My Experience with Digital Files
I often do volunteer work for organizations, like photographing headshots or events. I pass on the digital files for the organization to use for their social media or to print out. One time recently I saw what one organization had printed out, and I was flabbergasted! The files had been printed at a local drugstore in town. I couldn't believe the bad quality! The person who printed them didn't really notice how bad they were. It wasn't her fault, but it just made me realize that people just don’t see the difference!
They were all washed out! The exposure was way off, and I knew that I had exposed them correctly before passing the files on. I went home and ordered those same files from my professional lab, and took them in for my friend to compare. I set them side by side. Then she could easily see the difference! It was unbelievable how printing at a professional lab instead of a box store could make such a big difference in the quality!
How do I work?
When I order prints, I make sure they are good quality and perfect exposure before I will package them up and pass them on to my clients. I like to have that control over my images. If they aren't just right, I will fix them. That is my guarantee to my clients. That's why I don't promote just getting the digital files.
Don’t get me wrong. I do sell the digital files, if that’s what you really want. But I will warn you ahead of time that I am not responsible for the print quality, whether it is exposure or color balance. If you do order the digital files, I recommend MPIX.com, which is an online photo lab, more professional than the big box stores. You can get different mounts & frames. You can also order them with uv sprays and different paper types. The spray keeps them from fading in the sunlight.
When a client makes a product purchase of large wall art, I will include a digital file of that image. They will be able to make copies for other family and friends if they want, but I want my clients to have something they will be proud to hang on their walls. Not something stuck in their drawer on a storage device, that they won't be able to find without digging through all their files first. Display those images, whether it's on your wall or in an album!
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