Is quality lost printing from a .jpeg file?

[Michael Gordon]

I have made numerous prints at Costco (300 dpi, Dry Creek profiles) and have found the quality to be outstanding. For the price, it's damn hard to beat. Too bad they can't print larger than 12x18".

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk,

How did you determine the gamut limitation?

Thanks,

Don Bryant

Just comparing prints from the same files with my Epson 4000. This was maybe two years ago. I understand that there may be a next generation Noritsu since then, but I have not had the interest to test them again. The Costco prints could not come close to the blues or greens of my Epson prints (which were somewhat muted on that Epson inkset anyway). i could not come up with a print from Costco that I was comfortable giving even to my low end clients. I also tested their larger prints, which came from some non local source. After one print and 9 redos (because they all showed up with crinkles in the print) I gave up.

[D. Bryant]

Just comparing prints from the same files with my Epson 4000. This was maybe two years ago. I understand that there may be a next generation Noritsu since then, but I have not had the interest to test them again. The Costco prints could not come close to the blues or greens of my Epson prints (which were somewhat muted on that Epson inkset anyway). i could not come up with a print from Costco that I was comfortable giving even to my low end clients. I also tested their larger prints, which came from some non local source. After one print and 9 redos (because they all showed up with crinkles in the print) I gave up.

Hmm, your experience is quite different than mine. I simply regard Costco prints as inexpensive proofs, but I find the gamut to be fine.

Don Bryant

[D. Bryant]

I have made numerous prints at Costco (300 dpi, Dry Creek profiles) and have found the quality to be outstanding. For the price, it's damn hard to beat. Too bad they can't print larger than 12x18".

They list 16x20 and 20x30 on their web order page. I don't think the Noritsu's at my local Costco can go that large but for $9.99 I may give it a go just for the hell of it.

Don Bryant

[Sheldon N]

I'll second Kirk's comments on the gamut of the Frontier/Noritsu printers. I think it is pretty close to sRGB which is a narrow gamut. If you are looking for extremely saturated colors, the Epsons or other current generation pigment inkjet printers are a clear winner.

However if you don't need super saturated colors, the Frontier/Noritsu printers have great color accuracy with their profiles.

[Michael Gordon]

I think it is pretty close to sRGB which is a narrow gamut.

Your statement got me looking, because I hadn't bothered to before. And you're right.

The wire frame represents sRGB, the other Dry Creek's Fuji CA Luster profile for my local Costco. The Noritsu/Luster profile exceeds sRGB gamut in magenta, cyan, and yellow, but just barely. It's otherwise smaller all the way around.

I wouldn't print the good stuff at Costco, but as Don said, they make excellent and inexpensive proofs and giveaways. And for personal pleasure snapshots, you can't beat the 19 cent 4x6's.

[Los]

i've walked in Tiff files to costco, and have gotten prints back with .jpg in the back printing. the techs couldn't tell me what the print resolution was set to, and i found the color gamut limited as well. still, i print there every couple of weeks from my 6mp dslr. they look very good at 12x18.

[Lenny Eiger]

Just comparing prints from the same files with my Epson 4000. This was maybe two years ago. I understand that there may be a next generation Noritsu since then, but I have not had the interest to test them again. The Costco prints could not come close to the blues or greens of my Epson prints (which were somewhat muted on that Epson inkset anyway). i could not come up with a print from Costco that I was comfortable giving even to my low end clients. I also tested their larger prints, which came from some non local source. After one print and 9 redos (because they all showed up with crinkles in the print) I gave up.

I have found this also to be the case. I have a client who prints at Costco, one of those snapshot-postcard guys who sells his prints for $35-$50 at fairs. When he wants a good print, he comes here. The difference is quite clear.

There are two factors. Cheapest paper and ink vs the top of the line materials and equipment. And here he gets someone who actually looks at the image and gets to colors right. Versus some kid making $8 running the big machine who knows nothing about photography.

I can agree with some of the comments when it comes to printing out family snapshots - that obviously don't need a good print. I'm surprised at the group suggesting that a great print is going to come from anything but someone who has trained eyes, whether that be yourself or a professional printer dedicated to understanding your aesthetic.

Finally, the jpeg is a compressed medium. Means what it says. you lose some, in fact every time you save it.

Lenny

[Ben Syverson]

One overlooked aspect is that at the 100% (or whatever the highest is in your program) quality setting, most JPEG encoders will use "lossless JPEG." What this means is that your image is EXACTLY the same as the uncompressed (Photoshop) version. So if you're truly paranoid, you can use the highest quality setting.

In all honesty, no one will be able to see JPEG artifacts if you're printing at about 200ppi or above, so I really wouldn't sweat it. You can do print tests on your own to confirm this. JPEG artifacts (mosquito noise, chroma aliasing) are just not visible at that size. I would comfortably use as low as 80% quality for JPEGs destined for print, although unless there's some compelling reason to do so (such as deadlines, bandwidth, etc), you're better off with 100%.

[neil poulsen]

Keep the master as a psd or tiff. This is the file you would optimize, when needed. Your jpg's can be one-offs from that file.