Profiles and Color Management:
You will need to understand and use profiles if you plan to color correct your own images. There are 2 basic profiles you will need to use in order to be setup correctly. Your monitor needs to be profiled, and you will need to send us your images with the correct profile. To profile your monitor you have a few options, purchasing a "spider" to read your monitors color and create your profile is the most common and most effective way. You can learn more about monitor profiles at Dry Creek Photo. We recommend using Gretag's i1 Display Pro.

All our printers are setup to accept images with sRGB profiles.  We can also print AdobeRGB profiled images on our photographic printers only (DO NOT use Adobe RGB for any press printed products).  Our enlargements (16x20 and larger) are printed on a printer with a wider color gamut, so using AdobeRGB will take advantage of this, but your enlargements may not match any smaller prints of the same images, as our minilab printer is a traditional photographic (Silver-Halide) sRGB printer.  Please call us if you have any questions about profiles and color.

Aspect Ratio & Cropping:
Remember that a 2x3 ratio is considered full frame for prints sizes of 4x6, 8x12, and 11x16. Any other size will crop slightly from either side. Do not send a square image and expect to print an 8x10 of the entire photo. If cropping is inevitable, please use the cropping option during ordering to crop the images yourself.  This way you will know exactly how your final print will crop.

By default, your images will be printed to fill the print size ordered. If you send an image that is square and order a 4x6, 1 inch will be cropped evenly off the top and bottom of the image.

Image Resolution:
Your file should be 300dpi for any given output size, if you want a photo quality 4x6 print, your image should be 4x6 and 300dpi. For print sizes 11x14 and larger, 200dpi is satisfactory, but the highest resolution you can obtain is always best. This will bring you the clearest results. If your final prints look a little "digital" it is because of a lack of resolution NOT because of the way it was printed.  See our resolution chart for an idea of how large you can print your images.

Check Resolution and Image Size:
We cannot be responsible for size and resolution errors in the original file. If unwanted cropping occurs because of files that do not fit the aspect ratio size of the print being ordered, we will not reprint your image.

For Faster Transfer:
Take care to keep file size at a minimum consistent with your goal, for faster transfers. Do not make the file smaller than minimum requirements for the print size you are ordering, but files larger than what is needed will only increase the time it takes for you to upload your image.

Color Corrections:
All files sent to be printed will be professionally color corrected and formatted for the print size ordered. You should save your files as Jpeg images in RGB mode (CMYK is for copy/print shops). If you have a large order to be printed, you may want to request a proof of your image to check the color and cropping first. We are not responsible for orders that are printed without a proof and turn out different than was expected.
 

Gallery Wraps:
If you are ordering a gallery wrap, it's best to open your image in Photoshop and then pull guides in around the image to 1.75" so that you can visualize the area of your print that will be wrapped or mirrored.  All gallery wrap prints are professionally checked and we can do a combination of image stretching and/or mirroring to get your image to work.  If we have any questions we will contact you before printing.

Scans:
If you are scanning your own photos to be sent to us to print, remember the minimum size requirements and scan sizes that will output to the size that you are ordering. For example: If you are scanning from a 4x6 print, but are going to order a 5x7, set your scanning area to 5x7 and create the crop that you want for the final print. Check our resolution chart for more info on scan resolutions.