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You are swimming upstream, .psd files aren't a standard any printer will accept because they can have multiple layers, be indexed and all kinds of other wonky issues that will make the kiosk kids pull out their hair.
If you really want maximum sharpness you should find someone who can print TIFF's or PNG's. Both of these formats offer loseless compression options. Loseless compression will not cause any sharpness reduction when the file is saved like .jpg does. One online service that accepts TIFFS and PNG is Pephoto.com http://www.pephoto.com/faq.php#faq3
Their licensing agreement seems to meet your criterion I quote
"8. License. LifePics does not claim ownership rights in any information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials or content you make available or use in connection with the Site or the Services or used in connection with or managed by your account ("Content"). As a condition to your use of your account, you hereby grant to LifePics a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, copy, distribute, and display such Content for the sole purpose of enabling us to make your Content available through the Service and fulfilling any orders for you or for those with whom you have shared your Content. Please note that when you share Content, you allow the recipients to share and make photographic prints from that Content. You remain the owner of all Content that you submit to the Service and as a condition of your use of the Site and the Services, you represent and warrant to LifePics that you are the owner of the copyright to Content you submit to the Service or that you have written permission from the copyright owner to submit such Content. In addition, you warrant that all moral rights in any Content have been waived. Your physical or electronic sharing of your images constitutes permission for reprinting by the recipient. You agree to indemnify and hold LifePics harmless for any violation of this provision." from http://www.pephoto.com/termsandconditions.php
If you want to use the local Walmart the best solution is to save your .psd files from Photoshop as .jpg's with a quality of 12 which will produce the maximum sharpness and file size.
http://z.about.com/d/graphicssoft/1/5/l/W/jpeg01ps.gif
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"Photoshop PSD: We accept .psd files from all versions (Windows and Mac). Note: best results are obtained by saving files as PDF files.."
http://cyandigitalprinting.com/index.php/preparing_art/
Source(s):
http://cyandigitalprinting.com/index.php/preparing_art/
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Final images should be saved as TIFF for lossless compression (using LZW). Even professional color houses will request that PSD files be flattened and exported _out_ of PSD format.
If you want a walk-in experience, you're looking for a professional lab that has gone digital, or a service bureau that has added photo output. My preference is to stick with the photo labs that do pro work for local ad agencies and wedding photographers. Sorry, I can't help with your area, but Photomation in SoCal does great work.
But, going to a pro lab is not for novices who are accustomed to shoving a USB stick into a machine at WalMart or Costco. You need to know exactly what you want, and have the money to pay for it.
As for quality issues with JPEG files...that could be three things: 1) bad file interpretation by the service provider 2) bad file settings by the photographer 3) bad original image
Sometimes it's a combination of all. Remember GIGO. Garbage-In-Garbage-Out. If you prepare poor quality JPEG files, you'll never get decent prints.
Find the hardware resolution of the output device (200ppi, 300ppi, etc). It's OK to match the resolution 1-for-1. You need to make the conversions carefully. You'll get a good idea of stair-stepping, detail loss, artifacting, etc. if you make a couple of test runs first, then examine your TIFF or JPEG at 200% or 400% magnification.
If you're worried about not knowing how to make final files, just scale them to 1.5x (or no more than 2x) native resolution of the output device. Their raster processor will rip the file down to size. Even at 200ppi you can get great looking prints...as long as you have good data to begin with.
I use SmugMug.com for storing my photos online. They are not free, specifically for the reasons you state. They do not downsample your files and make them look bad. They do not claim ownership of anything. You can hide some images as private; leave others for the world to see. You can allow others to order prints or even download your hi-res photos straight from the site. Videos...check. Mugs...of course.
If you are a photographer, you can even set your own pricing levels and turn your site into your own storefront. Client portfolios are password protected, and you decide how much money to make.
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Answered Question
M$2
August 05, 2009 04:15 AM
Where is the best place to take your digital prints to that accepts .psd files?
Getting digital prints has become more and more a hassle. Everywhere uses the same in store kiosk software, and they do not accept .psd files. Ritz camera used to be the place to go, but they claim to not accept .psd files anymore. Plus, the average digital print from a .jpg file just does not seem as crisp as it should look when I get my prints back (Costco, Target, Walgreens, and even Shutterfly). I'd really like to be able to go to a physical store front in the greater Sacramento region for my prints, as it seems to be almost impossible to order prints online without agreeing that by uploading images they become the property of that site.
So for a complete answer I would like to know:
1. Where to go to get crisp, high quality prints regardless of size, (if it's an online service I will not pay any sort of membership fee to use them) and how much should I expect to pay per print?
2. What stores accepts .psd files?
3. Are their any sites out their that do not claim images as their property once uploaded?
So for a complete answer I would like to know:
1. Where to go to get crisp, high quality prints regardless of size, (if it's an online service I will not pay any sort of membership fee to use them) and how much should I expect to pay per print?
2. What stores accepts .psd files?
3. Are their any sites out their that do not claim images as their property once uploaded?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| August 05, 2009 05:29 AM |
If you really want maximum sharpness you should find someone who can print TIFF's or PNG's. Both of these formats offer loseless compression options. Loseless compression will not cause any sharpness reduction when the file is saved like .jpg does. One online service that accepts TIFFS and PNG is Pephoto.com http://www.pephoto.com/faq.php#faq3
Their licensing agreement seems to meet your criterion I quote
"8. License. LifePics does not claim ownership rights in any information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials or content you make available or use in connection with the Site or the Services or used in connection with or managed by your account ("Content"). As a condition to your use of your account, you hereby grant to LifePics a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, copy, distribute, and display such Content for the sole purpose of enabling us to make your Content available through the Service and fulfilling any orders for you or for those with whom you have shared your Content. Please note that when you share Content, you allow the recipients to share and make photographic prints from that Content. You remain the owner of all Content that you submit to the Service and as a condition of your use of the Site and the Services, you represent and warrant to LifePics that you are the owner of the copyright to Content you submit to the Service or that you have written permission from the copyright owner to submit such Content. In addition, you warrant that all moral rights in any Content have been waived. Your physical or electronic sharing of your images constitutes permission for reprinting by the recipient. You agree to indemnify and hold LifePics harmless for any violation of this provision." from http://www.pephoto.com/termsandconditions.php
If you want to use the local Walmart the best solution is to save your .psd files from Photoshop as .jpg's with a quality of 12 which will produce the maximum sharpness and file size.
| Asker's Rating: |
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Other Answers (2)
August 05, 2009 01:09 PM
Export converted RAW files to Photoshop CS3 for further detailed processing: save as seperate PSD files and print from Photoshop CS3's print dialogue box. "Photoshop PSD: We accept .psd files from all versions (Windows and Mac). Note: best results are obtained by saving files as PDF files.."
http://cyandigitalprinting.com/index.php/preparing_art/
Source(s):
http://cyandigitalprinting.com/index.php/preparing_art/
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August 07, 2009 03:30 AM
There are no logical reasons I know of to send PSD files as final output. They are working documents. Final images should be saved as TIFF for lossless compression (using LZW). Even professional color houses will request that PSD files be flattened and exported _out_ of PSD format.
If you want a walk-in experience, you're looking for a professional lab that has gone digital, or a service bureau that has added photo output. My preference is to stick with the photo labs that do pro work for local ad agencies and wedding photographers. Sorry, I can't help with your area, but Photomation in SoCal does great work.
But, going to a pro lab is not for novices who are accustomed to shoving a USB stick into a machine at WalMart or Costco. You need to know exactly what you want, and have the money to pay for it.
As for quality issues with JPEG files...that could be three things: 1) bad file interpretation by the service provider 2) bad file settings by the photographer 3) bad original image
Sometimes it's a combination of all. Remember GIGO. Garbage-In-Garbage-Out. If you prepare poor quality JPEG files, you'll never get decent prints.
Find the hardware resolution of the output device (200ppi, 300ppi, etc). It's OK to match the resolution 1-for-1. You need to make the conversions carefully. You'll get a good idea of stair-stepping, detail loss, artifacting, etc. if you make a couple of test runs first, then examine your TIFF or JPEG at 200% or 400% magnification.
If you're worried about not knowing how to make final files, just scale them to 1.5x (or no more than 2x) native resolution of the output device. Their raster processor will rip the file down to size. Even at 200ppi you can get great looking prints...as long as you have good data to begin with.
I use SmugMug.com for storing my photos online. They are not free, specifically for the reasons you state. They do not downsample your files and make them look bad. They do not claim ownership of anything. You can hide some images as private; leave others for the world to see. You can allow others to order prints or even download your hi-res photos straight from the site. Videos...check. Mugs...of course.
If you are a photographer, you can even set your own pricing levels and turn your site into your own storefront. Client portfolios are password protected, and you decide how much money to make.
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