I just got off the phone with a friend and client. Her name will be withheld but she did say I could share this story. She was so upset and frustrated and admitted she knew better….
Normally, she would order her prints through me and the professional labs I use. She had a 16x20 picture that needed to printed but was in a time crunch and thought one quick print could be done via Wal-Mart. Earlier this week she went to Michael’s and purchased her frame, and sent the picture via online to her local Wal-Mart. Today she went to Wal-Mart to pick up the picture and it looked great! Until she got home to put it in the frame…. Her 16x20 order was not cut a 16x20 format! The picture buckled and would not fit in the frame. When she pulled out the card that was inside the frame and put it up to the picture, she could see white border and it was obvious that it was not cut to 16x20. She attempted to call Wal-Mart to see if they would just reprint and she would just pick up later in the day. After two failed attempts to reach ANYONE at Wal-Mart she got in the car and drove back to the store.
When she went back to the photo section, and showed the guy behind the counter the receipt that she ordered a 16x20, and pulled out the cardboard that showed 16x20 for the picture frame, and then the picture that was not 16x20, his first answer was “the printer cuts automatically that can’t be”. She showed him the white line along the top of the picture, side of the picture and held it up to the cardboard for him to see. They reprinted the picture and came back with “Oh, the calibration is off on the printer!”. After taking the original picture, and cardboard they were able to cut the picture to meet the 16x20 requirements.
This is why I always strongly suggest people use professional labs. Yes, they are a little more expensive, but Shutterfly, Wal-Mart, Costco, CVS, etc. do not care and maintain printers the same as the professional labs that professional photographers use. When I was first in business I did not offer digital copies because I wanted to make sure people were getting their pictures printed with a quality labs. The lab I partner with guarantee 110% from all quality levels, printing, color, size, etc. I do offer digital copies, but it comes with warning of buyer beware if you do not use a professional lab for printing.
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