Many of our readers have been asking us to write detailed howto articles on printing, a topic we have certainly neglected over the years. Getting our work seen is very important for us photographers, because that’s why we shoot in the first place. While posting images to Facebook and Instagram is something many of us love doing, images often look completely different in print when compared to how electronic devices display them. And I am not just talking about differences in color reproduction, accuracy and perception (which are obviously important), but about other important factors that influence them such as print brightness, contrast, sharpness, reflection, glare, paper type, print material, size and much more.
Another big topic is where to print photos. While some photographers are brave enough to print at home, most prefer getting their prints done through a printing company. This is the topic we want to research in detail and aside from explaining how you can make your photos look best in print, we also want to provide specific information on which printing companies we believe make the best-looking prints. We have already identified a list of candidates that we want to talk to, but we would love to have your feedback on your preferred choice of printing company and why you believe they make the best prints. Please let us know where you print and if you outsource the process, let us know why you chose the particular company you are working with in the comments section below!
Below are the printing companies we will be researching:
- Shutterfly
- ProDPI
- Mpix
- Bay Photo
- Adorama Pix
- Nations Photo Lab
- Costco
Remember, even if you photograph purely for your own joy, seeing a physical print takes that joy to a whole different level. That’s why printing is so important.
Not sure if the this project is still active, but I saw it only a couple of weeks ago. My experience with MPix and MPixPro hasn’t been overwhelming. In researching further, I have come across a number of other services and wonder if you’d like including them in your project or if others have experience in using them.
Colortek, Blurb, ShopDuggal, Milk, Saal, Blurb, American Frame, Artefact Uprising, ZNO, WHCC and Printique (an Adorama company, not sure about the difference with Adorama Pix).
I recently gave a bride some photographs to choose from.I left them in them in the profoto color space because I did not edit to printer color space as yet
She took them mixed them with pics from cellphones and sent them to do a photobook .The prints are awful (she does not understand how her photos which looked so good on her laptop) came out so terribly and partially blames me.I am now doing profiled prints for her free to defend myself.The prints came out beautifully when printing using profiles
Please also evaluate Snapfish. I have been ordering my prints from them for a few years now. They provide the best customizability for photo books as far as I have seen.
I have a Costco nearby in my town and have used them for prints up to 16×20 inches. These are for my own use and have not been prints sold to anyone else. For general 4×6 or 5×7 prints Costco has been decent and the price can’t be beat. I have found that for larger prints of landscapes, the final print usually comes out significantly darker than what I have edited on my screen. To that end, I have had to re-edit some images for printing at Costco such that they don’t look right on my screen but the printed result is acceptable. The next time I intend to make prints I will be giving other labs a try, like Mpix or Adoramapix.
I use “White Wall” (based in Germany). The prints are very good, but at some moment I got some photos with some failures like spots, weird lines, etc, and I started to believe that they didn’t have quality control at all. I did express my concern and I think that they take measures to improve. My last orders came perfectly printed.
I used Canvaschamp for printing in canvas about 3 years ago, very satisfied with the quality/price ratio. The colors were printed very close to what I wanted and are still looking good (ie. no bleaching).
On the topic, also I’d like to suggest the printing on other surfaces than paper, such as canvas, metallic etc.
Thanks!
In London I use Printspace they print for Nat Geo, Sony World and National Portrait, they charge £13 for a giclee print to fit 500 x400 frame with 55mm margin. Everyone tell me it’s expensive but these are the people who complain about cost of ink. I can sell through Printspace. Who should I use in US that offers same service?
I print at my home office on a Canon imageprograph 1000 and results are spectacular! I like having the ability to tweak prints as needed, although the printer and calibrated monitor work so well that I rarely have to reprint. I did create a photo book for my wife’s bday using blurb and was very pleased with the output, although the lightroom based software was not very intuitive or easy to use.
I have had good results from Bay Photo …
So far combination of price, delivery and accuracy puts Costco as my favorite.
Costco photo printing website, at least in the state of Indiana, offers printer profiles used at each branch. It also has option to turn off automatic color correction. Combination of both gives predictable results in printing up to their largest size (20×30).
However, to take full advantage of printer profiles, whole workflow has to be color manged from start to finish.