Of course we prefer you send us digital files that have already been edited to your liking and sized to your specified output. At the very least we do require an image file that is of sufficient resolution and similar aspect ratio to your desired print size for best results and to avoid extensive and costly editing.

That said, we try very hard to accomodate both the novice and professional alike and will do everything we can to provide you with a print you will be proud to display at reasonable cost.

You may upload your photo files directly to our server here

We prefer you send us digital files too large to send electronically on an optical disk. CDR's being the most economical. Only record the files you want us to work with...Please do not send us a disk full of files to sort through. You may also store your completed order form and any specific printing instructions on this disk.

The demise of the trusty floppy disk has been greatly exaggerated and this very inexpensive media is still quite suitable for smaller individual files (a single 3-4 megapixel photo stored in JPG format with minimal compression will likely fill this media).

Keep in mind floppies are a bit less durable in shipping and subject to magnetic influences.

While we certainly can work with files stored on the various camera memory cards commonly in use, we discourage submitting such expensive and overly sensitive media for this purpose.

We assume you have kept copies of any digital files you send us, so we do not generally return digital media submitted. If you require disks be returned please arrange for return shipping when placing your order.

Better consumer cameras and scanners today can easily create image files of ample size to produce a quality print at 24"x36". Just remember to save your file at the highest resolution/best quality setting available in your equipment. Please avoid using any type of photo sharing software to send us your images as these programs will degrade file quality substantially.

Resolution, expressed as pixels (picture elements) or dots per inch (scanners and printers), represent the information contained in your image file. Sizing down is of little consequence as any unnessesary information is more or less intelligently discarded in the process. Sizing upwards is a different matter entirely as any missing information must be "created" by software interpolation in order to attempt to maintain the integrity of the original image. This process has come a long way, but there are limits and excessive use will degrade image quality. Upsizing without interpolation causes the resolution to drop substantially which will result in a fuzzy or distorted image.

Generally BIGGER IS BETTER when saving your files from cameras and scanners. The more pixels per inch supplied by the original the bigger it can be printed without resorting to less than perfect interpolation techniques.

Obviously we don't want you to deliberately resample your image to monsterous proportions just to give us a bigger file to play with either. A very high quality print can usually be achieved at between 150-380 ppi resolution at finished size using our equipment. In fact sending very high resolutions to a printer can actually degrade the print quality.

For a few tips on getting the best file out of your scanner or camera , download the "low resolution file notice" in pdf format HERE

The best choice for our use is a lossless format such as uncompressed .TIFF which is often available in cameras, and readily available in photo and scanner software. Uncompressed .TIFF files can be very large however.

.JPG/.JPEG files are by far the most commonly used by consumer cameras and can be quite acceptable. These are lossy compression files however, so please use the highest quality setting (lowest compression level) when saving images to this format for future printing. A 3 + megapixel camera can usually produce excellent files using this format for printing at any size we offer.

.GIF files although a lossless format, should be avoided for our purposes. This format is most frequently used for website design as it can be heavily compressed to speed loading of images over the internet.

We use Adobe CS on our system so any flavor of Adobe workfile is acceptable, as well as many camera RAW files. We also utilize a true Adobe Postscript RIP if your project requires it. We suggest photographs edited in Photoshop be managed in the Adobe RGB colorspace for continuity.

If your project is a poster or banner containing text, graphics, or logos, it should be created at full print size as these elements saved as an image will distort badly when appreciably enlarged. If you are laying out and saving your project at full print size this will not be an issue, however the resulting file size may be extremely large. You can also send us your text/graphics separately from the image file (s), although this will incur editing charges and post editing approval before printing can begin.

It's bound to come up, so we'll address this here. Please do not send us your favorite photo or graphic found on the internet for reproduction. Aside from the obvious copyright issues, these images are usually deliberately small and/or overly compressed files entirely unsuitable for enlargement printing.

If you just have to have that image for a poster we suggest you contact the website you found it on and inquire if they can provide you with a high resolution file suitable for enlargement.

It has been brought to our attention that some websites are offering high resolution images and "stock photos" without any limitation to redistribution. If one of these images interests you, please supply us with the URL of the file so that we may verify their policies regarding reproduction in advance of your order.

By sending us images for reproduction you assert that you own the rights to these works. We will not knowingly reproduce copyrighted works without written permission from the lawful owner.