I want to print a picture at Walgreens. The end result will be a 4"x6" photo. Does my photo HAVE to be 4"x6" to start with if I want my picture to come out looking right? What happens if my image is not 4x6? I assume Walgreens will print and whatever part of my image fits in their “box”…and they just press “print”? I doubt they make any adjustments, correct?
Please share your experiences tips, and/or pointers.
It’s been years since I’ve done it. If I’m remembering correctly, no it doesn’t have to be a particular size. Their software works all that stuff out.
I had my son’s Graduation pics done through Walgreens.
I’ve never trusted Walgreens system to correctly fit/resize my photos, so I crop and edit my photos to fit my target size. Walgreens does a good job and I like on-line submission.
The quirky thing about on-line submission is that Walgreens will not accept TIFF images on-line. Just JPEG images. Hmn. If you take a flash memory stick into a Walgreens that system will accept TIFF’s.
IIRC, when your image isn’t in a 2/3 ratio it will present you with an image and a box with a default cropping suggested. You can choose to either keep that crop or move it yourself.
Perhaps they are concerned about file size. TIFFs can get quite large for photographic images, unless one uses the JPEG mode for compression. But then you might as well use a JPEG.
Do they accept PNGs? They would have the same issue (minus the ability to use JPEG compression mode).
While we’re here, I do have one question myself: Does Walgreens zoom in by about an eighth an inch or so? That’s what I found happened with my photos that I printed at Walmart. They weren’t actually photos, but gift cards (because Audible oddly doesn’t provide their own) and it cut off a letter.
Remember: I submit actual 4 x 6 images. No scaling should be necessary. With that said I do think the Walgreens system modifies the image size but only slightly. My bigger problem is image placement on the target print.
I think the print making machine is the source of image placement inaccuracy. Image clipping is obvious, but again, only a small amount (perhaps 1/16 inch).
Image placement is enough of a problem that I reduce the image and then make a 1/10 inch white border all around. (Final print size remains 4 x 6.)