Pro Ordering Guidelines

Order Submission Details to Receive Tiered Pro Pricing at Dan’s Camera City, Inc.

All of the steps below are required to receive Dan’s Professional Tiered Pricing. Please bookmark this page for your reference.

Orders submitted outside of these file set up parameters and general guidelines will be charged regular price, and possibly incur a Special Handling Fee commensurate with the amount of work or additional labor required.

Failure to meet these requirements will result in a one-time courtesy phone call to confirm understanding and/or additional fees.

If, after this courtesy call, files are submitted that require intervention on our part that includes color mode conversion (CMYK to RGB, or 16-bit to 8-bit), file format conversion (compressed TIFF, PSD with layers), customers will pay a Special Handling Fee of 20% or $5 minimum per order and/or regular price will be assessed to do the conversions and printing. All other file requirement diversions will result in regular pricing.

Note: All orders are printed on photo paper at a minimum of 300 DPI. If you request our plain back paper, regular pricing applies.

Overview of file set-up/requirements to receive pro tiered pricing

  1. 8-bit/channel files only
  2. RGB color mode
  3. sRGB color space strongly recommended
  4. DPI: size files exactly (4×6, 5×7) at 300 DPI
  5. Crop to exact dimensions for every size ordered
  6. Save flattened files in JPG or TIFF format only
  7. File names must contain only letters, numbers, dashes or underscores (no special characters)
  8. Submission through exclusive website online ordering or CD/DVD with specific CD/DVD setup required (see below)
  9. Pick up at Dan’s or UPS delivery only. No Drop Site delivery.

Detailed File Preparation Guidelines

8-bit/channel files only
If you edit in 16-bit/channel, you must convert back to 8-bit/channel mode for order submission.
Submit files in RGB color mode
If you are ordering a B&W print, convert to B&W using whatever method you wish. Prior to ordering, convert back to 8 bit/channel RGB if necessary.
Tip: See www.shootsmarter.com for tips on how to make the most artistic B&W conversions from your color files!
If you edit a CMYK file, convert to RGB mode before submission.
Submit in sRGB color space
All of our printers are within the sRGB color space (as are all true photo printers). If you shoot in Adobe RGB for editing purposes, convert and submit files in sRGB color space.
Size to print at 300 PPI
For example, 4×6 at 300 PPI.
All borderless images should be sized at 300 dpi at the print size you are ordering and formatted as you wish them to be printed.

Use the crop tool in Photoshop to make sure your photos are the correct size. Choose exact width and height, and always enter 300 pixels/inch (not higher).

If you want a border, or you need to print an odd-sized photo, you must change the Canvas Size and choose a background color for the border.

For example: To print a 7×10 image on 11×14 paper, change the Canvas Size in Photoshop. You may choose any background color.


The new file is a standard 11×14


Saving files

We recommend Level 10 Baseline Standard JPEG

We request JPEGs for speed and storage efficiencies. There is no loss of quality at our photographic print sizes.


JPEG compression is a very efficient albeit lossy image compression algorithm, designed especially for saving photographic images. It is designed around how humans see color versus brightness to only save information needed to reproduce the image for people to view. Image data is lost during compression, but at high levels of quality, you will not see a difference between a Level 10 JPEG and a TIF printed to photographic paper.

JPEG compression is best for output files for sending to our lab for printing, but avoid using JPEG as a working file type: Avoid opening a JPEG, editing the image, and resaving it again as a JPEG. Repeated editing and saving the same JPEG will have a detrimental effect if you need to edit after saving in your workflow. Save as TIF or PSD files until they are complete and ready for output, at which time save them as a level 10 JPEG. Level 12 JPEGs are 3 times larger than a Level 10 JPG and will not print any better. You will not see a qualitative difference in your print.

We can accept uncompressed TIFF files. We cannot accept compressed or layered TIFF files.

If you shoot in RAW, you must convert to JPEG or TIFF before submission.

File Names

Must contain only Numbers, Letters, Dashes and Underscores (followed by the .jpg or .tif extension.

File names containing characters other than numbers, letters, dashes and underscores may cause problems during printing and need to be avoided. Invalid file names will either not print or will be assessed a Special Handling Fee of 20% ($5 minimum).

Logos & Text

If applying a logo and/or studio name to images, images/text must be ¼" away from each edge in order to avoid normal machine cropping that will occur.

Order submission guidelines

Orders must be submitted via any of these 3 methods:

Order online

Our new online system is available 24/7, and has tiered pricing for our professional photographer customers. This service is extended only to Professionals in the Photo Business and is not open to the public. Please send email to dpro@danscamera.com to get the link.

Express Digital ordering service

Robust online ordering and gallery presentation software, supported by Dan’s. Go to ExpressDigital to see details, but you must sign up for it through Dan's. Contact the store for registration.

Send a CD or DVD

On the dis, set up your order as follows:

  1. Write your name on CD
  2. Create separate folders for glossy and matte orders
  3. Create sub-folders named for quantity, size, border, surface using the following system: Quantity_Size_Border_Surface. Use the list of abbreviations below when naming your folders.
    For example: if you want three copies a few pictures to be printed at 4×6 with a white border on glossy paper, you would place them in a folder called 3_46_WB_G.

Abbreviations for common sizes and options:

Abbreviation Definition
BL Borderless
WB Standard White Border
G Glossy
M Matte
2Rpr Wallet, pair
3R 3½×5
453 4×5.3
46 4×6
810 8×10
812 8×12
1114 11×14
1218 12×18

Folder setup example:

Place images into appropriate folders for the order. If you want the same file printed at different sizes, you must crop and place the copies of the image in all appropriate folders.

Include a text file summarizing the order: Number of prints separated by size (ex. 25 4×6s, 18 8×10s, etc.) and total number of prints ordered (for determining turnaround times).

For more choice in borders, submit orders through our exclusive online ordering system.

Monitors and Light Sources

Calibrate your monitor to a standard. This is the first and most important step to a consistent and accurate match between your prints and what you see on your monitor. While we sell the Spyder and Monaco monitor calibrators and recommend their use, there are others on the market that will meet your needs. Most monitors, as supplied by their manufacturer, are far too blue (cool) and too bright. Monitor calibration will allow you to adjust your monitor to get quality and repeatable results. Ask our professional support representative for more details.

You should judge your prints under a uniform and quality light source. This need not be an expensive light source, as there are several inexpensive daylight light sources that mimic sunlight and are reasonably priced.

Delivery Options

Shipping is via UPS or in-store pick-up at Dan’s only. These orders cannot be picked up at a Drop Site location or shipped via US postal service and receive tiered pricing.

Our professional program is designed to be an easy system for the Professional Photographer to follow with a minimal number of rules, so that we can ensure that your needs are met, and with these rules followed, we can offer our best quality prints at a very competitive price.