Jessops Printing Test

[Bigbill]

Hewwo from Sunny Sheffy.
Now then,a little test of Jessops online printing service,,,,ive never used an online printer,always done it myself at home,but due to the vagaries of calibration(and the ensuing violence) ive given good old Js a go.
So,ive registered and all that stuff,and set about the process.1stly,i cannot see any sort of guidance as to what to do or not,,,,ie what format files they will accept etc etc,so i wasted a few mins trying to send a Tiff,but the software rated the file only as very poor,so i then tried a Jpeg,which was only rated as "sufficient",at which point i started to scratch my head a bit,for all the world i cannot see how the Jpeg would get a better rating than the Tiff,anyway,i then tried a PNG file,which was rated as very good(all the same shot),,,,,,and proceeded to send the pic off,,,,,the actual transfer took about 5 mins,yet the blue indicator bar below still shows 11 mins remaining ? which puzzles me.
So,i will keep you all posted as to how this goes,says they will text me when the print is ready in the store,should be within 3 business days,and today is Saturday Sept 26th.
Ive asked for the biggest size,and the cost was £2-49 per copy.
The second blue progress bar is now showing 643 mins remaining,,,errmmmm  ?
I will keep you all posted as to how this pans out.

Shine On

Today we BATTERED Cardiff City !!!!!!!!

[Bigbill]

Sunday morning,
Couldnt get the process to work properly last night,
The 2nd blue progress bar just kept saying that more and more time was required,yet the 1st bar indicated that the transfer was complete,eventualy i got a box saying the transfer had failed ! This was after about 45 mins,so,to recap,no initial guidance( i still dont know what formats are acceptable) and i had actualy been through the payment process,all of which adds up to wasted time and money.
So now i will end up having to take the files on a card into the shop and trying to do it face to face,,,,,not at all what i intended.

Shine On

[SimonW]

I've used Photobox for quite a while if I've a lot to print, or want a photobook. Never had any problems with uploading, and their quality and speed are super.

I've never used Jessops but I used to have a problem similar to yours with "BT Digital Vault" - the upload bar did the same as yours. The culprit turned out to be a conflict with my "Zone Alarm" security suite and I never did find a fix. Photobox was unaffected by it but perhaps Jessops is.

[Hinfrance]

I use Photobox most of the time too. I find anything smaller than A4 a tad on the dark side, but all the big prints have been excellent. And they are fast, even to here in France.

[Darren1978]

I've used Jessops once and that was to get a canvas print and I didn't have any issues with uploading the pic etc.  Got the canvas sentto the local branch...think it took about 5 days all in all....very impressed and the canvas was good too 

On the occasions when I get prints done (6x4 & 8x10) and when I got a photobook produced of my Santorini holiday last year, I have used Photobox....very reasonably priced, fast service and good quality prints, although as Tringle points out, the smaller prints tend to come out a little dark.  The photobook as especially good

[Bigbill]

Hewwo from Cold Sheffy,
Thanks loads for all the replies,,just what i was hoping for,its ok reading reviews in mags,but most of them are conveniently biased one way or another,whereas we are not !!
Now then,i went back to the Js process and tried again,this time no problem,so,within 3 working days from today(28th) i should have the print and i will then post a "properish" review of the whole thing.
So,anyone going to post some "properish" reviews of other online printers, 2 season tickets at Man City for the funniest,,,,,,,,,,3 for the unfunniest !!!!!

Shine On

tomorrow we will humble Palace !!!!

[Bigbill]

Hewwo from warm sunny Sheffy,
Now then,got a text this morning,and toddled off to Js and picked up my print(10x8) and i cant fault it,BUT,it perfectly matches the print i had already done here on my Epson R1800.
Thing is,neither match what is on the screen on my PC,this bothers me a lot,i,m using a Huey device to calibrate the screen,and,its just not working as i would like.
Something somewhere is awry,and i dont know what it is.
Both prints look identical(bit too dark) and neither match the screen,(brand new DELL),so now i,m totaly lost,any suggestions greatfuly received here.
As for Js,good service once i got passed the website.

Shine On

[oRGie]

The main difficulty in calibrating a monitor for print is the difference in the way you are seeing the image, on a monitor it is light being emitted and seen by your eye directly, when looking at a paper print you are seeing light reflected from the surface of the paper, hence why prints are generally darker than the image as seen on a monitor. I have never used a calibration tool at home, so I know I need to make an image a bit lighter to print the way I want. The colours of course are affected, but after trial and error I have set all the options along the line to a way that works for me and my printer. Also remember that the ambient light in the room you are viewing the monitor affects the brightness you see, same goes for looking at a print.

Dark arts indeed   

[Trickee]

hi bigbill,

in your R1800 print settings your can increase contrast and brightness i had to do this with my R800 when i used to print from photoshop.(wasted a few millilitres of ink in the process.
i now print from Capture NX and for some unknown reason its gives me the closest match from screen to print without any twiddling. The only calibration i do is via Adobe gamma.

[Colin]

I too calibrate my screen with a Huey. I know conventional thinking is that you set the printer dialogue to 'application manages colours' BUT I have found that if I set it to 'printer manages colours' on my HP Photosmart 8250 I get prints that perfectly match my screen. Go figure, it works for me and may be worth a try. (BTW I even had a proper calibration icc file made for my ink and paper combination and the way i do it gives better results IMHO).

[Jonathan]

I'm going to say this once.  But I'm going to say it in capitals.

SCREEN CALIBRATION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BRIGHTNESS.

Actually I'll repeat the important bit NOTHING.

It's about colours, not brightness.  Setting the brightness correctly is an entry criterion but if you don't do it then the Huey will carry on regardless.  Just like all other calibrators.  Most screens come out of the box crazy bright.

[oRGie]

I'm going to say this once.  But I'm going to say it in capitals.

SCREEN CALIBRATION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BRIGHTNESS.

Actually I'll repeat the important bit NOTHING.

It's about colours, not brightness.  Setting the brightness correctly is an entry criterion but if you don't do it then the Huey will carry on regardless.  Just like all other calibrators.  Most screens come out of the box crazy bright.

You know I think this is one of those things that is actually very obvious (once mentioned) but not the sort of conclusion one is lead to when trying to match prints to screens, I think this is a very valuable comment made by Jonathon, certainly worthy of capitols

 

[Bigbill]

Hewwo from Grey Sheffy,

Yeppers,cheers Jonathan,very good comment indeed,
i looked at some user reviews(mainly gamers) and they all say the same thing,so now i,m fiddling with the brightness on my Dell S2309W until i get it to match the Js print,
been a long tiresome episode this,but hopefuly one that will be rewarding in the end.
OOOh,and my Bigmna lens has arrived in store as well !!!

Shine On

Me off to Derby tomorrow,3 points expected !!