Question on Prints

[Ookami-girl]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this since it's not really a critiquing question so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I've been thinking about going to Kinko's to get prints done because...well I don't have the means to make them on my own. I can't make prints of yiffy pictures in my house because 1) I don't have a good enough printer. I can work with the one I have for now and sneak around and make a few prints but for what I would like to do over the summer I need a good way to create a print portfolio or make good commission prints.

I guess my question is if you know of any good places to go to make prints can you please tell me? I can't have them sent to my house because I still live with my parents. It'd be so much better for me to get them right at the printing place. So far my best bet is Kinko's because I pass it every time I go downtown to school. So if anyone knows how Kinko's printing service is, can you tell me? I tried looking on their site and I couldn't really find anything in detail about their printing and how to do it.

Thanks.

 

[blotch]

Howdy!

I used Kinkos for several years before I was able to upgrade to my own printer.

It'll boil down to a something over a $1 a print at Kinkos. Now a days, they will point you to their "self service" computers, which you have to sit down and print things out yourself. It charges by the minute (60 cents for the machines with Photoshop.) Of course, the printers are usually stupidly slow, and each print costs $1 for color. It adds up quickly. Also, I bet you a million dollars at some point the printer will fuck up, jam, cost you cash and time, or print to the wrong paper tray and you'll get 45 legal sized prints.

Sometimes you can convince them to do it at the counter, but they will charge some silly fee for opening every file manually to print it. That'll probably be about the same as just printing them yourself at the self service machines.

It's very very hit or miss on color quality. The major reason I upgraded to my own printer is I can now control the colors on the prints. Kinkos color printers are usually too yellow or red.
One thing that can help is making sure (if your using Photoshop to print through) you set the printer to have Photoshop manage colors. Usually makes things a little better, but by no means perfect.

I still use Kinkos when I'm away from home and need to get some prints made, but I've never regretted dropping the money on my own machine and not having to deal with that hassle.


And don't worry about getting adult stuff printed. People usually smile and nod, take no notice (I bet they've seen everything) or are interested and like to chat about it in a friendly way. Late night Kinkos employees seemed rather starved for distraction. ;]

Anyhow! Another option is a locally owned, smaller print shop. You might get better customer service, and if you're doing large print runs, they might be able to cut you a better deal than corporate Kinkos.
Another bonus to a local place, is paperstock choices. They are more happy to negotiate prices/paper/type of prints/etc, where at Kinkos your stuck with $1/$1.80 per print on cheap laser paper.

Hope that helps!

 

[Ookami-girl]

Wow...I'd forgotten I'd posted this...^^;

Thanks so much for the info, Blotch!

I'd try to get a good printer, but I'm a bit...short on money. I probably wouldn't be able to buy anything like that on my own until I graduate college. I need all my money for transportation and food. ^^; Unless I decide to live on campus...then I need the money...to...pay for a dorm. XD I'd love to buy my own printer, but right now with no job and very little money, it just isn't an option.

Well, now you mentioned it, they probably have seen everything if other artists and perhaps photographers ask to get their work printed.

I think right now Kinko's is my only option. It's close to my school and...I kinda need to sneak around to get the adult stuff printed. My mom would definately not approve.

Thank you again for the advice!

(And for everyone else...sorry I bumped this up. ^^