Ordering Prints

Overview
Ordering Prints from an Album
Ordering Prints while Viewing Individual Photos
Your Cart
Preview and cropping from your cart
Edit and Organize Your Photos
Sending Prints to Friends
Pricing and Billing
Common Questions about Ordering Prints

Overview

Any photo that you upload to your Costco Photo Center account can be professionally printed on high-quality photographic paper. You can print any photo you have uploaded or any photo that your friends or family have shared with a glossy or lustre finish.

The fastest way to order prints is to click 'order prints' in the menu on the right side of most pages of the Costco Photo Center website.

If you have added items to your shopping cart that you would like to order, a notice will appear in the area with a small cart on the upper right corner of most pages of the Costco Photo Center website. If you would like to view the contents of your cart, click the 'view cart' link.

Note: Your order can be modified at any point until you click the 'Place order' button during the check out process.

Ordering Prints from an Album

Click 'order prints' on the right side of the page.
Click each photo you'd like to add to your order. To select the entire album, click the 'select all' link. To select a different album, click the album's name in the 'photo library' panel. If you change albums, the albums that contain photos you have selected will have a green checkmark beside them.
When you have selected the photos you'd like to order, click the 'continue' button.
A single 4x6 print for each photo is automatically selected in your cart. You can change the size selections and quantities by using the quick order drop down menus or by entering numbers in the quantity boxes beside each photo in your cart.
You can select a glossy or lustre finish for all of the images in your cart.
As well, you can add a border to every photo in your cart. Your options are white thin, edge torn, or black thin. Please note, choosing a border from your cart applies the border to all of the photos.

Ordering Prints while Viewing Individual Photos

While viewing one of your photos, you can easily add it to your cart.

Click the 'add to cart' button located at the top right corner of the image preview.
The cart message at the top right side of the page will appear if this is the first thing you have added to your cart during the current session.
You can continue to use the Costco Photo Center site for as long as you would like and you can keep adding items to your cart.
Once you are ready to order, click 'your cart' at the top right of the page.
When your shopping cart loads, you will see every photo you selected for prints, with a single 4x6 print automatically selected. Change the quantity or order different sizes of your photos using the 'quick order' dropdown menus or the quantity boxes beside your photos.
You can select a glossy or lustre finish for all of the images in your cart.
As well, you can add a border to every photo in your cart. Your options are white thin, edge torn, or black thin. Please note, choosing a border from your cart applies the border to all of the photos.

Your Cart

The photos, gifts or photo DVDs that you would like to order are held in your cart when you add them. Any items added to your cart will remain in your cart until you are ready to place your order, or until you manually remove them. If you log out with items in your cart then they will be there when you next log in.

Print Options

The 'Print Options' area at the top of your cart is where you can make changes to the entire contents of your cart.

Section 1: Choose a photo finish for your order. You can choose either lustre or glossy. Select a border for all of the images in your cart. Please note that choosing a border at this point replaces any borders you might have selected for your photos individually.

Section 2: You can quickly change the quantities and specify sizes for all the photos in your cart. Each of the standard print sizes has a corresponding quick order dropdown menu. They are: 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 8x12 and larger.

Use the dropdown menu to select a quantity for each size. For example, clicking the '4x6' menu and selecting '10' means every photo in your cart will show that you would like to order 10 prints of each photo at a size of 4x6. Clear the quantities for any print size by clicking the dropdown menu and selecting a quantity of zero.

Section 3: You can crop the photos in your cart to ensure that they will print clearly at the sizes you have selected. Click on each photo in your cart to check the quality and positioning of your image. Learn more about cropping.

Print Order

The 'print order' section is located below the 'print options' area. Each photo in your cart is presented here with a series of quantity boxes beside them that correspond to standard print sizes. In addition to any values you entered into the 'Quick Order' tool in section 2, you can select quantities for individual prints from any of the sizes displayed. Your total will adjust to reflect any selections you make in either the 'Quick Order' tool or the individual quantity boxes.

If you use the 'quick order' tool first, it will override individual quantities you might enter into the quantity boxes beside each thumbnail preview in your cart. To remove a photo from your cart, click the 'remove' link under the photo. The original photo will remain in your account, but will not be added to your order.

If you see the resolution warning triangle () next to a print size, it means the photo won't produce a high-quality print at the print size you selected. Please see the Photo Resolution section for more information.

When you have selected all of the sizes and quantities for your prints, click the 'continue' button to finalize your order. If you would like to return to your albums, to select more prints to order or to make a photo gift, but you don't want to lose any of the selections you have made in your cart, click the 'keep shopping' button.

Please note: you can change your order at any point before you click the 'place order' button at the end of checkout. You will not be charged until you click 'place order'.

To empty your cart, click the 'empty cart' link near the bottom of the page to remove all prints, photo gifts, photo cards, and Photo DVDs from your cart.

Preview and Cropping From your Cart

During the printing process there might automatically be some cropping due to the difference between the aspect ratio of pictures taken on some digital cameras and the aspect ratio of standard print sizes. The Costco Photo Center crop tool allows you to take control of how your photo will be cropped in order to make sure that your photo looks exactly as you would like. Use the crop tool to effectively crop your photo so that the details of your photo are not lost during printing.

How to crop photos in your cart

Click the photo you would like to adjust or click the crop icon .
You can crop each photo size differently by clicking the image in the editing popup.
Click the thumbnail of the size you would like to check.
Choose landscape or portrait to change the orientation of your crop.
Adjust the crop area by clicking the crop rectangle and holding the mouse button while moving your mouse to drag the crop rectangle into position. To resize the crop rectangle, drag the corners until your picture is presented exactly as you would like.
Click the 'apply crop' button.
Click 'next' or 'previous' to crop another photo or click the 'done' button to take you back to the cart page.

A triangle () next to a print size indicates that the selected crop area is too small or the photo has an insufficient resolution to make a high-quality print at the selected size. Please see the Photo Resolution section for more information.

Edit and Organize Your Photos

While in a photo album, click the photo you would like to edit or click 'edit and enhance' in the 'edit and enhance' menu. Use the editing tools in the 'editing panel' to the right of your photo to adjust many features of your photo - eliminate red-eye, add creative and professional borders, crop your photo to make sure it prints just as you'd like, correct the color balance, fix the flash, rotate your photo and have some fun with tints!

Learn more about editing and enhancing your photos!

Learn more about organizing your photos!

Sharing Photos with Friends

One of the greatest gifts you can share with your friends and family is a picture of a special moment in your life. With the Costco Photo Center sharing your precious memories has never been easier! Share photos with anyone you would like, allow them to access your shared albums and make their own prints and gifts with your pictures, and much more.

Learn more about sharing your photos!

Note: If anyone decides to make prints or gifts from your photos, then they will be charged for the cost. In order for your friends and family to access your shared albums and photos, they will have to sign up for a Costco Membership. If they wish to make purchases, then they will have to enter their own credit card information or make arrangements to pick up their items at a Costco Warehouse near where they live.

Pricing and Billing

Pricing

Please see our comprehensive shipping and pricing information page for more information.

Billing

All pick up orders must be paid for at the Costco warehouse where you will be picking up your order. All mail orders require a credit card to purchase. Your credit card is charged at the time you place your order.

More information about payment and billing.

Common Questions about Ordering Prints

What if I need a refund or I have to return my order?

Please contact our customer support department for information about a return or refund. Please provide as much detail on your customer support form so that they can assist you as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.

Will my prints look the same as they do on my computer?

Your photos will look much better in most cases. Any photo that will not produce a high-quality print will be flagged with a triangle to warn you before you make a purchase.

So, what does the triangle refer to?

If you see a triangle or a resolution warning it indicates that your photo is at an insufficient resolution to produce a quality print.

For more information, please see Photo Resolution.

What is a sufficient resolution to produce good quality prints?

It is a good rule of thumb to follow that the better the quality of your digital image, the better the print you can make from it. Refer to the table below for some guidelines for the minimum image resolution required to print at some of the standard print sizes.

Print Size	Minimum Resolution
4x6	690x460 pixels
5x7	805x575 pixels
8x10	1150x920 pixels
8x12	1380x920 pixels
Wallet Prints	374x259 pixels

Can I remove everything in my cart at once?

You can delete all of the items in your cart at once using the 'empty cart' button in the bottom left corner of the 'order total' section. The photos and items will be removed from your cart but not deleted from your online albums.

What kind of print surfaces do you offer?

The Costco Photo Center offers two choices for the print surface of your photos. You can choose either glossy or lustre. Glossy is the default option, but some of the benefits of choosing a lustre surface are listed below.

Resists fingerprints: The surface of the print is less likely to show fingerprints which considerably improves the life of your printed photos.
Less reflective than glossy: There is less glare, and less reason to bend photos to avoid glare.
Professional look: Many portrait photographers use the lustre finish.

How can I choose the lustre finish?

In the 'photo options' area of your cart, choose lustre in the first section by clicking the radio button beside it.