Commercial Printing???

[Jazzys Mom]

Hi,

I don't want to print my pages on my printer. I would like to be able to upload them to somewhere like Walmart or Walgreens to be printed. I tried to upload them to Walmart but they only accept JPEG images and of course these are not. Is there any way to change them to JPEG's so I can upload them? Has anyone had their pages printed before?

Thanks
Lynn

[omio]

Is there any way to change them to JPEG's so I can upload them? Has anyone had their pages printed before?

Welcome, Lynn -- you're going to love this place. :D

You'll get an answer from someone who's a bit more knowledgeable than I am, but they'll need to know what software you're using. (If it's Photoshop or PSE, you can "save as" and choose jpeg.)

Hope you get some good responses on the printing. I'm finding that I'm choosing to print most of my layouts at 8 x 8, and I sure would like to find a place that could do a good job for me.

[Jazzys Mom]

Thanks for replying. I am very new at digital scrapbookingand have downloaded a trial of Scrapbook Max and also Scrapbook Flair, mainly because they are so easy to use. I also have Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and ULead Photo Impact and Paint Shop Pro 9.0. I was never good at any of these programs (we were in video production a few years ago) as the learning curve is sooooo steep. I am thinking of buying Scrapbook Studio Deluxe but I don't want to spend the money if I can't get the pages printed or at least change the pages to JPEG.

Lynn

[Becky Soto]

I have only tried Kinko's and Office Max for printing, and I was supremely disappointed. They do not use a "photo printer" but rather a "copier printer" and the prints came back of really poor quality. However, I found this thread HERE (http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8319&highlight=printing+layouts) that lists some sites that do scrapbook printing. Hope that helps!

[PaintedRanch]

Hello Lynn

In paint shop pro 9 go to file then export and then jpeg optimizer. This will do the trick. You can also do a save as and save the image as a jpeg

[Jazzys Mom]

Thanks guys! I have a little better hand on printing now. According to the thread you posted for me to check out, Costco does printing so I may try that. If I can ever master PSP 9.0 then all I have to do is save as a JPEG I guess.

Lynn

[kompressor]

Hi,

I don't want to print my pages on my printer. I would like to be able to upload them to somewhere like Walmart or Walgreens to be printed. I tried to upload them to Walmart but they only accept JPEG images and of course these are not. Is there any way to change them to JPEG's so I can upload them? Has anyone had their pages printed before?

Thanks
Lynn

since you have photoshop 7, you can either use the batch edit under file>automate or set up an action, this will be the fastest way to convert to .jpg

I would look at costco online service. the print quality is second to none.
As far as Walmart goes, I once took in a digital file to be an 8x10 and the colors were so far off I through it away (I asked for my money get and they told me I get what I get as far as prints goes)

I then took the same pic to costco and the colors matched EXACTLY

I will NEVER use Walmart again.

randy

[Jazzys Mom]

Thank you Randy. I think I will look into Costco. I just looked at Walmart and they don't off anything larger than 8 X 10. Several pictures I have uploaded to them didn't look too good either. I'll give Costco a whirl.

Do most of you do 12 X 12 or smaller albums? I have done both 8 X 10 albums and 12 X 12 in paper scrapbooking, but just wondered if doing digital would make any difference

Lynn

[omio]

I work in 12x12 and print 8x8. Can do it at home if I want, and I like the size of the albums -- easy to hold or put on a table. Started out with 8x10, but a square is just so much more flexible.

[kompressor]

I work in 12x12 and print 8x8. Can do it at home if I want, and I like the size of the albums -- easy to hold or put on a table. Started out with 8x10, but a square is just so much more flexible.

We do this also. We save the 12x12 as a .psd, then I reduce a copy to 8x8 psd, then use the save for the web option in photoshop for digitalscrapbookplace

when I want to print, I drag the 8x8 .psd onto a 8x12 background (this is the size our local costco prints). I choose to fill the backgroud with 50% grey. why? because some times a printer, if not adjusted manually, will try to "average" the prints highlights and shadows.... if your layout has lots of, lets say winter whites, it may print out middle greys due to the averaging.( if you ever taken a picture of a winter scene with the old style film camera and it was printed as greys instead of white, its the same thing as what I am referring to)
I figure (can't be proven) that if the backgroud has 50% grey, the printer will "see" this and not be tricked.
I am very confident in our costco as they visually look at every print and match it by eye, but other places don't.
besides, when you get the 10x12 printed, as long as you have the 8x8 in the middle, rest of the print (the grey area) gets cut off.

what I have been doing is making the 8x8 7.9"x7.9", that way I don't loose any from the bottom or top of the print.
I then flatten the image and save as .tiff (bigger file then .jpg but prints the maxium colors)

You can skip the 12x 12 step and go right for 8x8, but we hope someday that costco will have a printer that will accomadate 12x12


if you are lost in what I said, the major thing to remember is to make a 8x12 background that is 50% grey color (for costco) drag your 8x8 in the middle, flatten it and save as .tiff

hope this helps

randy

oops, after reading your origanal post, if you are sending them online, then use .jpg instead of .tiff

[Lis]

Thanks Randy! That helped me as well, because I have the same question. Unfortunately, I live in an area that does not have a Costco. I wonder if I could access their printing service online. Also, how do you make a background 50% gray?

Lis

[omio]

I am very new at digital scrapbooking and... have Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and ... I was never good at any of these programs (we were in video production a few years ago) as the learning curve is sooooo steep.

Lynn, I would advise you to look at the free tutorials at http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/tutorials.shtml#PS and also at fee-based Digital Scrapbook University classes at http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/classes.shtml.

I started out buying a couple of "easy" programs, got frustrated with their restrictions, and ended up buying PSE and taking DSU160 with Emma, which is an AWESOME class with an AWESOME teacher! ;)

I've moved to PS CS now and I'm still using my printouts from DSU160. You might want to think about investing $30 in DSU110 at http://store.digitalscrapbookplace.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=361 especially since you already have PS.

If I had it to do over again, I would have gone straight for PS and DSU110 -- would have saved myself lots of money and aggravation. :D

[Jazzys Mom]

I have done the free tutorial on PS and also on PSP. Just too much work involved in them for me. I just want something that is easy without the steep learning curve. I just enjoy playing around with doing some pages on the computer. Don't want to invest a lot of money or time in learning these programs --- too much like study or work to me.:p When I did the free tutorial on PS it was frustrating to me and I STILL couldn't get the page right. I can't seem to get the picture small enough to fit on the background. I have checked the size and resolution of both so thats not it. When I size the picture down I just lose a part of the picture! Just way too frustrating. I'm looking at Scrapbook Factory Deluxe and if I can find out if it can change the images to JPEG for printing I'll probably buy it. I just want to drag and drop

Lynn

[omio]

Now, see???? I love the bells and whistles and having all that control over the application -- guess that's what separates us true nerds from the girls. :D :D

I started with Scrapbook Factory and it's a good program. I didn't have any trouble printing layouts on my own printer but can't remember what the format was.

Whatever you use, you'll have fun. You've surely picked the right website to join. ;)

[Jazzys Mom]

Oh yes! This site is great and everyone is soooo nice and helpful! I'm going to like it here!

Lynn

[omio]

I just went to the CostCo website and it looks like they outsource to Snapfish. We've used snapfish.com for about a year and have gotten incredible prints. Are CostCo's prices better than the Snapfish site?

[KittyDog]

I have tried three places now for printing. Snapfish I did not like the quality plus there was no way to zoom out so you could get a true 8 x 8 page. I loved Kodak.com. If you wanting your LO to look like a glossy photo with great quality this is the place. The price is just a wee bit expensive but well worth it to me. If you want it to look like you printed it from a ink jet printer then you could try this place. http://www.sbtoshare.com/ I personally did not like them either. I could see the ink lines and frankly my printer prints better than the samples I got from them.

[rb915ak]

I have used costco and have had nothing but great results. The prints always make me happy. Costco will send your pictures to you (free of charge for standard shipping). When you upload your pictures, be careful of their cropping. I always use their cropping tool to make sure they won't try to enlarge it to fit the page and cut off the edges of your layout.

I use scrapbook factory deluxe 3.0 to do all of my layouts. When you are satisfied with your layouts there is a way to save them as jpegs. It takes me a little extra time to save each LO that way, but I think it's worth the few seconds.

Good luck on your printing journey.
Andrea

[Jazzys Mom]

Oh, thanks you all! Everyone is sooooo nice and helpful here!

Andrea, its nice to hear that someone uses Scrapbook Factory Deluxe with good results and that you can save as JPEG's. That was one thing I was worried about - that and if the LO's look as professional as the ones from PS or PSP. Obviously, they do!

Lynn

[kompressor]

Thanks Randy! That helped me as well, because I have the same question. Unfortunately, I live in an area that does not have a Costco. I wonder if I could access their printing service online. Also, how do you make a background 50% gray?

Lis
If you are using photoshop cs2 (I am not sure if previous versions has this option)
click on your background layer (I assume it will be white at this point)
Edit>Fill.
from the drop down menu for the choices (sorry I don't have my computer in front of me so I can't remember the exact things the drop down menu says)
one of the choices should be 50% grey.

As far as online, I believe Costco does have that service.
hope this answers you question :)

randy

[kompressor]

I just went to the CostCo website and it looks like they outsource to Snapfish. We've used snapfish.com for about a year and have gotten incredible prints. Are CostCo's prices better than the Snapfish site?

I don't know about snapfish, but when I go to the costco they have their own printers.
I think if I was you, I would call and ask first :)

good luck

[kompressor]

I have used costco and have had nothing but great results. The prints always make me happy. Costco will send your pictures to you (free of charge for standard shipping). When you upload your pictures, be careful of their cropping. I always use their cropping tool to make sure they won't try to enlarge it to fit the page and cut off the edges of your layout.

I use scrapbook factory deluxe 3.0 to do all of my layouts. When you are satisfied with your layouts there is a way to save them as jpegs. It takes me a little extra time to save each LO that way, but I think it's worth the few seconds.

Good luck on your printing journey.
Andrea

when I print at costco, if I want, lets say an 8x8 layout on 8x12 paper, I reduce the 8x8 to 7.9x7.9. that way I won't loose anything on the top or bottom.
Also, never leave croping to any printer, it is best to crop the size in your photo editor instead.
when I order the prints at costco, I tell them not to crop it as it is already croped it to the exact size I want. that way it comes out exactly the way I want.
I also calibrate my monitors, so I tell them not to adjust the exposure of the prints in anyway. That way I have EXACTLY the print I wanted.

hope this helps

cheers all!

[my2mckids]

I have used a website called sb2share.com (I think that's the correct site) It's a company called scrapbooks to share, based out of Florida. You may choose to download or send them a disc, which they return. They print on cardstock, photo paper, and one other media that I can't remember. If you download a page, they will send you free sample on each type of medium which was useful to judge the quality. Absolutely excellent photo printing (I'm not sure if they can do 12 x 12) can be done online at www.mpix.com. I have used this service a couple of times and was thrilled with the quality - places like shutterfly do not even come close.