scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 6, 2018 13:24:03 GMT
I had about 50 pictures printed at Costco. They have never failed me before. I am adept at using Photoshop and have been using it to prepare my prints for at least 10 years. I checked each print personally before submitting for printing. I unchecked their auto levels option, since I had already gotten the images exactly as I wanted. Their site stated that if you have adjusted your prints yourself, to uncheck the box. I have never noticed that box before, so maybe they have been adjusted by their service in the past, but I have not had pictures printed in over a year, so it may be something added since last time I had prints made.
For the first time ever, I got back really dark prints. Unfortunately, I did not check them at the store, and when I got home, I assumed I had somehow messed up. However, when I looked at the photos on my computer this morning, I noticed that a light gray cloud in one of my pictures was BROWN. Even pictures taken in bright sunshine were dark and looked like evening shots.
I did sent the print order early afternoon. I normally send it in the morning. I had some misgivings about sending the pictures for printing at 2:00 as opposed to earlier in the day, but does it make a huge difference? I am wondering if they have not refreshed their chemicals, etc., and that this is their error.
I plan to call them as soon as they open, but any suggestions you have would be appreciated. They are a half hour drive, and I am not happy about the cost to reprint, especially since I think this is their fault, or the time it takes to drive there to pick up reprints. Are they willing to reprint at their expense if they had done a poor job?
Update: I called and spoke to the gal in the Photo Center. She seemed unwilling to admit that the problem could possibly have been on their end. She kept insisting that I must have had autocorrect on, even though I told her that I had unchecked it. I am guessing she just gave the standard, rote answer to complaints. Finally she said to bring my pictures in tomorrow when the supervisor would be there. I am seriously considering having them printed at Walgreens today to compare.
One more update: After getting a few of the same photos printed at Target, Walmart, and Walgreens, all of which were lighter than the same Costco prints, it is obvious that Costco has a problem. I made no changes to the photos, just copied everything to my jump drive and picked a few different random photos to print at each location. I will be taking them with me tomorrow when I talk to the supervisor at the Costco Photo Center tomorrow.
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nicolep
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,081
Jan 26, 2016 16:10:43 GMT
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Post by nicolep on Jun 6, 2018 13:38:18 GMT
Oh man. Their CS is top-notch so I'm sure they'll make it right but I'm sorry it happened in the first place and sorry it's a drive for you. (My nearest Costco is 45 min away but just love it so!)
I have NO doubt they'll make it right at no cost to you.
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,981
Location: PNW
Jul 20, 2014 21:57:23 GMT
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Post by breetheflea on Jun 6, 2018 14:00:37 GMT
I had pictures turn out awful one time (black and white photos of my white infant DS looked African American) about five years ago but I had the auto-correct turned ON. Before that I didn't know that box existed...
I'm sure if you go in they will reprint them or tell you what to do.
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oaksong
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,164
Location: LA Suburbia
Site Supporter
Jun 27, 2014 6:24:29 GMT
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Post by oaksong on Jun 6, 2018 14:27:25 GMT
I have had problems, too, but mostly if I send edited photos out of iPhoto. The Costco photo app grabs the original file, rather than the modified. Maybe it’s doing the same thing with Photoshop? The Costco program used to do such a good job with auto mode, but lately photos that are fine on my phone screen are sometimes really dark. It’s so frustrating to take all that time to edit, only to have the photos come out randomly terrible! I tried some photos about 4 times, trying to figure out what the problem was.
I started using the Project Life app to edit and save the photos I want to print. That seems to do the trick. I print a lot of 3x4 these days, but I even run my 4x6 through the PL app just to make sure Costco isn’t going to do some random changes.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 6, 2018 14:40:52 GMT
I have had problems, too, but mostly if I send edited photos out of iPhoto. The Costco photo app grabs the original file, rather than the modified. Maybe it’s doing the same thing with Photoshop? The Costco program used to do such a good job with auto mode, but lately photos that are fine on my phone screen are sometimes really dark. It’s so frustrating to take all that time to edit, only to have the photos come out randomly terrible! I tried some photos about 4 times, trying to figure out what the problem was. I started using the Project Life app to edit and save the photos I want to print. That seems to do the trick. I print a lot of 3x4 these days, but I even run my 4x6 through the PL app just to make sure Costco isn’t going to do some random changes. I don't use iPhoto. I manually adjusted every photo through Photoshop. I saved it as a separate file, to a different folder. I uploaded the ones from the folder that I had saved my edited photos to. There is no way they were the originals. I used a high quality camera, not my phone, and some of the pictures were the Disney professional stock photos, because we bought the Disney PhotoPass. All the prints were darker and looked more brown. If they still use chemicals in their printing process, I suspect that they have not refreshed them for awhile. If they don't use chemicals to print photos, then something on their end is messed up.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 6, 2018 14:45:32 GMT
Oh man. Their CS is top-notch so I'm sure they'll make it right but I'm sorry it happened in the first place and sorry it's a drive for you. (My nearest Costco is 45 min away but just love it so!) I have NO doubt they'll make it right at no cost to you. Thanks. It's good to know. I will be calling them as soon as they open.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 6, 2018 14:47:32 GMT
I had pictures turn out awful one time (black and white photos of my white infant DS looked African American) about five years ago but I had the auto-correct turned ON. Before that I didn't know that box existed... I'm sure if you go in they will reprint them or tell you what to do. Oh, that's crazy! It sounds like yours were even darker than mine!
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 6, 2018 20:53:45 GMT
I got a few of the same photos printed at Target, Walmart, and Walgreens, just for comparison. Of the three, Walgreen's was the most expensive, Walmart was the least expensive, but still significantly more expensive than Costco. All were lighter than the same pictures printed at Costco. I liked Target's prints best.
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nicolep
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,081
Jan 26, 2016 16:10:43 GMT
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Post by nicolep on Jun 6, 2018 21:15:46 GMT
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 6, 2018 21:48:37 GMT
I called them this morning. The Photo Center employee was not particularly helpful until she finally said the service manager would be in tomorrow morning. I will be going in, with identical but lighter pictures from Target and Walmart in hand to show how much darker the Costco prints were. Hopefully the service manager will authorize a free reprint after correcting whatever caused the darker prints. I printed 6 photos (4 at Target, 2 at Walmart) from the same batch to compare with the Costco prints that were so bad.
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Post by don on Jun 6, 2018 21:53:37 GMT
I would have called them something else. Canon makes a very good photo print copier, for not much $.
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 7, 2018 2:01:54 GMT
I would have called them something else. Canon makes a very good photo print copier, for not much $. LOL, so would I. Funny thing about your mentioning a photo print copier. I have been seriously thinking about the advantages of buying something for printing my own pictures.
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caangel
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Posts: 5,489
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on Jun 7, 2018 4:28:41 GMT
I've had them offer to reprint for really small problems. It really shouldn't be a big deal to get them reprinted.
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Post by woodysbetty on Jun 7, 2018 11:03:07 GMT
Never used their photo service...but good luck!! You are too photo editing savvy not to have unchecked the auto correct box!!
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,425
Jun 28, 2014 21:14:36 GMT
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Post by kitbop on Jun 7, 2018 11:16:25 GMT
I've had great CS from them, and they people in our photo department are mostly very experienced (I know them by name...) I did have some come out "dark" recently
but
it was on my end (I had my laptop screen tipped a different angle while editting, and you know how that affects your screen colour?) Duh!
Let us know what happens with yours!
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 7, 2018 20:37:33 GMT
The service manager was great. The reprints definitely looked better, although Target's looked better, to be honest.
The service manager said there is a Photoshop app that you can download that will show true colors as to how they will print at Costco. I will probably look into that.
He also said that computer screens will always look brighter than the reality. That may be, but this is the first time it has been an issue, so I am not sure what to think. While there, I got more photos ready to print, ran errands, came back for my pictures, and the newest batch turned out fine.
I do have a good printer that can print photos. However, the cost to print at home is definitely more than printing at Costco. Since I often shop at Costco, if I can time the photo printing, I really prefer it.
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Post by caspad on Jun 8, 2018 12:35:21 GMT
The service manager was great. The reprints definitely looked better, although Target's looked better, to be honest. The service manager said there is a Photoshop app that you can download that will show true colors as to how they will print at Costco. I will probably look into that. this post is old but can help you find the ICC profile to install in PhotoShop. This DryCreek Photo link has the Costco's by state. You might want to confirm with the photo manager that they are still using that machine because I don't know how up to date the website is. Here's thread on the dPreview forum discussing the Costco ICC. It's related to Lightroom but the process is similar for PS.
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nicolep
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,081
Jan 26, 2016 16:10:43 GMT
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Post by nicolep on Jun 8, 2018 15:56:39 GMT
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,192
Jun 29, 2014 18:58:47 GMT
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Post by scrapnnana on Jun 8, 2018 21:38:18 GMT
Thank you, caspad and nicolep!
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