There are dozens of good photo printers out there that can print picture-perfect photos. But with the cost of printer ink and photo paper, it might make more sense to have your digital photos, calling cards or even calendars printed in picture shops.

But before you run to your local photo shop with your digital camera or memory card, read through the important tips listed below. Keep these in mind and follow these simple suggestions to help you print out professional-looking photos.

1. A good photograph equals a good photo print. You can have your photo printed on the best paper available but if your picture is out of focus or blurry, then it’ll just be a waste. Make sure you take good photographs with your camera. Before heading to the nearest picture shops, go through all your photos and take out those that are blurry, badly lit and out of focus. Choose only the ones that are clear, sharp and interesting. It will help if you use the zoom function in your photo viewer to check for grainy or blurry photos.

2. Make sure that the photos you want to print were taken with a high resolution setting in your camera. You can’t print a low-resolution photo into an 8 x 10 picture. All you’ll end up with is a bad, grainy picture. Check if the photos you want to print are at least 300 dpi. This will ensure that you get clear, vivid photos.

3. Resize photos to the exact size that you want. Some people just take a CD of their photos to picture shops and tell the employees to print out these photos in a specific size. If the pictures were taken with a different size, then the photos end up cropped in weird ways. Sometimes feet get cut off or an interesting detail, like the logo of a hotel, gets cut out of the picture. Go through your photos and crop them into the size that you want them printed.

4. Fix and enhance your photos using a program like Photoshop. You can take out the “red eye” effect in photos or even enhance colours using photo-editing software. You can even change a coloured photo into a black and white one or add a touch of drama to a picture by adding a sepia tone to it. There are hundreds of things you can do to improve on a digital photo by using these programs. All you have to do is experiment.

5. Try out a few pictures first. This is a good tip, especially if you’re going to a picture shop for the first time. Have about ten photos printed first and see how these go. Check if the colours of the photos resemble their original colours. You can also see if the paper the picture shop uses is of good quality.

Sometimes, it’s more practical and affordable to have your digital photos printed in picture shops instead of using a photo printer. Just keep the tips listed above in mind so you’re sure to have professional-looking photos even if you have a tight budget.

Author Bio: Read reviews of pictures and find the best picture shops near your area. Visit our website for more information.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: picture shops, pictures