Just ordered from MPix for the first time because of your review. I am so very happy with the quality! Just simply fantastic! Printed several portraits as well as several macro shots that needed brilliant colors and dark blacks. It all came out perfect. It is nice to see several years after your review that Mpix still doesn't disappoint. Thank you both for the guidance!
Suggestion: Take a photo of X-rite color chart, use their Lightroom plug-in to standardize it and have it printed by those print serviced in order to test their color accuracies.
I started researching this topic a few months back and found WHCC. It was really the first company I decided to give a shot. When they sent me the test 8X10s I was so blown away that I decided to stick with them without looking anywhere else. Overjoyed to see you two rate them so highly. Not bad for a printing noob like myself...
I use Bay Photo and I have never been disappointed. Their products are amazing. I will say that I do all of the adjustments and rarely select the color adjustment option. Although when I have, it has been just fine. You do need to go outside the web browser and download the Java application Bay ROES. It is a bit clunky until you use it a few times. It's pretty seamless after you get used to it. I'm not convinced to switch based on this video comparison. I'll keep looking but I'm pretty happy with the products, shipping and prices at Bay Photo.
I agree with Gerry Marchese. I've used Adoramapix for several years and have gotten great results. As stated, do not let them adjust your images. You need to have a color adjusted monitor and use their printer profile based on the paper you select. The photo books I've done are absolutely stunning! And on an occasional instance when something was not right, their customer service has been great. They will gladly reprint the job to your satisfaction.
Certainly good to see a comparison like this, but......would have been more valuable if a few different images were sent in at different times to each printer to get a more accurate idea of how the quality is overall .
Thanks Tony and Chelsea. Printing services was a perfect topic! Thanks for covering this. I have often wondered who is the best, or where to send my pics. I have used MPix, Shutterfly, Adorama, Costco & Walmart (and Fracture). So those are the ones I know about. My only concern is you only used one photo to do the judging. If you judged a different photo I wonder if you would get completely different results?
Got a canon pro-10 and I print up to 13x19" home and really happy I did. It's a lot of fun and so important to print your work. There is nothing like printing home to control the result from start to finish including colors, paper, framing etc. I would strongly recommend printing home if you can. Take some of the money you would invest in collecting lenses and bodies with more mpixel / focus points and instead get yourself a good monitor and a printer.
*_I live in CA and my go-to online lab is Bayphoto. Their Fuji Pearl paper is unlike anything I've ever seen. Service is great and shipping arrives via Fedex in 2 days (if you live in the west coast). All these other ones are out of state and takes up to a week to get to me. I didn't like Mpix because they only print on 3 kinds of paper. No variety at all. I like printing on matte paper that yields no light reflection and they didn't offer that. Mpix may be good enough for your snapshots but for photographers who want fine art prints to hang on their wall? Nope. Another one I tried and will not be going back to is EZ Prints. Their products are no different than what your local Costco can do and for cheaper too._*
Comparison reviews are the best! This video was very helpful. I'll definitely be trying MPIX now. Please do a follow up video on best practices for submitting your photos to an online printer.
You guys should do this comparison again since it's been 3 years...very interesting to see the results then, and I think the results now could be very useful to see how (and if) the technology/industry has changed. I'd suggest to compare 3 different photos for each, all on the same paper if possible. To control some of the cost, maybe 1 each of 4x6, 5x7, 8x10. Thanks for the helpful video as always!
With AdoramaPix you can choose to have your digital photo color corrected or not. I send my in with the box unchecked and they look Identical to my monitor display. You should try it both ways and I'm sure that all the others Labs also allow for color correction / or not type check box. Have a great day.
I've used Shutterfly, Nations and a local printer in Austin and here's the trouble with some of these guys. When you send your work out to a printer, you have no control over what comes back. What I've found with some local printers (Austin primarily) is that they say they'll work with you and then there are expectations that just fall through and you end up frustrated. The last prints I ordered were from Nations and they color was horrible. My problem with printing labs, and ultimately led to me buying my own printer, came a few months ago when I reached out to a printing lab in Austin and told them I was interested in doing a show soon and wanted help with papers, colors and to work with their printing manager. I was then told that I should come in and talk to them, so I did. I was then told no we don't do that but prints take 2-3 days and here's a sample of our papers you can try. I was really frustrated at that point so on the ride home I decided to finance my own printer and paper and just go for printing, framing and handling my own work for my own show. And let me tell you, trying different archival papers and making something is worth every penny I've spent on a printer, paper and inks so far. Nothing can replace that feeling of "I made this and I printed this on paper myself." The trick is to make sure your monitor is calibrated and to download your printer's color profiles and the profiles for each paper you use. Also, just get your colors right and get it right with a couple of test prints and try not to use a bunch of paper to get it right the first time. It's all up to YOU as well. Anyway, it does pay to print at home if you do your research and do it right. Good luck.
after seeing this i sent off a file to Mpix to see how their quality was and have to admit i am very impressed. they processed it in a day and i had them ship overnight so it just showed up. the packaging was very sturdy and the print itself came out as well as i could have expected. definitely means i'm not going to be buying myself a printer. thanks so much for publishing this.
you all didn't mention if you ordered the sample prints with no color correction or not. When you use the Bay Photo ROES economy software to order which does not come with color correction, the prints are always spot on! Of course your monitor needs to be calibrated too.
Hey Tony and Chelsea. I purchased an Epson SC P600 earlier this year and noticed the cost on prints up to about 8x12 is the same. Anything larger the Epson wins on cost, and I can print custom packages. Have you tried any of the newer Epson stuff with their tri black system. The color profiles have hit spot on for me and you can buy the paper you like the most. In analyzing cost. It's about $0.012/sq in to print and my 13x19 luster cost $1.75 a page. Just seeing if you saw anything similar and I know you use profiles in Lightroom. I have found good color reproductions and the ability to deliver to clients the same day is awesome.
Thanks for doing the print test. I trust your judgement. I'll have to do my print test between my Pixma 100 vs Mpix. Generally I'm extremely satisfies with my prints at home. My home prints look exactly like my calibrated home Mac. Thanks for video. You guys are awesome.
I love Mpix, BUT their shipping kills me every time. Paying $7 in shipping for an 8x10 is quite excessive. However, I had some prints made at Shutterfly for a photography contest I entered. Saved on cost over Mpix, but the results were disappointing to say the least. I had a beautiful Ixora photo that was just a blob of red. No shadows in the red, no highlights on the edge of the blooms. Just red. Lesson learned.
Great video. Thank you very much! Would love to see a similar review where you try different types of pictures, not only portraits. Maybe testing black and white, high key, low key, landscape and wildlife images will provide a more complete results. In any case, thank you for the great work.
although I don't reside in the US and haven't really gotten into printing, I found some great takeaways as to how to judge the quality of prints. Thanks for that. I'm really new to printing and as such would love to learn more about pre-printing processes, various print types and sizes etc. possibly various paper types and brands? do you guys already have any videos addressing those topics? I have a couple of suggestions though for you as to shooting videos. You too were looking at each other far too often, with Chelsea looking at the computer practically all the time. You might want to put up a teleprompter with your video camera to avoid that. Also, you could have used an overhead camera setup to show the pictures. Easier to shoot and would have helped with getting rid of the light reflecting off of the pictures.
I know this is a case of beggars and choosers, but it would have been nice to see corrected vs. uncorrected images. Also, were these all lustre, glossy or other?
Thanks for this. Very helpful! I think you are about the first to acknowledge the COST with home printing - everybody I follow seems to rave about it, but nobody talks about rejects/reprints/paper/ink/time sink. I really want to give Bay Photo a try, but sheesh, they are tough to figure out... Appreciate that validation too!
Hi Chelsea & Tony, I tried Costco (Canada) twice this year and was pleasantly surprised ! I compared the color/tone/exposure and clarity of the photos with my calibrated monitor and give them a 48/50.
Would you two consider making a video explaining color profiles in relation to printing. I have a pretty bad monitor, and I am having a lot of trouble understanding what my prints are going to turn out like. Thanks!
Try looking in the settings for your monitor for an "RGB" setting, or look for a "neutral" setting. I dont have a great monitor for editing pictures or calibration equipment, but since I found this setting my prints come out looking pretty close to what I see on my monitor. Hope that helps
I don't order prints very often, and when I do it's mainly for myself, that being said: If I'm ordering from a website I always try to track down some info on the site on what the color profile of the printer is, and then adjust for that profile in software using a properly calibrated screen in the proper room light and blah blah blah, but generally I get good results with just standard sRGB color space, or sometimes I'll convert to Adobe RGB if I'm looking for a ever-so-slightly more vibrant print. I've also had great success with one hour photo at my local warehouse store believe it or not. The people behind the counter are super friendly, are very familiar with their equipment and are willing to answer any of my technical questions to the best of their knowledge. Most important, if I do use a different local photo print service, is I try to see the printer itself. If it's a digital wet-press I normally get much better results than the printers that use CMYK inks.
Thanks for the input. It was 5 years since you made the video but the information is very much appreciated. I use H&H almost exclusively as they are local and I review the photos on pickup. They are very gracious about reprinting anything of concern. I hear from some folks contending that Costco might be a decent quality printing. I have never tried them.
Thanks +Tony Northrup for this comparison - the title really caught my eye as I'm always wondering about the different companies. I find MPIX Pro and Bayphoto are my 'go to' printers depending upon what I'm printing. Since I print mostly 40x60 inch prints and larger for commercial, hospitality and wellness locations, I use Bayphoto as they can do the larger prints on a range of fine art papers. Both do excellent work, especially if you let them do color corrections to ensure the images are right on their printers. Bayphoto also allows me to get 4' x 8' metal prints and can combine multiple sheets that size. (Nikon D800E and a set of Really Right Stuff multirow panoramic rails are used for the really large images.)
Like others who have posted here, I have been using AdoramaPix for a while, and I have been very satisfied. Granted, I have not done head to head comparisons, and I NEVER let them adjust my images, so perhaps that is why I have had a different experience.
Great idea for a video. If you do another one like this could you include examples of some of the different types of photography such as landscape, astro, indoor etc so we can see the differences in dynamic range and color in different shooting situations?.
Tony, you sound exACTLY like the guy who creates those talking animal videos. (Google talking dog, the maple kind). The tone and tenure of your voice is incredibly similar. You have a voice twin! :)
Adoramapix is very good, far the best one I've used! when using adoramapix if your editing is good don't select color correct, you must of selected color correct if you did the computer corrected it, and sometimes the computer doesn't do justice.
Hi Tony, I'm a big fan of you guys. I love these video and i just wanted to ask you guys for a favor or suggest a future video you guys could make. It's about calibrating our monitors. You guys have a lot of videos so i don't know if you have made a video about calibrating your monitor or not, but if you haven't, it would be awesome to see one since calibrating our monitors and knowing about printer profiles has a lot to do with getting a great print just like we see it on our monitors :-)
I've used WHCC for around 15 years and have always been pleased with their service. Also, despite what Chelsea reported, every order has been shipped with candy.
It has been 3 years and I think its time to revisit this and compare image quality again to see if any of the services improved and maybe add a service or two. It would be expensive but would be really cool to do a comparison of canvas wraps as well.
began with MPix, and moved to BayPhoto after a couple of years. I wish they had checked out AspenPhoto. I've thought about giving them a try in the past, but net got around to it.
Here in Brazil when I print small batches or B&W I go to the local store which uses a Kodak printer. For larger bathces I'm testing the IPSISPro service, they print the photobooks for the most renown photographers here, like Araquém Alcantara.
I use bay photo but main reason is because I can get all the different types of specialty pints like you said but also they are about 30-40 minutes from me depending on traffic so many times instead of having them ship to me I can go pick up my specialty prints in person. This can be useful since I can check to make sure the print is good right away and they can correct it if needed (this has only happened a couple of times over the last 10 years of using bay photo).
Thank you! This video definitely helped. I have used adorama before, wasn't happy, have tried a couple others that were fine, and will now have more options to try. Thanks guys! P.S. If I use fracture I will use tony, cause I think he's so handsome. But Cheslea is so fun to watch and I love your guy's channel. So much info to glean here!
Thanks folks. I was trying to figure out what PITA printer to get and you gave probably the best answer. Always concerned about getting what I want, but I'll give mPix a try.
The Canon Pixma Pro 100, at $500 in 2019, is the best value in printers. I compared my prints with ones made by Whitewall, and there was no difference. And, for 13x19" prints, printing your own is a lot less expensive. Beyond that, Whitewall is a better printing company than the ones tested.
Very helpful information. Liked the actual print results compared. Same photo for each service was a good way to compare. Pricing was helpful. Price per print. Easy use of website is important. Recommendations based on real use are meaningful. Good job, Chelsea and Tony.
Thanks for making this informative video Tony and Chelsea. I just ordered a Canon Pixma Pro 100, then cancelled the order after hearing Tony's comments during the opening. Some years back I felt the same way and was hopeful that home printing improved. I guess not. Two points; First is that I used Fracture for a small desktop glass print, I think its a 5x7 and it is fantastic. Bald eagle in flight during a blizzard, and this piece catches everyone's attention. Its a classy way to sport a picture! Great customer service, too! Second, I've been using MPIX for a few years and was pleased to find that you' discovered similar findings as I have. Their Fuji Pearl finish paper is worth the little extra, fast shipping in good packaging and again..great customer service. They handle all of my client's prints - weddings and more! You guys have given so much to the photography community. Can't thank you enough, especially for the content rich books at affordable prices. Keep up the good work and God bless...
One of the nice things about BayPhoto that other people at their quality level don't seem to offer is 29 cent 4x6 prints. Strangely, to my eye the hair in your example is better than in the ProDPI print, but of course who knows how accurate what I'm seeing on my monitor is after recording + youtube.
I would suggest checking Adoramapix. If you want the absolutely best quality nothing can compare to chromogenic printing at Laumont or Duggal in New York. If you ever have the opportunity of seeing chromogenic printing you will be blown away!
I've had more hits than miss with Adorama pix. I print 16x20 and 24x36 landscapes and sunsets. The lower light sunsets you just have to tell them not to adjust your prints or they come out too dark. I'll give Mpix a try, thanks for a post of printing. Not enough people print!
Thank you for the comparison of print services. It was very helpful. I agree with Tony about Bay Photo. I e-mailed them a few months ago letting them know how difficult it was using their site. I am just surprised that the difference in print quality from #1 to #3 was very noticeable, but there was only a 1.5 point difference. I received sample prints from a few services and still not sure who to use.
Perfect timing..I had a photo book made and that company that did it does not make prints. That saves a lot of time, money and frustration. Thank you Tony & Chelsea.
Love the video, I've used MPIX because they are close to local and located in the tow I went to college in. Was glad to see them at #1. Expecially since I just ordered a 20-30 about an hour before watching this video.
You guys should do an update on this video. I've been using AdoramaPix for a while now, and I'm very happy with them. Honestly, I was a little shocked to see how bad their photo was in this video. I mainly do wildlife photography. My underwater work generally has a wide range of vibrant colors, and I've never had a print end up off like the one you guys got from them. Just my two cents. I like what you guys do - it's really helpful. Keep up the awesome work.
Aw yeah, my choice of Mpix gets validated. Feels good, man. BTW, Miller's, the professional arm of Mpix, does send out paper samples in a little kit when you sign up with them.
I use to get my camera roll prints done at Longs and they were good (enough). Then with digital prints I got them made by Walmart, not good though they passed because I didn’t know about these other labs which now with your reviews, I will look into. Even if they cost more than Walmart, the print quality is what I want to pay for. Thanks for your review. I am now a subscriber!
I would suggest trying Mpix Pro. They also have a free 5 print (watermarked) trial for color testing, and send paper samples. The "Pro" version of Mpix has a wider selection of print options I believe. (not sure)
I'd like to see an update to this video. I've been using mpix like suggested in this video and have liked the results. My only issue with them is getting more than the standard sizes.
I've used MPIX exclusively, just by chance, since jumping back into my love for photography a year ago and have been very pleased with my results and their customer service. Your review makes me feel better about my choice! I will definitely checkout Fracture, as that seems to be an interesting medium. Thanks for your review(s)!
I tried to use Mpix services but can't because they crop All of my photos when I upload them to the site. I Do Not want them cropped because I would lose an important part of the subject. Why do they do this?
My guess is that you are choosing a print size that is not adaptable to the file ratio size. If your aspect ratio is 5:4, you cannot print a 8x12 without cropping. It needs to be 3:2. One of our photo club members Googled Aspect ratio cheat sheet and shared with us. Light bulb went on over my head.
thanks for kicking off with the disclaimer about your ad. Good review. Im not sure Ive seen it but Id love to see comparisons between Metal/Glass/Acrylic print styles or places as well.
I was pretty disappointment in the photo quality of my Christmas cards last year. We used Shuttershock. Part of me wondered if the quality was just you got for those types of things, but maybe not. In the future I'll be trying out MPix. Thank you for the video!
I've been with Mpix for a while now too. Great choice! I know you didn't recommend any 1 hour types, but if you are ever in a pinch, Costco is pretty good.
Thanks very much for doing this important work. I wouldn't have been able to afford to do a test like this but I really value the information you gathered by doing it. I was already using Mpix exclusively, and recommending it to the people I sell photos to, so that's great news. Thanks again guys.
I ordered pictures on Mpix based on this review and was really disappointed. I followed Mpix's directions in terms of cropping my photos when uploading them on their site. But I got my photos back I found they'd been further cropped, with the top part of a border completely taken out, but not the sides. This made the photos unusable unless I wanted to physically try to crop them. Also, Tony and Chelsea make it seem like your going to get samples of your photos on different types of paper. I was really excited about that. It didn't happen. There was no samples of any kind in my box. I think this is something special that happens for reviewers. One thing I will say, I had a credit card issue, and didn't hit buy for a couple of days while I sorted it out. When I did that, they kept offering me discount after discount to hit buy, so in the end, buying from them was worth it price wise. I think I saved $60 that way.
great video -- I like WHCC too but a bit pricey for us Canadians with the current exchange rate and extra shipping/service fees they charge. I use Technicare in Alberta Canada -- they rock.
I think for a controlled test this would need to be performed without any color correction by the labs. The results may not be repeatable. If the monitor is calibrated the photo should not be touched by the lab. Completely understand the differences in color and printers. But this would lead me to choose the lab that is closest to the original without making them adjust it. I would suggest using a WB card and shooting pics of the prints with the DSLR this way at least we could see the differences in a slide.
Thanks for making this video. I've only had my prints done at Costco, and for the most part, they did a pretty good job, but it's nice to see what other services are available. Will have to check out Mpix and a few of the other top ones you mentioned. Thanks.
I know this video is a bit old, but it's still relevant. For those who live in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, fuji (fujidirekt.se|.no|.dk) make the best prints. Also, they are cheap + first 150 prints free. Just make sure to not use perfectly clear (automatic correction) unless the photos need fixing. It does a good job but you may not want it!
I prefer Reed Art & Imaging in Colorado, but then I'm shooting fine art rather than portraits so your results may vary. They're not a hit and ship kind of shop. Definitely more attuned to the needs of the individual artist who wants more attention to detail or some hand-holding.
I love when I have a question and you guys answer it without me even asking. You just saved me months of comparing printing services. Can I use the coupon code "Chony" and you guys split the points?
Hi guys, thanks for the video it had a very useful and helpful content. I haven't printed many of my pictures but realized I need to start. I just received my first print on metal and it looks absolutely stunning. How do you guys think the glass print compares to printing on metal? Is it similar or just something different? Thanks again for everything, Tony
Tony Degarimore It's different. We have three 20x30" metal prints and they look great for some subjects, but the tone of the material is rather flat and cold. The Fracture glass prints have much more depth and generally feel "warmer" (not in the sense of being more red, but rather there's just more emotion to them).
Thanks for your reply, I should have asked the other question that came to mind when I first watched the review which is, how fragile is the glass?? So like every other medium I guess it just depends on the individual photo and what suits it best. Look forward to trying the glass print, thanks again Tony
Tony Degarimore Re: how fragile are they, we only have two 20x30 prints here, but neither was damaged during shipping and they feel very sturdy. We've had a couple of the metal prints dented during shipping, however... so in our limited experience, they're actually more durable than the aluminum.
Chelsea and Tony, I really enjoy the show and find it useful. You made a comment in this show about how good labs "tune" each print, and I would like to follow-up. I am an underpaid grad student and father who photographs with the intent of printing family albums or photobooks. Spoiled by my bright monitor, I have been displeased with the color range and saturation with prints from Blurb and My Publisher. With research I learned how I was mostly viewing a wider gamut in Lightroom and Capture NX-D, but these Labs were using sRGB and I guess trying to interpret my work. Apparently the lab's ability to tune was ok, but I probably didn't give them enough information to work on. After more research I did an experiment: 1) I found a Lab that printed in Adobe RGB (ProDPI), 2) downloaded the paper ICC profiles, and 3) tweaked things using "Soft Proofing". Result: much improved! I have this close-up of a bright orange butterfly that looks very much better. Now I have a conundrum: knowing what is possible, I am reluctant to go back to these photobook sRGB printers. Any advice? Try a full layout in Photoshop? Thats a lot of extra work for a student. Regardless, I would enjoy hearing your-all's take on gamuts, softproofing and printing albums, and a tutorial on how to do it would be great! Thanks Again, Doug
T&C, I love this video and have watched it a few times. Good stuff. The video has a 5th birthday coming up and I'm sure a lot of things have changed over those years. Any chance on an updated review of printing services?
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I wanted to start to use MPIX for my wedding albums but they
have no tel. phone no. for customer service.
4 years later and I think this is in need of an update.
and upload at 8k
6 years later now
Seven...
8
Just ordered from MPix for the first time because of your review. I am so very happy with the quality! Just simply fantastic! Printed several portraits as well as several macro shots that needed brilliant colors and dark blacks. It all came out perfect. It is nice to see several years after your review that Mpix still doesn't disappoint. Thank you both for the guidance!
Can you do a review comparison of large format canvas prints?
Good question.
Suggestion: Take a photo of X-rite color chart, use their Lightroom plug-in to standardize it and have it printed by those print serviced in order to test their color accuracies.
Mpixs is owned by Miller's Lab, printed on the same machines in the same building.
Different level of attention to detail though.
I work at a print shop and the colors are always changing! There are so many more variables than people tend to imagine.
I started researching this topic a few months back and found WHCC. It was really the first company I decided to give a shot. When they sent me the test 8X10s I was so blown away that I decided to stick with them without looking anywhere else.
Overjoyed to see you two rate them so highly. Not bad for a printing noob like myself...
I use Bay Photo and I have never been disappointed. Their products are amazing. I will say that I do all of the adjustments and rarely select the color adjustment option. Although when I have, it has been just fine. You do need to go outside the web browser and download the Java application Bay ROES. It is a bit clunky until you use it a few times. It's pretty seamless after you get used to it. I'm not convinced to switch based on this video comparison. I'll keep looking but I'm pretty happy with the products, shipping and prices at Bay Photo.
I agree with Gerry Marchese. I've used Adoramapix for several years and have gotten great results. As stated, do not let them adjust your images. You need to have a color adjusted monitor and use their printer profile based on the paper you select. The photo books I've done are absolutely stunning! And on an occasional instance when something was not right, their customer service has been great. They will gladly reprint the job to your satisfaction.
Certainly good to see a comparison like this, but......would have been more valuable if a few different images were sent in at different times to each printer to get a more accurate idea of how the quality is overall .
In Australia, two a award-winning printers that I use are, InkFX, in Gold Coast and CG Printing and Framing, in Gold Coast.
Thanks Tony and Chelsea. Printing services was a perfect topic! Thanks for covering this. I have often wondered who is the best, or where to send my pics. I have used MPix, Shutterfly, Adorama, Costco & Walmart (and Fracture). So those are the ones I know about. My only concern is you only used one photo to do the judging. If you judged a different photo I wonder if you would get completely different results?
Got a canon pro-10 and I print up to 13x19" home and really happy I did. It's a lot of fun and so important to print your work. There is nothing like printing home to control the result from start to finish including colors, paper, framing etc. I would strongly recommend printing home if you can. Take some of the money you would invest in collecting lenses and bodies with more mpixel / focus points and instead get yourself a good monitor and a printer.
omg guys, that's a great answer. How about comparing photobook websites? (or just tell us right away which one to go to right away :D)
*_I live in CA and my go-to online lab is Bayphoto. Their Fuji Pearl paper is unlike anything I've ever seen. Service is great and shipping arrives via Fedex in 2 days (if you live in the west coast). All these other ones are out of state and takes up to a week to get to me. I didn't like Mpix because they only print on 3 kinds of paper. No variety at all. I like printing on matte paper that yields no light reflection and they didn't offer that. Mpix may be good enough for your snapshots but for photographers who want fine art prints to hang on their wall? Nope. Another one I tried and will not be going back to is EZ Prints. Their products are no different than what your local Costco can do and for cheaper too._*
Some of the best youtube sites are those who don't condemn others,Chelsea and Tony well done,you are amount the best,that's for sure!!
Comparison reviews are the best! This video was very helpful. I'll definitely be trying MPIX now. Please do a follow up video on best practices for submitting your photos to an online printer.
Now that it is 2019, do you guys still think mPix is producing the best prints?
bump!
2020 i need to know!
You guys should do this comparison again since it's been 3 years...very interesting to see the results then, and I think the results now could be very useful to see how (and if) the technology/industry has changed. I'd suggest to compare 3 different photos for each, all on the same paper if possible. To control some of the cost, maybe 1 each of 4x6, 5x7, 8x10. Thanks for the helpful video as always!
With AdoramaPix you can choose to have your digital photo color corrected or not. I send my in with the box unchecked and they look Identical to my monitor display. You should try it both ways and I'm sure that all the others Labs also allow for color correction / or not type check box. Have a great day.
I've used Shutterfly, Nations and a local printer in Austin and here's the trouble with some of these guys. When you send your work out to a printer, you have no control over what comes back. What I've found with some local printers (Austin primarily) is that they say they'll work with you and then there are expectations that just fall through and you end up frustrated. The last prints I ordered were from Nations and they color was horrible. My problem with printing labs, and ultimately led to me buying my own printer, came a few months ago when I reached out to a printing lab in Austin and told them I was interested in doing a show soon and wanted help with papers, colors and to work with their printing manager. I was then told that I should come in and talk to them, so I did. I was then told no we don't do that but prints take 2-3 days and here's a sample of our papers you can try. I was really frustrated at that point so on the ride home I decided to finance my own printer and paper and just go for printing, framing and handling my own work for my own show. And let me tell you, trying different archival papers and making something is worth every penny I've spent on a printer, paper and inks so far. Nothing can replace that feeling of "I made this and I printed this on paper myself." The trick is to make sure your monitor is calibrated and to download your printer's color profiles and the profiles for each paper you use. Also, just get your colors right and get it right with a couple of test prints and try not to use a bunch of paper to get it right the first time. It's all up to YOU as well. Anyway, it does pay to print at home if you do your research and do it right. Good luck.
after seeing this i sent off a file to Mpix to see how their quality was and have to admit i am very impressed. they processed it in a day and i had them ship overnight so it just showed up. the packaging was very sturdy and the print itself came out as well as i could have expected. definitely means i'm not going to be buying myself a printer. thanks so much for publishing this.
you all didn't mention if you ordered the sample prints with no color correction or not. When you use the Bay Photo ROES economy software to order which does not come with color correction, the prints are always spot on! Of course your monitor needs to be calibrated too.
Hey Tony and Chelsea. I purchased an Epson SC P600 earlier this year and noticed the cost on prints up to about 8x12 is the same. Anything larger the Epson wins on cost, and I can print custom packages. Have you tried any of the newer Epson stuff with their tri black system. The color profiles have hit spot on for me and you can buy the paper you like the most. In analyzing cost. It's about $0.012/sq in to print and my 13x19 luster cost $1.75 a page. Just seeing if you saw anything similar and I know you use profiles in Lightroom. I have found good color reproductions and the ability to deliver to clients the same day is awesome.
Thanks for doing the print test. I trust your judgement. I'll have to do my print test between my Pixma 100 vs Mpix. Generally I'm extremely satisfies with my prints at home. My home prints look exactly like my calibrated home Mac. Thanks for video. You guys are awesome.
I love Mpix, BUT their shipping kills me every time. Paying $7 in shipping for an 8x10 is quite excessive.
However, I had some prints made at Shutterfly for a photography contest I entered. Saved on cost over Mpix, but the results were disappointing to say the least. I had a beautiful Ixora photo that was just a blob of red. No shadows in the red, no highlights on the edge of the blooms. Just red.
Lesson learned.
Great video. Thank you very much!
Would love to see a similar review where you try different types of pictures, not only portraits. Maybe testing black and white, high key, low key, landscape and wildlife images will provide a more complete results.
In any case, thank you for the great work.
although I don't reside in the US and haven't really gotten into printing, I found some great takeaways as to how to judge the quality of prints. Thanks for that.
I'm really new to printing and as such would love to learn more about pre-printing processes, various print types and sizes etc. possibly various paper types and brands? do you guys already have any videos addressing those topics?
I have a couple of suggestions though for you as to shooting videos. You too were looking at each other far too often, with Chelsea looking at the computer practically all the time. You might want to put up a teleprompter with your video camera to avoid that. Also, you could have used an overhead camera setup to show the pictures. Easier to shoot and would have helped with getting rid of the light reflecting off of the pictures.
I know this is a case of beggars and choosers, but it would have been nice to see corrected vs. uncorrected images. Also, were these all lustre, glossy or other?
Nations was glossy..many other were lustre..it was not a fair comparison IMO
Thanks for this. Very helpful! I think you are about the first to acknowledge the COST with home printing - everybody I follow seems to rave about it, but nobody talks about rejects/reprints/paper/ink/time sink. I really want to give Bay Photo a try, but sheesh, they are tough to figure out... Appreciate that validation too!
Hi Chelsea & Tony,
I tried Costco (Canada) twice this year and was pleasantly surprised !
I compared the color/tone/exposure and clarity of the photos with my calibrated monitor and give them a 48/50.
Nice shot of the Portland Head Light
Would you two consider making a video explaining color profiles in relation to printing. I have a pretty bad monitor, and I am having a lot of trouble understanding what my prints are going to turn out like. Thanks!
Pleeeeeeeeese answer this man's question, Tony & Chelsea?!
Kevin Adams that's such a great question. It's been a year since you posted this I hope you found your answer.
Try looking in the settings for your monitor for an "RGB" setting, or look for a "neutral" setting. I dont have a great monitor for editing pictures or calibration equipment, but since I found this setting my prints come out looking pretty close to what I see on my monitor. Hope that helps
I don't order prints very often, and when I do it's mainly for myself, that being said: If I'm ordering from a website I always try to track down some info on the site on what the color profile of the printer is, and then adjust for that profile in software using a properly calibrated screen in the proper room light and blah blah blah, but generally I get good results with just standard sRGB color space, or sometimes I'll convert to Adobe RGB if I'm looking for a ever-so-slightly more vibrant print.
I've also had great success with one hour photo at my local warehouse store believe it or not. The people behind the counter are super friendly, are very familiar with their equipment and are willing to answer any of my technical questions to the best of their knowledge. Most important, if I do use a different local photo print service, is I try to see the printer itself. If it's a digital wet-press I normally get much better results than the printers that use CMYK inks.
Thanks for this video! I wanted high quality pics and wasn't sure what site was the best. Great info!!
Thanks for the input. It was 5 years since you made the video but the information is very much appreciated. I use H&H almost exclusively as they are local and I review the photos on pickup. They are very gracious about reprinting anything of concern. I hear from some folks contending that Costco might be a decent quality printing. I have never tried them.
Thanks +Tony Northrup for this comparison - the title really caught my eye as I'm always wondering about the different companies. I find MPIX Pro and Bayphoto are my 'go to' printers depending upon what I'm printing. Since I print mostly 40x60 inch prints and larger for commercial, hospitality and wellness locations, I use Bayphoto as they can do the larger prints on a range of fine art papers. Both do excellent work, especially if you let them do color corrections to ensure the images are right on their printers. Bayphoto also allows me to get 4' x 8' metal prints and can combine multiple sheets that size. (Nikon D800E and a set of Really Right Stuff multirow panoramic rails are used for the really large images.)
Like others who have posted here, I have been using AdoramaPix for a while, and I have been very satisfied. Granted, I have not done head to head comparisons, and I NEVER let them adjust my images, so perhaps that is why I have had a different experience.
Great idea for a video. If you do another one like this could you include examples of some of the different types of photography such as landscape, astro, indoor etc so we can see the differences in dynamic range and color in different shooting situations?.
That's a really good point Mr Farmer. We *DO* take more that portrait photographs...............
Tony, you sound exACTLY like the guy who creates those talking animal videos. (Google talking dog, the maple kind). The tone and tenure of your voice is incredibly similar. You have a voice twin! :)
Adoramapix is very good, far the best one I've used! when using adoramapix if your editing is good don't select color correct, you must of selected color correct if you did the computer corrected it, and sometimes the computer doesn't do justice.
Hi Tony, I'm a big fan of you guys. I love these video and i just wanted to ask you guys for a favor or suggest a future video you guys could make. It's about calibrating our monitors. You guys have a lot of videos so i don't know if you have made a video about calibrating your monitor or not, but if you haven't, it would be awesome to see one since calibrating our monitors and knowing about printer profiles has a lot to do with getting a great print just like we see it on our monitors :-)
I've used WHCC for around 15 years and have always been pleased with their service. Also, despite what Chelsea reported, every order has been shipped with candy.
It has been 3 years and I think its time to revisit this and compare image quality again to see if any of the services improved and maybe add a service or two. It would be expensive but would be really cool to do a comparison of canvas wraps as well.
began with MPix, and moved to BayPhoto after a couple of years. I wish they had checked out AspenPhoto. I've thought about giving them a try in the past, but net got around to it.
Here in Brazil when I print small batches or B&W I go to the local store which uses a Kodak printer. For larger bathces I'm testing the IPSISPro service, they print the photobooks for the most renown photographers here, like Araquém Alcantara.
I write five years after you shot this video. I love your prospective and was wondering if you might update your research...Thanks
I wish there was guys like you's in England to compare them all from here
I use bay photo but main reason is because I can get all the different types of specialty pints like you said but also they are about 30-40 minutes from me depending on traffic so many times instead of having them ship to me I can go pick up my specialty prints in person. This can be useful since I can check to make sure the print is good right away and they can correct it if needed (this has only happened a couple of times over the last 10 years of using bay photo).
Thank you! This video definitely helped. I have used adorama before, wasn't happy, have tried a couple others that were fine, and will now have more options to try. Thanks guys! P.S. If I use fracture I will use tony, cause I think he's so handsome. But Cheslea is so fun to watch and I love your guy's channel. So much info to glean here!
Thanks folks. I was trying to figure out what PITA printer to get and you gave probably the best answer. Always concerned about getting what I want, but I'll give mPix a try.
The Canon Pixma Pro 100, at $500 in 2019, is the best value in printers. I compared my prints with ones made by Whitewall, and there was no difference. And, for 13x19" prints, printing your own is a lot less expensive. Beyond that, Whitewall is a better printing company than the ones tested.
I've only used MPix, and I love it. I don't think I would try anyone else.
Very helpful information. Liked the actual print results compared. Same photo for each service was a good way to compare. Pricing was helpful. Price per print. Easy use of website is important. Recommendations based on real use are meaningful.
Good job, Chelsea and Tony.
Thanks for the good info. Question, please:
Were the technicians of the printing companies allowed to make color correction?
+Ricardo Silva yes
Thanks for making this informative video Tony and Chelsea. I just ordered a Canon Pixma Pro 100, then cancelled the order after hearing Tony's comments during the opening. Some years back I felt the same way and was hopeful that home printing improved. I guess not.
Two points; First is that I used Fracture for a small desktop glass print, I think its a 5x7 and it is fantastic. Bald eagle in flight during a blizzard, and this piece catches everyone's attention. Its a classy way to sport a picture! Great customer service, too!
Second, I've been using MPIX for a few years and was pleased to find that you' discovered similar findings as I have. Their Fuji Pearl finish paper is worth the little extra, fast shipping in good packaging and again..great customer service. They handle all of my client's prints - weddings and more!
You guys have given so much to the photography community. Can't thank you enough, especially for the content rich books at affordable prices. Keep up the good work and God bless...
One of the nice things about BayPhoto that other people at their quality level don't seem to offer is 29 cent 4x6 prints. Strangely, to my eye the hair in your example is better than in the ProDPI print, but of course who knows how accurate what I'm seeing on my monitor is after recording + youtube.
I would suggest checking Adoramapix. If you want the absolutely best quality nothing can compare to chromogenic printing at Laumont or Duggal in New York. If you ever have the opportunity of seeing chromogenic printing you will be blown away!
I've had more hits than miss with Adorama pix. I print 16x20 and 24x36 landscapes and sunsets. The lower light sunsets you just have to tell them not to adjust your prints or they come out too dark. I'll give Mpix a try, thanks for a post of printing. Not enough people print!
Thank you for the comparison of print services. It was very helpful. I agree with Tony about Bay Photo. I e-mailed them a few months ago letting them know how difficult it was using their site. I am just surprised that the difference in print quality from #1 to #3 was very noticeable, but there was only a 1.5 point difference. I received sample prints from a few services and still not sure who to use.
How about a review of black and white prints? Thanks.
Perfect timing..I had a photo book made and that company that did it does not make prints. That saves a lot of time, money and frustration. Thank you Tony & Chelsea.
Thank you guys!
The woman made it even better….
Love the video, I've used MPIX because they are close to local and located in the tow I went to college in. Was glad to see them at #1. Expecially since I just ordered a 20-30 about an hour before watching this video.
Thanks, T & C....since I have been using #10 for years and never completely satisfied, it's good to have options.
Something like this on metal and acrylic would be wonderful.
You guys should do an update on this video. I've been using AdoramaPix for a while now, and I'm very happy with them. Honestly, I was a little shocked to see how bad their photo was in this video. I mainly do wildlife photography. My underwater work generally has a wide range of vibrant colors, and I've never had a print end up off like the one you guys got from them. Just my two cents. I like what you guys do - it's really helpful. Keep up the awesome work.
Aw yeah, my choice of Mpix gets validated. Feels good, man. BTW, Miller's, the professional arm of Mpix, does send out paper samples in a little kit when you sign up with them.
I've been looking for a good place to print. You guys just did me a huge favor, thanks!
I've always been very pleased with AdoramaPix, especially for the cost, Shutterfly, not so much. Had never heard of Mpix, Will give them a try
I also use Adoramapix and I have been very happy as well but I have also heard great things about mix and nations just hadn't try them yet.
Been using MPIX for years, mostly canvas prints. Fantastic Video! Thanks For Sharing!
Can you guys do an update on this video as there are more printing labs online now?
I use to get my camera roll prints done at Longs and they were good (enough). Then with digital prints I got them made by Walmart, not good though they passed because I didn’t know about these other labs which now with your reviews, I will look into. Even if they cost more than Walmart, the print quality is what I want to pay for. Thanks for your review. I am now a subscriber!
I would suggest trying Mpix Pro. They also have a free 5 print (watermarked) trial for color testing, and send paper samples. The "Pro" version of Mpix has a wider selection of print options I believe. (not sure)
I've only used Mpix out of all of these. Glad to see I chose wisely.
I'd like to see an update to this video. I've been using mpix like suggested in this video and have liked the results. My only issue with them is getting more than the standard sizes.
I've used MPIX exclusively, just by chance, since jumping back into my love for photography a year ago and have been very pleased with my results and their customer service. Your review makes me feel better about my choice! I will definitely checkout Fracture, as that seems to be an interesting medium. Thanks for your review(s)!
I tried to use Mpix services but can't because they crop All of my photos when I upload them to the site. I Do Not want them cropped because I would lose an important part of the subject. Why do they do this?
Good question!
My guess is that you are choosing a print size that is not adaptable to the file ratio size. If your aspect ratio is 5:4, you cannot print a 8x12 without cropping. It needs to be 3:2. One of our photo club members Googled Aspect ratio cheat sheet and shared with us. Light bulb went on over my head.
Please do another print service video! Love your content, thank you guys, you're the best!
thanks for kicking off with the disclaimer about your ad. Good review. Im not sure Ive seen it but Id love to see comparisons between Metal/Glass/Acrylic print styles or places as well.
I was pretty disappointment in the photo quality of my Christmas cards last year. We used Shuttershock. Part of me wondered if the quality was just you got for those types of things, but maybe not. In the future I'll be trying out MPix. Thank you for the video!
I've been with Mpix for a while now too. Great choice! I know you didn't recommend any 1 hour types, but if you are ever in a pinch, Costco is pretty good.
Thanks very much for doing this important work. I wouldn't have been able to afford to do a test like this but I really value the information you gathered by doing it. I was already using Mpix exclusively, and recommending it to the people I sell photos to, so that's great news. Thanks again guys.
I ordered pictures on Mpix based on this review and was really disappointed. I followed Mpix's directions in terms of cropping my photos when uploading them on their site. But I got my photos back I found they'd been further cropped, with the top part of a border completely taken out, but not the sides. This made the photos unusable unless I wanted to physically try to crop them. Also, Tony and Chelsea make it seem like your going to get samples of your photos on different types of paper. I was really excited about that. It didn't happen. There was no samples of any kind in my box. I think this is something special that happens for reviewers. One thing I will say, I had a credit card issue, and didn't hit buy for a couple of days while I sorted it out. When I did that, they kept offering me discount after discount to hit buy, so in the end, buying from them was worth it price wise. I think I saved $60 that way.
great video -- I like WHCC too but a bit pricey for us Canadians with the current exchange rate and extra shipping/service fees they charge. I use Technicare in Alberta Canada -- they rock.
I use Costco a lot for my pics, and after setting their ICC profiles they match my wide gamut display really good. I use one hour service.
I think for a controlled test this would need to be performed without any color correction by the labs. The results may not be repeatable. If the monitor is calibrated the photo should not be touched by the lab. Completely understand the differences in color and printers. But this would lead me to choose the lab that is closest to the original without making them adjust it. I would suggest using a WB card and shooting pics of the prints with the DSLR this way at least we could see the differences in a slide.
Thanks Tony and Chelsea! I found this video very informative and useful to make an informed choice about my printing service.
A year and a half later, and I still can't decide who is the cutest. Did the results ever come in?
lol I ordered from shutterfly and omg it's worse than Walmart ahaha have
Shutterfly quality is an insult! 250 prints straight to the garbage 😡
I agree. Shutterfly is garbage
Thanks for making this video. I've only had my prints done at Costco, and for the most part, they did a pretty good job, but it's nice to see what other services are available. Will have to check out Mpix and a few of the other top ones you mentioned.
Thanks.
Love you for your help.
I know this video is a bit old, but it's still relevant. For those who live in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, fuji (fujidirekt.se|.no|.dk) make the best prints. Also, they are cheap + first 150 prints free. Just make sure to not use perfectly clear (automatic correction) unless the photos need fixing. It does a good job but you may not want it!
I prefer Reed Art & Imaging in Colorado, but then I'm shooting fine art rather than portraits so your results may vary. They're not a hit and ship kind of shop. Definitely more attuned to the needs of the individual artist who wants more attention to detail or some hand-holding.
I love when I have a question and you guys answer it without me even asking. You just saved me months of comparing printing services. Can I use the coupon code "Chony" and you guys split the points?
I absolutely love this review. Many thanks. New fan and rather new to photography. I recently picked up your book. I truly enjoy your videos. :)
Hi guys, thanks for the video it had a very useful and helpful content. I haven't printed many of my pictures but realized I need to start. I just received my first print on metal and it looks absolutely stunning. How do you guys think the glass print compares to printing on metal? Is it similar or just something different? Thanks again for everything, Tony
Tony Degarimore It's different. We have three 20x30" metal prints and they look great for some subjects, but the tone of the material is rather flat and cold. The Fracture glass prints have much more depth and generally feel "warmer" (not in the sense of being more red, but rather there's just more emotion to them).
Thanks for your reply, I should have asked the other question that came to mind when I first watched the review which is, how fragile is the glass??
So like every other medium I guess it just depends on the individual photo and what suits it best. Look forward to trying the glass print, thanks again Tony
Tony Degarimore Re: how fragile are they, we only have two 20x30 prints here, but neither was damaged during shipping and they feel very sturdy. We've had a couple of the metal prints dented during shipping, however... so in our limited experience, they're actually more durable than the aluminum.
Chelsea and Tony,
I really enjoy the show and find it useful. You made a comment in this show about how good labs "tune" each print, and I would like to follow-up.
I am an underpaid grad student and father who photographs with the intent of printing family albums or photobooks. Spoiled by my bright monitor, I have been displeased with the color range and saturation with prints from Blurb and My Publisher. With research I learned how I was mostly viewing a wider gamut in Lightroom and Capture NX-D, but these Labs were using sRGB and I guess trying to interpret my work. Apparently the lab's ability to tune was ok, but I probably didn't give them enough information to work on.
After more research I did an experiment: 1) I found a Lab that printed in Adobe RGB (ProDPI), 2) downloaded the paper ICC profiles, and 3) tweaked things using "Soft Proofing". Result: much improved! I have this close-up of a bright orange butterfly that looks very much better.
Now I have a conundrum: knowing what is possible, I am reluctant to go back to these photobook sRGB printers. Any advice? Try a full layout in Photoshop? Thats a lot of extra work for a student.
Regardless, I would enjoy hearing your-all's take on gamuts, softproofing and printing albums, and a tutorial on how to do it would be great!
Thanks Again,
Doug
T&C, I love this video and have watched it a few times. Good stuff. The video has a 5th birthday coming up and I'm sure a lot of things have changed over those years. Any chance on an updated review of printing services?