Any traditional print shops left?

K-9 · 11-04-2009, 11:59 AM

Does anyone know of labs in the US that still do C-type prints or silver halide B&W? There must be someone somewhere, as fine art prints are still being sold like that. I just can't seem to find any info on the web.

*graphicgr8s* · 11-04-2009, 01:43 PM

You probably should have rephrased the title. I thought you were talking about print shops. I still work in one. You meant photolabs. Sorry can't help on that at all. For B & W have you thought about doing your own?

*PeterAM* · 11-04-2009, 04:23 PM

Try asking on the APUG forum (http://www.apug.org/forums/home.php). This is the best place for really in depth analog information;very helpful people.

*Ron Boggs* · 11-05-2009, 08:16 AM

I've been very happy with the work from The Lab Ciba in Burbank CA. Frank is easy to deal with and does a great job on custom printing. He offers very large sizes too.

Frank's website is lab-ciba.com the phone number is 818-953-2202

The Lab specializes in Ilfochrome (formerly called Cibachrome) which is a direct chrome to chrome printing process for transparencies to museum quality archival prints. So it does require transparencies/slides.

I have had "texture" issues with other mounting processes, but The Lab offers mounting on aluminum, on aluminum "sandwich" or on plexiglas. All are expensive but way way smoother and glossier than traditional gatorboard or other board mounting processes. Look at most mounted prints from an acute angle and you'll see what I call "orange peel" texture. Not with the mounting processes mentioned above.

If you want less customized work--machine prints etc and more than just the transparency options from The Lab you might want to try Holland Photo. I used them several times more than 10 years ago and haven't kept tabs on the company. They were one of the biggies in traditional printing so I'm presuming you can find them?

K-9 · 11-05-2009, 09:51 AM

Yes, I should have said photo labs instead of print shops as there is a difference.

Thanks Ron, I will check out Lab Ciba. I also just found a traditional B&W lab called Mylab. As for Holland Photo, they have a website if you google them, but it's not coming up, so it may be defunct. Still searching for traditional color printing, but this one may be tough, as most switch to digital c-prints and never look back. I believe even fine art collectible prints are now accepted as digital c-prints rather than analog.

*Clicker* · 11-06-2009, 07:59 AM

KODAK Pro Lab Resource Center

*pingflood* · 11-06-2009, 09:57 AM

Weldon Color Lab - Los Angeles, CA - Ilfochrome Cibachrome Type-C Mounting Laminating Digital Copy Art Drum Scanning Epson Ultrachrome 9600 Inkjet Prints Custom ICC Profiles

edit: Holland Photo's website works fine for me... haven't used them in a long, long time but they used to do nice work.

*Das Boot* · 11-06-2009, 04:50 PM

The photo center in my town still does processing. After talking with the owner, I get the impression that it's his bread and butter (he can't compete with online shops for gear). He also does a lot of workshops and schooling. E6 processing is done on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As for B&W he uses a Jobo (I thought it was funny because I had owned one through the years). He said he doesn't get enough B&W to disrupt the main workflow with his machine.