fast!!

[nafeesa]

Okay I need it fast!!!

I am hoping to be able to have my husband give this album to his little girl before he leaves the country.

So, what are the fastest printing times for pages/albums you ladies know of? I've never pritned online before.

I have a page I want to use as the album cover if it is possible. I may be willing to bend on this if I can get the pages fast.

I am willing to either buy an album with protectors and print pages or print hardbound book.

But, the important thing is getting this in hand by July 1-2 if possible.

Please help!

[Tara]

Costco is FAST! If you are a member, you can upload your pages from home and they'll usually be ready for you to pick up within the hour.

You do have to be careful about leaving a border/edge that you don't mind getting cut off, because they do that (most places do) and it is unpredictable where exactly it'll happen. Otherwise, I've had great luck with them. I usually just get an album with page protectors and make the album cover the first page.

[Tara]

P.S. Have you gone to bed yet or have you been up all day as well???

[nafeesa]

oh I woke up around 8pm LOL but i am back at it again.

Tara, this is a great idea. I was looking at scrappingsimply.com as their 8x8 are 99cents, but costco is only 1.49 no shipping and I can get them same day. I think this is who I will use.

should I add a white border so that will bleed off? Or is the edge I loose inconsistent? I'm not sure what to do to get full bleed pages...

[nafeesa]

p.s. I found a lovely butterfly album in 8.5x8.5 and found page protectors in 8x8 size that will fit in that album, so I went ahead and bought those at Target tonight. now I need to fonish up these pages and get them in for printing. wee!

[Tara]

Since you have a little time, I'd upload a page or two and do a test print. I've found that my Costco is pretty unpredictable - sometimes the left edge is cut off, sometimes it is the top...sometimes a little, sometimes a little more. There are two ways around it. Sometimes I leave a white border and then cut off whatever they don't cut off. Othertimes, if there is nothing close to the edge (which is so rare for me - - can't break myself of the habit), then I'll just let them do their thing. You could always put the background paper behind the page so anything "extra" is that color.

But I think a test print would be the way to go. Just remember...what gets cut off might change with each print. But at least you can get a sense of what you like.

Good luck! I'm sure she'll love it!

[nafeesa]

hmmm I'm scared now! Maybe a test is good... but if it really is as random as you say... a test won't be too conclusive?

I'll try it out once it's daylight and see I guess. A lot of my pages are really... well, I can't afford edges cut off.

[Tara]

Sorry - didn't mean to scare you! It is less than 1/4 of an inch that they cut off. Since I like to know what I'm getting, I always just leave a white border and then trim as needed (if needed!). I just say to do a test print to make sure you like the colors (I always tell them NOT to auto correct), quality, etc.

Well, I'm going to bed...but somehow, I don't think you will be!

[nafeesa]

ok I will send in a few for testing then, and go pick them up in the am. Maybe by this afternoon my book can be done. That would be nice!

[Kathleen]

How exciting! Wait until you see your first pages in print!!! I am also a Costco fan, and am very lucky that mine is only a few minutes away. I usually reduce my 12x12 LOs by 98%, which leaves about 1/8" white border on each side. I then hand trim (using a straight edge and exacto knife), not my favorite part of the process, but then I don't fret about things along the edge. Maybe you could get all your pages uploaded, print a couple as a test, go check them out and make sure you are happy with them. If you are, then you should be able to order the rest right there in the store. Personally, I like their lustre print, but they also have glossy.

Walmart also does 8x10 if that is more convenient or you are not already a member at Costco. You would have to do a quick resize so that your document are 8x10 (leave your LO as is, and just have a 2" border on the top or bottom). I've not used them, so I can't speak to their quality, but just giving another idea!

[nafeesa]

how would I go about reducing to 98%? At this point, I am going to try Costco, my SIL is a member and can take me over there. I will let her know I volunteered her to do this after she wakes up LOL bad me!

But i want to get this done.

[Kathleen]

I flatten my image, and then ctrl T, you can either just eyeball so you see a smidge of white, or in the proportion boxes in the options bar (activates when you press ctrl+T), just put 98% in each of them. Then save the image as a JPG - I usually do the highest possible setting.

Enlargements take 2 hours, so if you can get access to her account and upload to their online photo center. Get them order, and be waiting at the photo counter 2 hours later.

[nafeesa]

thank you both! I got my test pages done and they are great. I can't even see the white borders when the pages are in teh album, so I'm not even going to bother trimming. I have my order in for the other 48 pages and I pick them up tonight.

WAY more expensive than I wanted, but it will be worth it to see her daddy give her the album in person!

[renee s]

Rebekah- I've ordered pages from this site twice now- http://www.scrappingsimply.com/ and am soooo happy with the results. Gorgeous printing, and so fast. From the time I ordered (on the 22nd) to the time I got my pages (just today, in fact) was 5 days. They print 12 x 12s, full bleed, for $1.99 a page, and from what I can tell, they have a flat rate of $5 in the U.S. and Canada, for as many pages as you order. ($10 for internations orders) Just to test their system, I placed 13 pages in my cart, and it was still only charging me $5 shipping. So far, that is the cheapest I've been able to print my pages. And am very happy with their work. Anyway- something to possibly check into for future page orders.

[nafeesa]

I was looking at them Renee, and if time hadn't been SO crucial I would have gone for it. But we are leaving on July 1st to see the kid, and I just don't trust being able to get it that fast.

But perhaps in the future!