Photo books are becoming an increasingly popular way of getting your images printed. It’s no longer as cost prohibitive or complicated to do as printing outfits seek to bring more products and services to the consumer market. I’m in the midst of doing some testing of various online printing services, and one of the first books I got was from Mpix. So, today, I’ll be showing you some of the pros and cons of this service. I decided to approach the photo book reviews from five perspectives: image quality, binding quality, durability, value, and turn around time. Continue reading “Photo Books – MPix review”
Tag: Mpix
More from MPix
Before getting to the new video from Mpix, just once question: Did you see what they are doing at Photoshop User TV? To kick off the new season, new format, and new set, they are giving away a super cool kick %^&&* prize from FJWescott (those folks that make great lighting products). I gotta say, the new format was needed – fast paced, lots of info and no fluff no muss, all tips and tricks! That set looks super cool too guys – job well done!
Also, some major shout outs to friend-of-the-blog, Jason D Moore for his honorable mention in the NAPP sponsored contest “So You Think You Can Teach Photoshop“. I know Jason had his heights set higher than an honorable mention, but believe me – Jason really can teach the you-know-what out of Photoshop. So, if the software is what you want to get up to speed on – go check out his site and sign up for a workshop, because I’ve learned a lot from him. Major shout outs dude – congrats!
Finally, to finally break the ice once and for all on the Canon vs. Nikon debate, I came across this video from Joey L – absolutely hysterical. Thanks to the NAPP forums for the link, and if you want to know more about JoeyL, check out his recent interview on TWIP – great stuff there too. (He’s also on Twitter and worth the follow).
You’ve probably heard of Mpix before, at least because I’ve talked about them on the blog, and even shown some of the results in using their metallic inks to get some amazing prints. Well, I got three new products from them recently while prepping for an art show that is coming up the first weekend in December. To change things up a little, and give more of a “multimedia” aspect to things, I did a video on this to show you each product, as well as show you what to expect in terms of wrapping, packaging, and delivery time frames. It’s available on YouTube, but also embedded here for viewing convenience.
Have you had similar experiences with Mpix? Better? Worse? What are your thoughts on the quality of their service? Feel free to sound off in the comments, or over on YouTube. For the time being, keep on shooting, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
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MPix Pro: Review
LIke many other serious hobbyists and enthusiasts, I had heard a great deal about Mpix and their new featured printing options for professional and serious photographers under the umbrella of Mpix Pro. I recently had a chance to sit down and go through the application process. it was pretty painless, and as long as you have a website for photography, and a decent stable of work, you can opt for the Mpix Pro option.
After submitting your name and website for review, you will receive an email with a link to upload 5 images for print. These 5 images are then printed as 8×10 photos and sent back to you – free! That’s right, you get 5 8×10 photos for free. Basically though, these are intended to be used to check your monitor and color work flow for accuracy because they do not do color correction on them. All 5 of the photos I got back printed very well, and I am happy with my color work flow at this point.
So, now the Mpix Pro printing options are available to me which includes many additional printing options for things like calendars, tickets, sports cards, mugs, and pretty much anything else you can think of – at some pretty impressive prices too. This work flow for printing is also excellent if you tend to batch print a lot of photos at once (say for wedding photographers, portrait photograpers, etc.) You can order multiple quantities of any size print you want and any specialty prints all through their downloaded Rhoes printing services.
Another cool part of this is that you no longer have to go through the website – it’s all done through this software download. Think of it kind of like the Flickr Uploader service, as it works on the same principles, but instead of uploading for publishing on a website – it’s uploading for printing. No fuss, no muss, done in record time and you are right back in the studio or on the road, doing your work, and not waiting on websites, and sitting behind a computer when not needed. It was pretty slick – I literally did just what their catch phrase says: upload one night, they shipped the next day, and I received it the following day! (It helps that I am in Colorado and their facilities are in Kansas – right next door!)
Finally, the last neat little feature about the Mpix Pro service is that they send you basically what I would call a swatch wheel of their various paper types, with photos printed on them so you can see what each looks like to get the exact results you want, how you want and when you want. Great products, great pricing, and great service! What else could you ask for in a printer? Check them out today!
On a more blog-centric note, the next week or so I may not be on as much as I do have a few things coming up, but will check in and post when I can (the whole quality over quantity thing…) In the meantime, I’ll drp a few not-so-subtle hints about helping to get the word out about both the blog and the podcast – completing a Digg review at PLM site is always appreciated, as are iTunes reviews. Other ways to help the show including making your B&H purchases through the link on the sidebar and donating through the Paypal link further down. The cool thing about the B&H link is that your price is the same regardless, but a few pennies come back here to help offset the cost of overhead, hosting, and all that goes into putting the CB/LDP content together.
Last but not least, the September contest is underway, and you can win BIG – a thinktank Bag system and a Topaz Labs Plugin bundle all for participating in the Flickr thread, so don’t delay, and join today!
Have a great weekend everyone and we’ll see you back here on Monday!
Printing, matting, and framing your pictures
As I’ve recently moved to outsourcing my printing to Mpix, I’ve had to adjust my work flow accordingly. Prior to the Mpix migration, I had a set of sizes that I would print to, that allowed for matting and framing while not cutting into the picture itself. That set of procedures has been to print on the next largest paper size, which allows me to apply a mat to a photo before framing it. So, I had the following defined printing outputs:
So, what does this mean when using an online resource like Mpix? Well, since they usually print borderless pictures, it means you have to build in that border to your print. It also means paying a little more for your pcitures to be printed. Using the same principle as above, it simply means to increase the canvas size on your print so that it will fit in the next sized up frame. Then, just make sure your ID (inner dimension) size for the mat matches your actual image size, and your OD (outer dimension) size for the mat, matches the size of the frame you want to put your picture in.
There is also the alternative where you can just use the borderless print without any built in border if you want to use those glass or acrylic enclosures that have no frame border to them that would hide the edges of your print.
Keep in mind that there is a growing trend to adding a digital frame to your shots, to give a title and or copyright notice in that area. If you do that to your prints, the added dimension for the digital frame needs to be included in the “image size” when you go to print, mat, and frame your pictures.
Well, that’s it for today. If you’ve got any ideas, comments, suggestions, tips or tricks when it comes to printing, matting, and framing your shots, feel free to share those in the comments. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you back here tomorrow. Happy shooting!