Information about ordering digital files

We understand that a lot of people in this day and age want to have the digital copies of the pictures. That's why we offer them at a very reasonable price. There are a few things to take into consideration when making the decision to get the digital files over the print. These are some of the reasons that we have heard.

"They last longer."

Not really. The prints that we offer are printed on photographic paper that should resist fading for at least 100 years as long as they are keep either out of the light or behind UV protected glass. Digital files might last, but what they are on won't. CDs and DVDs degrade over a very short period of time. There is no guarantee that if you pop that disk into your computer that it will read properly a few short years from now. Also the medium itself might not be around. CDs and DVDs have already been disappearing from machines. The blank media are not even being carried at stores like Staples anymore. Hard drives will certainly die, they don't last forever, so make sure you back up your files. Flash drives are the most popular right now, but for how long until they are replaced with something else. Remember only 20 years ago we were saving to floppy disks. Good luck trying to get data off of one of those now.

"Not sure what sizes to get."

Well guess what, getting them digitally isn't going to help. Now you will just have files sitting somewhere and they will never get printed.

"I can make cheaper prints myself."

Sort of. The labs that we use are not available to consumers. So you are stuck with cheap places like CVS, Costco or like. The quality of those prints are not even close to the quality you can get from us. We use a professional lab that has access to millions of dollars worth of equipment and have trained lab techs operating that do it all day every day. Even the paper is a better quality. In fact it costs us more to make a print at our lab than it costs you to make one at CVS. Also, when you factor in the cost of the digital file, how much did you save?

"I want to make an enlargement and they are too expensive through you."

The digital files are sized at about an 11x14 at 300 dpi. IF you are going to make something bigger, it should be upsized prior to printing and that process can make a mess if not done properly. Also, a print that large should be mounted in some way or it will ripple over time in a frame. Lastly, see the argument above.

To be fair, there are a few good reasons to get the digital files.

1. You don't care about the quality of the print.

2. You need a LOT of copies of a picture to give out and quality is not a consideration.

3. You want something to put on your phone and social media sites.

You've decided to go ahead with getting the digital files. OK, here is important information about our files.

We urge customers to understand files sizes and how they effect the final image. Frequently we are asked how many megabytes the files are. This is not an accurate way to judge the quality of a file. Because of the way that jpeg compression works some files can be 1.5 MB and others can be 11 MB and they can be the same physical size and print with the same quality. A better way to judge is by resolution and dimension. These two number go together because resolution is measured in dots per inch (dpi) so the bigger you make the image, the lower the resolution. Minimum print resolution should be around 150 dpi. Keep in mind though the bigger the print, the lower the resolution needs to be because you aren't going to be viewing it as close. As an example if the file is 11x14 inches at 300 dpi you can print it at twice the size or 22x28 and the resolution would be 150 dpi. Our files are process in batches and the size sometimes vary slightly, but they final result should be 11x14 at 300 dpi.

We offer 3 different ways to get your files.

1. Digital Download – This is available only for a la carte files, not for packages yet. We are working on that. The files are a little different that are delivered this way. The company that handles our web services uses a stronger jpeg compression to save space on their servers and to make downloads faster. The image is the same size, but the file is smaller. The release doesn't come with the file, but we can send one if you request it. We can also give you the CD version if you ask as well.

2. CD – This is how the CD bundle is delivered. The files are the same exact ones that we use to print all of the orders with. This comes with a release. To Order the CD Bundle click HERE

3. Email – When we send files this way they will be the exact same thing you would get on a CD. Same file, same release. We took this delivery method off of the site because it became very labor intensive to send all of the orders out. As many as 75 order can go out in a day with an average of 4 files per order. We can still email files to you though. Just ask.