Photo Preparation

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I love photography; all of it—digital or film—indoors or outdoors—people or places.    There’s something about hearing the click of the shutter of my Canon D20 that makes me h

There is not much that makes me want to use a vacation day when it's raining, but going to the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield County Club is one of them.  I certainly did not get to watch all the golf I had hoped for on Thursday due to the weather delays, but what I did get to see were lots of Greensboro and Triad residents coming together to put on a great show for the whole world to see.  I saw Mastercolor customers as volunteers, I saw them as corporate sponsors, and I saw what I hope to be future customers with smuggled cameras snapping photos of the new "hotties" on tour.

Mastercolor Labs is lucky to have established a nice market share on the internet, and usually the first question we are asked about becoming a customer is how is the best way to send orders to our lab, and the answer is simple: Remote Order Entry Service.  You will not find a faster uploading software on the internet.  It does not matter if you are ordering a 30 x40 digital photograph, or 1,000 8x10 units for school photography, the compression method the software uses is amazing.

In the near future  we are opening a new site: Mastercolorcanvas.com, while it is still part of the Mastercolor company, it is a website for the sole purpose of uploading just  Gallery Wrapped images.  We currently allow people to send their digital images via email, or upload them using our Professional or Advanced service but this site will have a quick Browse section.  If you are wanting to upload any images, either Digital Photographs or Giclee Gallery Wrapped Prints I suggest using the ROES software available on the front page of this site.

Well Mastercolor and it's 33 year old body is moving in with the new generation.  We recently signed up on Twitter, and joined Facebbok a few months back.  It's hard to see & track where this is helping our business, but we do have people from time to time say the found us through these internet networks.  On Facebook we have run a number of Internet specials on Canvas Gallery Wraps, and we will be offering more on assorted digital prints, so sign up to follow Mastercolor on both Twitter and Facebook.  Let us know your thoughts and what you would like to see as specials.

By far the most popular and growing style of prints that we make. Gallery Wrap Giclee prints are perfect for every subject that you can capture with your digital camera, or create through photoshop.   When Mastercolor first started printing on Canvas it was mostly for Bridal portraits and landscapes.  Our customer base now ask for all subject to be printed as a Gallery Wrap, family vacations, graduations, maternity, abstract art...it all looks great as a Gallery Wrapped Giclee print. I think one of the main reasons people have found this so popular is the amount you save on framing.

Working at a professional photo lab, there are certain questions we hear a lot.     The number one question:  "How large can I print this digital image?"     The answer:   "It depends."     If the image is not sharp as a 4 x 6, it will NEVER look better as a larger print.    Enlarging the image will only make a soft focus photo look softer (or blurry).   If the focus and exposure are correct, one of the best ways to insure you will be satisfied with an enlargement is to always have your camera set to shoot in high (or large) resolution.    Whether you have a DSLR or a digital point and shoot,

Want to know how to get the best and least expensive prints of your digital photos?     You may be surprised to know that taking your digital images to a professional photo lab will result in superior quality at basically the same price as printing them at home.     Even though home photo printers are very popular and seemingly inexpensive, there are many hidden costs associated with them.   Check for yourself.    The American Consumer Institute has posted a website www.consumercalculator.com which allows you to input your information and determi

It seems whatever digital camera you buy, there will be an editing software included.  Many of these softwares will also point you on the direction to where you can host your images, or have them printed.  Wonder why they give this away free?????  Because, if you chose the easy route of locking into their software, you have done exactly that, locked yourself in unless you save your files on your computer or external storage.

Most us these storage sites or printing houses store your files for free, but then only let you access the images in a much smaller format UNLESS you are buying from th

At Mastercolor Labs we see thousands of different Christmas Cards each year, and every year we are asked "which picture should I use for my card."  My answer is always, use the photos that show what your family is like in their every day life.  Sure everyone wants to look like a Norman Rockwell Painting, but the cards I remember the most are the funny cards with kids laughing, dogs facing the other way, babies crying, and parents looking frustrated.  Remember you are sending these to friends, and they already know AND like you (hopefully), so be yourself.