Digital Cameras - printing out photos .... HELP

[crystaltips]

I have a KODAK digital camera and have taken a few nice snaps some are held on the internal memory and the rest are held on the memory card.... Now then how do I print them out please.

If I take get them developed at Boots how do they get hold of the photos. Do I take the camera in and wait ?

If I got them printed using an internet source do I just e-mail them - an if so in what format / size.

I e-mailed a photo to DH at work but he could only print out a weeny copy as as soon as he enlarged it the picture quality got worse.

What am I doing wrong please ?

Thanks

Need answers ASAP do that I can volunteer to be the official photographer to Lindy and Edgarcats party

I haven't had photos printed at Boots, but if you want to get them printed online then Jessops is good- you go to their website and download a program which allows you to upload your photos together with an order (what size print, how many and so on). I think it works by ftp rather than email. Either way, you need to get the pictures off your camera and onto your PC. It sounds as though maybe you've taken the photos at low resolution, possibly? To get a good print at, say, 5 X 7, your file size would need to be a few 100 kbytes. All of this is a very rough guide, but it's really hard to be specific! HTH.

Crystaltip

What size of photos are you taking and at what resolution?

What sort of memory card is it in the camera?

How do you access the pictures normally?

Hi.. I'm actually MrsS' DH... but I know a bit about computers and cameras. You should have with your digital camera a programm to download your photos to your computer. Boots will be able to do the same, but is the most expensive way. Internet source is cheaper, just download them to you computer and e-mail them off. They will probably be in jpg format by default, you should not need to change anything, just tell the printers what size you want them...4x6, 5x7 etc.

The photo you sent to your DH was probably just a "Thumbnail" picture and not the full size one. How large was the file you sent him? less than 100K? if so then that would have been the case.

To get a decent photo quality print at 5"x7" the file size of a jpg format picture should be at least 200K.

Hi Mr S. Good to see other men are on here too.

oooh SH - how the hell do I know !!! I just point and press ...

Q : What size of photos are you taking and at what resolution?
A : uuummmmm ??

Q : What sort of memory card is it in the camera?
A : Viking : Multi Media Card 64MB ( as recommended on Amazon )

MrsS's DH - Thanks too - I'mm off see the size of my files !!

Thanks to all - stand by - likely to be more questions !!

Q : How do you access the pictures normally?
A : What do you mean by normally ?

If it's any consolation I have downloaded them all onto the PC and have a jolly nice slide show - and great picture quality

Hi.. I'm actually MrsS' DH... but I know a bit about computers and cameras. You should have with your digital camera a programm to download your photos to your computer. Boots will be able to do the same, but is the most expensive way. Internet source is cheaper, just download them to you computer and e-mail them off. They will probably be in jpg format by default, you should not need to change anything, just tell the printers what size you want them...4x6, 5x7 etc.

The photo you sent to your DH was probably just a "Thumbnail" picture and not the full size one. How large was the file you sent him? less than 100K? if so then that would have been the case.

To get a decent photo quality print at 5"x7" the file size of a jpg format picture should be at least 200K.

MrsS's DH - each photo on my PC is over 400K - so I am presuming that's a good sign ?

That's an excellent sign, you'll be able to get decent 10 X 8 prints at that size. Here's the Jessops link, you can get 10 free prints!
download.pixology.com/jessops/index.htm

Thanks -

Ya see it's not all disposable nappies and cracked nipples

You can also take your memory card to a photo place, like Jessops, Boots or Asda. They have a machine which the assistants will guide you through if you wish. Basically, put your card in the slot, click on the screen to select number of photos wanted and size. You get a receipt to hand in at the desk. You then choose i hour, 24 hr, 3 day service, etc. Pay your money and come back and collect them later. It can work out dearer than normal photos if you are only having a few done though - best to get a job lot at once.

This is all so useful - thinking about getting digital camera, but didn't know about prints. My dad has £2k worth of camera, and prints off these horrid fuzzy/blurry pictures on his supposedly soopa-doopa printer. (Piccies look fine on screen). So it put me off.

Can anyone tell me a ballpark figure of what these places charge per standard 6"x4" print?

Scrub that - just got the price off Jessops website - thanks for the address tamum.

You're welcome

Go for a high quality resolution camera. May cost a bit more but worth it when printing the photos.

I use photobox.co.uk - last lot I had cost £20 for 105 6x4 prints, and the service is excellent, usually have prints the next morning if I order in the afternoon.

It's worth having a photo editing package on your PC so you can trim your pictures to just the bit you want before you upload them - makes the upload a bit smaller, lets you fix anything like red-eye, and ensures that your print is just the bit of the pic you want.

The prints we've had since we bought a digital cam have been much better quality on average than the ones we used to get from film.

Mr S here again... A high quality camera is not as important as a photo quality printer. I have a 1 Megapixel digital camera and can print off decent A4 photos. I would probably recommend a 2 Megapixel camera as a starting point though, but unless you are going to publish don't bother with a 4 or 5 Megapixel camera.

Printer should ideally have 5 colours (or more)plus black. Epson and HP are the best makes... but make sure that it is called a PHOTO printer, not just "colour printer".

I use Bonusprint , they charge 15p for a 6x4 print, usually receive the pictures within a couple of days. You have to download their software, after that it's all straightforward and I've been very happy with the service.

When you want to buy a second flash memory card (ready for your holidays) take a look at www.ebuyer.com
Their customer service is lousy if you want to talk to somebody, but their products are good brands and their prices are great This link should take you to one of their 64mb multimedia cards - it's only £14.90 inc vat!
Regarding printing your photos at home - it'll cost you a fortune in printer ink and photo quality paper. It's only worthwhile if you're doing an urgent print or something arty, such as a collage. The price of photolab printing has been a real ripoff until recently. Prices are starting to tumble. Some labs have already been mentioned - for a 7x5 print - Bonusprint want 20 pence, Photobox want 39 pence, Max Spielmann still want 48 pence!
Are you a member of one of the club shopping organisations e.g. Costco? They have just started digital photo printing in some of their branches and they charge 18 pence for a 7x5. You copy the photos onto a CD and take them to the shop. Don't be tempted to copy them to a floppy - to get any quantity onto the disk you'd have to reduce the filesize too drastically.
Do you have any software such as PaintShopPro on your pc? You can have great fun editing your photos. If you've a scanner you can digitize old family photos and take out those relatives whom we don't about anymore.......