.
service
I group tools and respond to Services. How easy is it for me to order what I need, track my orders, know when they are shipped, and contact someone if I have problems?
Loading mechanisms - The minimum requirement for me is a good ROES system, where I can drag images and send them on the Internet. If the ROES system has many options for titration, multi-frame collages, etc., this is a plus.
Responsiveness - If I have a problem, I like to talk with a warm body. I run my business after normal working hours, so if someone answers the call after 5 pm EST, this is great for me. Getting an answer by email or phone by mid-day the next day is an absolute requirement.
Extra mile - Some laboratories succeed in packaging, can be traced and actively interact. When I switched my high-volume winter work from one lab to another, the old guys called me and we discussed well why I switched. Based on this feedback, I returned to them for some of my other affairs. The same lab sometimes throws candy in a box. Good fun!
packaging - In some laboratories there is unsuitable packaging, where the product is always preserved. They include 2-day delivery in the price of the product. Others place the product in an envelope and hope that it will not be crushed or bent along the way. Believe me, there is nothing more unpleasant than opening an envelope to see bent or crumpled prints!
Load / Work Capability - I already mentioned ROES at a minimum. If the lab has special software for book design and other special items, it is even better. Online order overview and tracking and tracking of shipments are excellent.
Drop ship - The ability for the laboratory to discard ship orders from customers in unmarked packaging may be required for you. Check them out with your mother's sample order!
Product features
Newer photographers may not know the whole scope of products offered outside traditional glossy or glossy printing. There are metal prints, special papers, stickers, tiles, canvas, products for printing and a huge range of photo products.
Related books - Available in many sizes from 4x6 to 11x14 and above, these books are great ways to show proofs of a session to clients, you have to do it. Many buyers will also buy them if they look good enough!
Canvas products - canvas gallery wraps, where the image is wrapped around the inner frame, is now very popular and is an excellent upsell.
Printed products for printing - produced on printing machines, the quality of products is often very high, and laboratories offer books, posters, brochures, stamps, greeting cards and more.
New items - Stickers, tags, dry erase boards, cups, coasters, cutouts, puzzles, clothes, and more. You can perform basic printing in one lab and make your special items in another lab.
Summary
You need to do your homework. Find "Professional Printing Laboratories" and other keywords. Check out their offers and prices. Ask them to print demo prints. Make a scorecard. You will probably use this lab for many years, so choose carefully!
