Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Comparing Photo Prints

I've been pretty happy with my Costco prints, but my last batch left me disappointed. I wondered if it was my computer or monitor going awry so I had some reprinted at Sam's Club to test it out. This is what I found:

I scanned the photos with the Costco always on top and the Sam's Club photo below.

The Costco is dull and darker than the Sam's Club which has a higher contrast.


Here I preferred the Sam's Club photo because the Costco photo on top was fuzzier and darker. I wouldn't be as upset about it except that I was going to use these photos for my greeting cards.


Neither one made me happy. The photo seemed so much prettier on my computer monitor.



I liked the Sam's Club better below even though the whites are actually somewhat washed out.


Sam's Club came out ahead here too because the Costco photos seemed to have a gray tint to them.

Someone said I should take the photos back to Costco because they will reprint them.

We'll see.

POSTSCRIPT: 
I did take the photos to Costco and she reprinted the ones that were too dark. She also told me that Sam's Club uses a different kind of printer so Costco photos will never turn out as bright as Sam's Club. When she reprinted the photos for me some improved quite a bit, but a few were too light. Sigh...
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22 comments:

  1. DJanOctober 7, 2015 at 2:16 AM

    It's amazing how different they are. The Costco pictures are much darker but contain more detail. I would never have believe the difference could be so large until you contrasted them next to each other.

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  2. Kathy GOctober 7, 2015 at 2:17 AM

    Good to know. We're not a member at Sam's Club any more, so I guess Costco would be our only choice.

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  3. JeanOctober 7, 2015 at 3:18 AM

    Interesting "study."

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  4. MageOctober 7, 2015 at 3:39 AM

    I use snapfish. I gave up on real prints years ago, and if I want one I print it myself. Not as good, but I have my one picture.

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  5. OlgaOctober 7, 2015 at 5:41 AM

    That is a pretty clear difference.

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  6. Joanne NoragonOctober 7, 2015 at 6:43 AM

    I find almost every photo needs tweeked for contrast and highlights--individually, by an individual (me). I used to have a Cannon color printer that made beautiful prints. When I had to upgrade my computer, I found it no longer supported the Cannon printer. That was a sad loss.

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  7. TaborOctober 7, 2015 at 6:52 AM

    I have failed ot print out many photos these days, except off my printer for temporary fun and stuff. I send photos to a professional printer (RedBubble or Phanfare or Snapfish)...most use high quality photo printers and work on the inks for archival purposes.

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  8. Great Grandma LinOctober 7, 2015 at 7:10 AM

    well, I just bought a cosco membership the other day thinking I could print out photos too. Wonder if it's all cosco or just depends on the printer they have?

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  9. CynthiaOctober 7, 2015 at 7:31 AM

    That's quite a difference. I have tried Walmart and CVS and not been happy with those prints. I pay a little more and use National Camera. There prints are excellent.

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  10. AnonymousOctober 7, 2015 at 7:43 AM

    I don't have any of my photos printed at Costco or Sam's Club, but this information is good to know,

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  11. jalnaOctober 7, 2015 at 7:45 AM

    GREAT comparison!! Costco prints usually disappointed me, but I recently did a photobook with them and was very happy with how it turned out. I'm pretty sure that it was processed on the mainland and not here. Me thinks that our Costco should get the same kind of printer as Sam's, huh?

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  12. ChristineOctober 7, 2015 at 8:19 AM

    That rose is stunning, ohh. Yes the Sam's club ones look better.

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  13. GosiaOctober 7, 2015 at 9:23 AM

    great flowers

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  14. RedOctober 7, 2015 at 3:14 PM

    I haven't had anything printed for years. I'll be a little more careful when I print some more.

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  15. Honolulu AuntyOctober 7, 2015 at 4:34 PM

    Mahalo for the comparison! They all looked nice to me, in your hands, you have a magic camera.

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  16. CloudiaOctober 7, 2015 at 4:36 PM

    How interesting!










    ALOHA
    ComfortSpiral

    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

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  17. AnonymousOctober 7, 2015 at 5:05 PM

    Very enlightening, who'd have thunk that there is a different quality between companies. Have you tried the Office Max/Depot stores, wonder if they have better printers since they have commercial customers. Thank you for sharing. BB

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  18. Thickethouse.wordpressOctober 8, 2015 at 1:05 AM

    Hmmmmmmm. Costco has beginning the beginning of a cataract problem.

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  19. AdamOctober 8, 2015 at 3:37 AM

    I always figured Costcos would be better, but I've never taken any to Sams

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  20. Arkansas PattiOctober 8, 2015 at 4:44 AM

    I'm a bit torn. I do like the better detail in the Costco prints but the Sam's prints are more eye appealing for the quick look. Something in between would be perfect. All are great shots for your cards however.

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  21. Linda ReederOctober 10, 2015 at 5:39 PM

    I seldom have photos printed anymore, but I have noticed that Costco's results are a bit darker than I like. For photo cards I print my own with my little Canon photo printer. Nothing is quite as good as seeing them on my big PC monitor though.

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  22. Nippon NinOctober 12, 2015 at 3:03 PM

    Very nice photos! Pretty flowers! We don't have Sam's Club here and Costco is 5 minutes drive from my home so I naturally go there for photo prints...

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