Which printing center for photos and albums?

Photos remain a popular memento. Birthday parties, anniversaries, holidays, births, day trips, performances, performances: we want pictures that remind us how special, nice, beautiful, cozy or fun we had it. Of course you want to immortalize the most beautiful moments in an album or hang it on the wall.

There are several major chains that offer printing options. HEMA and Kruidvat are extremely popular. Albert Heijn and Aldi also have such a service. In addition, there are various online providers of which Albelli is best known. CeWe photo service, on the other hand, will not immediately ring a bell. Yet it is actually the most famous photo service. We will explain why this is the case below. Finally, there is Profotonet. A photo center that focuses on consumers and professionals with high-quality prints and albums. Of course, that comes with a price tag.

But what about CeWe? All providers use a photo exchange. The most commonly used is called CeWe Color. In addition to CeWe itself, Albert Heijn, Aldi and Kruidvat use this power station. So whether you order directly from CeWe photo service or one of these chains, the print quality will be the same.

The providers are all given the opportunity to design the pages in their own house style. And, not unimportant to know for you as a consumer, they can determine the price for their offer themselves.

Most people prefer to order online rather than through software that has to be downloaded first. Practically all providers provide both options. Think in advance what you like best. It is not possible to transfer a project from online to software or vice versa.

Hema and Kruidvat offer a fast service. The photos are immediately available in the chosen location after ordering. Of course only useful for people who have a Kruidvat or Hema nearby. Both chains make the caveat that it can take a little longer during busy periods, but you have the guarantee that the photos will be ready the same day. When the order is complete, you will receive an e-mail. So you don’t come to the branch for no reason.

Just to be clear: the express service does not apply to photo albums. These have a longer lead time because they are printed elsewhere.

Hema and Kruidvat also have a so-called photo kiosk in all branches with fast service. This is a device that prints photos directly in the store. Take a USB stick or memory card with you, insert it into the device and select which photos to print. Printing directly from a phone is also possible.

At Hema, Kruidvat and Albert Heijn, an order can be picked up in a branch. This applies to photos and albums. The advantage of this is that you save on shipping costs. They are between 5 and 10 euros, which is nice to save.

The most popular print size is 10×15 cm. That was already the case in the days of the film rolls. However, the digital format has caused deviations. The old rolls of film produced photos in the ratio 2:3, which translates into a 10×15 print. But sensors of many digital cameras have a ratio of 4:3 (similar to a standard monitor). This produces a print of, for example, 10×13. And the cameras in phones can deliver all kinds of ratios. Therefore, assume that the photos you want to print will need to be cropped. Or that part of the print remains white. However, AH has the option of choosing ‘variable length’. The prints can be of different sizes, but nothing is cut off and there are no white edges.

Well, the costs. Try to make sense of that. Providers charge prices per photo. But if you order larger numbers of photos, you can count on a discount. Fortunately, there is a price comparator online that will calculate it all for you. The site Foto Compare.nl has a handy Photo Calculator and a Album Calculator. Enter your wishes and you will receive an overview of the cheapest options.

For example, we enter in the Photo Calculator that we want 25 prints in the format 10×15. Delivery by post. We sort the overview by price (from lowest to highest). Then we see the following costs in the overview at the moment (June 2021):

• Aldi 4.24 euros
• Kruidvat 7.48 euros
• CeWe 8.29 euros
• Albert Heijn 8.48 euros

Please note: all providers mentioned have the photos printed in the same central office, CeWe Color. There is no difference in quality, only difference in price.

If we choose ‘Branch’ on delivery, Aldi and CeWe will disappear from the overview. Pick up is not possible there. The prices then become:

• Kruidvat 5.25 euros
• Albert Heijn 6.50 euros

In this case, ordering from Aldi and having it delivered by post is by far the cheapest option. See for yourself how the costs will work out for you and what is most convenient.