Plateworks Print Lab is run by Dom Alhambra under Badwater Guidance LLC, a Nevada company, from Reno. These terms apply to every Photo Lab order, Starter Set, Founding Ten order, Art Print, and Tecopa map poster. Placing an order means you agree to them.
Your files and your rights
- When you send a file, you confirm that you made it or that you have permission to reproduce it.
- I don't reproduce work you can't show rights to, and I may decline any order.
- Your files are used only to make your order. I keep originals and working files for 90 days after delivery, then delete them, unless you ask me to keep them longer.
- I never show your work publicly without your permission.
- A free Print-Readiness Audit is shared publicly only if you say yes when you request it.
How ordering works
- You send a request through the request form.
- You upload your full-resolution file when you send the request. Within 24 hours in full-service months, I reply with a Stripe invoice. If the request changes before you pay, I send a new invoice.
- Work starts when your payment and your file have both arrived.
Proofs and revisions
- Every Signature print gets a screen proof on the exact paper profile. Two revision rounds are included. Further rounds are $25 each.
- Diptychs, triptychs and panoramas include a physical proof: an 8.5 × 11 print that shows your crop and color. It may not be on your final paper, so treat it as a guide to the finished print. For a single print it's a $15 add-on. It mails on the next Tuesday or Friday after you approve the screen proof and usually arrives in 2 to 5 business days. Your print goes into production when you tell me it looks right.
- If a proof goes unanswered, I send one reminder after 72 hours.
- The screen proof you approve is the standard your print is held to.
- The Starter Set is printed from print-ready files as sent, with no editing or proofing. Tecopa posters use the watermarked render you approve as their proof.
Prices, payment and shipping
- Prices are as listed on the Photo Lab page, in US dollars. Payment is by card through a Stripe invoice.
- Sales tax is added to orders shipped to a Nevada or California address, and to orders picked up in Reno.
- You can cancel for a full refund until I start work on your file. Once I've sent a proof, the order can't be refunded, and the Proof-Match Promise covers the print.
- Art Prints: you can cancel for a full refund until your print ships; after that, the sale is final. If a print arrives damaged or doesn't arrive, email lab@plateworks.org within 7 days with a photo or the tracking, and I'll send a replacement with the same number. For a damaged print, I'll send you a prepaid label to return it, so each number exists only once. You pay the shipping charge for the replacement, members included.
- The Starter Set is limited to two sets per customer per month.
- Shipping is $8 for 11 × 17 prints, Tecopa 11 × 17 posters and the Starter Set, and $12 for 17 × 22 prints, sets and panoramas. Art Prints show their shipping charge at checkout. Packages at 17 × 22 and up are insured. Local pickup in Reno is free.
- Prints ship on Tuesdays and Fridays, on the second ship day after you approve your proof. Approve by Monday evening and it ships Friday; by Thursday evening, the following Tuesday. Tracking is emailed when the print ships.
The Proof-Match Promise
- For Photo Lab orders, if your print has a lab defect (banding, a mismatch to the approved proof, scratches, the wrong size or paper, or damage before it ships), I reprint it free on the next ship day.
- If your print matches the approved proof but disappoints you in person, I'll reprint it once at material cost; you pay shipping.
- If a Photo Lab package is damaged in transit or lost, I reprint it free once the carrier claim is filed.
- One policy reprint per order.
Seasons
The lab runs full service from December through April. From May through November I'm away on fire assignments for weeks at a time, so the lab is waitlist only and new orders aren't accepted. The site shows the current mode and when intake reopens. I don't take an order I can't ship before I leave.
Founding Ten
The Founding Ten offer ($79 for one 17 × 22 Signature print on Aurora Art Natural 300, shipping included, unlimited revisions; a physical proof is the usual $15 add-on) is limited to ten customers and closes when sold or at day 45, whichever comes first. In exchange you agree to:
- give a short testimonial within 14 days of delivery,
- send a photo of the print where it hangs, and
- grant a separate license, which you sign when you order, allowing Plateworks to show the print and your image in its portfolio and marketing.
That license is the only way your work appears in Plateworks marketing. Without it, the rule above applies: never shown without your permission.
Membership
Membership is $100 a year or $14 a month, and open to anyone. It includes free US shipping on Art Prints and Photo Lab orders ($12 off shipping to addresses outside the US), a week of early access to new fine art prints, priority scheduling, and expert analysis of your photos. It renews automatically at the end of each year or month you paid for, at the current membership price. Yearly members get an email 30 days before each renewal with the date and the price. You can cancel any time from your account on plateworks.org or by emailing lab@plateworks.org. Cancelling stops the next renewal, and your benefits last to the end of the period you paid for. If the price changes, I email members 7 to 30 days before the new price applies, with how to cancel. If you cancel within 14 days of joining or renewing and haven't used a member benefit, you get a full refund.
Contact
Last updated October 11, 2026.