I promised you a few of weeks ago that we would be having a full review of printers for both layouts and albums. I know we all have our favorite printers (I did before trying them all out). But, there have been a few new printers join the market in the last while and maybe you have been wondering how they would measure up. Today, I will be telling you all about the results I had when I printed the same layout at several different sites.
Please note: THE DAILY DIGI does not have paid sponsors, we do not accept paid (or traded) forms of advertising on our site from other sites, services, or designers, nor do we have affiliates. No coupons or discounts were asked for or used in the printing of these layouts. I have only ever printed at Costco and Winkflash before printing layouts for this review.
I set up accounts at each printer under a different name and had the layouts shipped to a different address other than my own. All, in the hopes, that I could provide you with the most accurate and unbiased information to help you pick the best printer for you.
On every layout, I ordered a matte or lustre finish, this is just my personal preference. I also chose the “no correction” or “auto correct off” option at each site.
This is the layout I had printed, all supplies are by SirScrapalot:
Results
These printers’ results are in alphabetical order. I rated each site in the following ways:
Intimidation Factor: How intimidated I felt about the site in general, before even setting up an account or uploading.
None = not intimidating
Mild = mild intimidation
High = I was very intimidated and if it would not have been for doing a review for TDD, I would have quit.
Ease of upload: How easy was it to find the upload area and select the photos for uploading.
5= Awesome very easy, no problems
3= okay
1= Pretty bad,, lots of problems
Photo colors: How true the colors printed compared to my calibrated monitor.
5= perfect
3= somewhat different
1= very different
Paper/element details and colors: How true the paper and element colors were compared to my calibrated monitor.
5= perfect
3= somewhat different
1= very different
There will be some other information included in each review, such as amount of time for uploading and the amount of time it took me to complete an order from start (getting to the site) to finish (hitting submit). I am also including bits of information that I think you might want to know. Let’s get started…
Artscow
Intimidation Factor: mild, there are so many products on the homepage that it was a bit overwhelming.
Ease of Upload: 2, it took me forever to find where to upload the photos and how to purchase individual layouts. I finally found them in the canvas printing section.
It took me 2 minutes and 13 seconds to upload a 3600×3600 layout. It was 20 minutes to place the order from the very start to the finish. Choices on finishes were glossy or matte. I printed an 8×8 matte and 12×12 matte. 8×8’s are $1.99 and 12×12’s are $2.99. The shipping charges were $6.98.
Photo colors: 4, photos were a little darker.
Paper colors: 4, colors were a little less saturated. Detail on all paper colors was kept (even white).
Other information: The prints came packaged in a tube and I didn’t think I would ever be able to flatten them. They did flatten out when I set them inside my scanner for awhile but are still wavy.
The most odd thing to me was how they trimmed my layout. The borders on both sides of my layout were the same, but on this print it was wider on the left side than the right. The border on the top and bottom on my layout were the same as well, but the border on the print was slightly larger on the bottom than the top.
Costco
Note: I have been printing at Costco since they started offering 12×18 prints in my area…at least 4 years. So, I can’t really rate the intimidation factor. However, almost two years ago, they went through a site redesign and I have had problems uploading ever since. I usually select the one-by-one upload option and do okay. You also need to select the high-resolution option because the “faster” option (low res) is selected by default. Because of these things, I would have to give Costco a 2 on ease of upload because it’s not easy and I have been using them for a long time.
It took me 1minute 23 seconds to upload a 3600×3600 layout. I always pick my orders up. They contract out orders that are shipped, so this review does not include orders shipped. 12×12’s are $2.99 each, 8×8’s are $1.49 each. When I place an order for layouts, I usually put 3) 12×12’s on a 12×36 canvas for $4.99 ($1.66 per 12×12) and take the CD in to be printed, then I come home and trim. I have also been known to print out several 6×6’s at one time (on a 12×18 canvas or a 12×36) for my kids to have copies.
Photo colors: 4 photos were darker and seemed off on the hue a bit as well. They also seemed blurry.
Paper colors: 4 colors were a little less saturated, detail on papers were kept, however they seemed blurry.
Other information: Being able to upload and then go pick up layouts the same day is really wonderful!! The flexibility of sizes is a bonus too, not to mention the prices! I was a little surprised at the blurriness especially when compared to the other prints.
MyPicTales
Intimidation Factor: none
Ease of Upload: 3, I didn’t like having to enter ALL of my information (including shipping) before even uploading anything.
It took me 1 minute and 56 seconds to upload a 3600×3600 layout. My only option was a 12×12, no finish or paper options, these prints are 99cents. It took me 11 minutes from start to finish to place an order.
Photo colors: 1, photos were very, very washed out and looked like they had been lightened quite a bit
Paper colors: 1, just as the photos, the papers seemed to be washed out, but not as bad as the photos were. There was no texture detail on the white paper behind the journaling.
Other information: The paper is a cardstock quality (matte). I don’t think the paper would have bothered me if the images would have been closer to what was on my computer, because once it is in a sheet protector, it’s not that noticeable. Overall, there was a really big difference in appearance though.
MPix
Intimidation Factor: mild, because it is a site directed at professional photographers and it was a little intimidating at first. Once I got going though, it was not too much different than any other site.
Ease of Upload: 5, no problems at all
It took me 2 minutes 10 seconds to upload a 3600×3600 layout. It took me 15 minutes to place an order from start to finish. It was $5.95 for a 12×12 on “e-paper”, $2.75 for an 8×8 on “e-paper” (which I think stands for endura) with lustre coating, and $1.99 for an 8×8 on “e-paper”.
Photo colors: 2, quite a bit darker than what was on my monitor
Paper colors: 2, were darker as well, but the worst was that there was absolutely no texture on the white papers behind the journaling on the 12×12’s. There was a slight amount of texturing on the 8×8’s, but only if you looked really closely.
Other information: Based on price and the fact that Mpix caters to photographers, I thought the printing results would be much better than they were. I thought I would be struggling with the choice of paying so much to print awesome layouts. I was sadly disappointed.
Persnickety Prints
Intimidation Factor: none
Ease of Upload: 5, I really liked that I only had to enter my name, email address, and password to get started. Their uploader is java based and my vista and java don’t play nicely, so I had to do the one-by-one uploader, but not a big deal and not their fault.
It took me 2 minutes and 16 seconds to upload a 3600×3600 layout. The 12×12 premium matte paper was $1.99 ($1.79 after 200 prints). The 8×8 premium matte was 99cents. It took me a total of 14 minutes to place the order from start to finish.
Photo colors: 5 the colors in the photo were almost perfect!
Paper colors: 4, there was some loss of detail on the white paper.
Other information: The black journaling seemed to have a yellowish/greenish cast to it. I checked my black in Photoshop and it was a true black. I’m not sure if this is because of their printing process or just something done differently on my layout. This order was received the quickest out of all of them.
Scrapbook Pictures
Intimidation Factor: none
Ease of Upload: 2, It took me quite a bit of time and clicking to figure out where to go to upload layouts. Once I uploaded the layouts, it took me a very long time to figure out how to order the different sizes and finishes of the same layout.
It took me 1 minute and 55 seconds to upload on 3600×3600 layout. The 12×12 matte layout was $1.49, a 12×12 pro matte was $1.69, 8×8 matte was 89cents, 8×8 pro matte was $1.49. It took me 30 minutes to place an order from start to finish.
Photo colors: Photos were very dark compared to my monitor.
Paper colors: 4, slightly darker in color, no loss in detail on white paper.
Other information: The pro paper is a heavier weight paper, but the images were more true in color on the regular paper. All things considered, I would skip the extra cost for pro paper and stick with the regular.
Ordering on Scrapbook Picture was the most frustrating of any of the sites. It did not seem to be very intuitive to me. Not only that, but after I received my orders from all of the other sites, but one, I decided to check on my order and somehow, I didn’t send it. I really thought I had sent the order because I had to enter so much information. I finished placing the order, but then when the order came it wasn’t right. I got two 12×12’s on regular matte paper and no 8×8’s. I called them and they had the whole order reprinted and I got it 5 days later.
Scrapping Simply
Intimidation Factor: none
Ease of Upload: 5
It took me 2 minutes and 2 seconds to upload a 3600×3600 layout. It took me 12 minutes to place my order from start to finish. I ordered a 8×8 matte 99cents and a 12×12 matte for $1.99
Photo colors: 5, colors on photos were perfect
Paper colors: 3, colors were almost exact, but there was a total loss of detail on the white paper.
Other information: As I was writing this, I went back to the site to check on something and it looks like you have to install some software in order to upload and order layouts. I clicked on the button for those that would prefer not to install the software and I got an error. I decided to install the software (only because I am writing this, otherwise it would have been a no-go for me), but then it also wanted me to update my browser. At that point, I quit.
Winkflash
note: this site had a total redesign since I ordered Christmas cards there 3 years ago, so it was like starting over.
Intimidation Factor: none
Ease of Upload: 3, I thought at first that I could upload without registering, because the site let me upload when I clicked on upload. Where that layout went, I will never know because they never asked me for my information after that. Then, I had to register and go through the whole upload process again. Instead of taking you to an upload area, it should redirect you to a register/login page.
It took me 57 seconds to upload one 3600×3600 layout. I could only see an 8×8 option (matte or glossy) for $1.49 with 89cents shipping on that one layout. It took me 13 minutes to place the order
Photo colors: 3, darker and more red in tone as well.
Paper colors: 3, darker and some loss of detail on the white journaling paper.
Other information: The trimming on this one was really odd as well. It’s almost as if it were printed full-bleed on the top and left edge and then the right and bottom were trimmed to make the 8×8 because there was more trimmed from those edges.
White House Custom Color/WHCC
Intimidation factor: extremely high
I set up an account and they said they would follow up with information on what I needed to do to upload prints. A week later, I received a letter in the mail, telling me that I must submit test prints before ordering anything. After you upload test prints, they mail them to you, you make sure your computer likes their printer (by installing profiles and all of that fun stuff) THEN you can order some layouts. This site caters to professional photographers and I have heard wonderful things about their prints. I was not able to get the layouts done for this post, but will follow-up when I do.
Where will I be printing? I think for stuff that I need right away, I will still be printing at Costco. I will also be saving up my layouts to print with Persnickety. The colors in the photos and the papers were almost perfect!! I really was surprised at the differences from printer to printer and how many of them got it wrong. Persnickety was really the only one that got it all right.
I think I would also like to try Scrapping Simply again, IF they get that redirect fixed so I don’t have to install a bunch of stuff. They have some great prices on canvases, from what I could see (couldn’t find anything with a link to them to see for sure).
All in all, I was surprised at how well some of the newer printers did (especially Persnickety). Because so many of my digi friends use Scrapbook Pictures and love them, I expected to love them as well, but the love just wasn’t there… Sorry girls!
Hopefully, this gives you some concrete information that you can use in making your own decisions about which printers you want to try! I will be back, as promised, with reviews on photobooks/albums.
P.S. Your purchases of THE DIGI FILES go toward paying for posts like this. If you found this post valuable and have not ever purchased THE DIGI FILES, you might want to start grabbing them! 
PLUS you get so much good scrapping stuff, how can you lose?
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Amy,
The site is working properly. It is a tough one to spell.
try http://www.persnicketyprints.com
thanks,
Chari
Sadly, I can’t get the link or the persnickity prints link to open.
I use Mpix for my photography and love it. The only thing though I have printed on their epaper is my 365 4X6′s. I think the real power of mpix is in their other papers. . . I especially love the metallic for larger prints- for one thing it pulls out the flakes of colors in DH’s blue eyes and they’re just so much more life like.
I also choose no color management etc from them- I do that from my own computer.
But, I can’t really justify the $5 it would be for my 12X12 pages to go into my albums.
Not totally pleased with scrapbookpictures, but I can’t even get the persnickety prints site to open.
Thank you SO much for this info!! I’ve hesitated with having prints done up because I fear I’ll get horrible results after paying a good chunk of money. You have helped me immensely!! Thank you for all your research and such thorough results!!
This is awesome, Steph….thanks!
Great review! Makes me think about how I’m a big fan of Buy Local whenever I can. Using a pro photo lab near you not only gives back to your community, but you also get better service over the long term when you develop relationships with people who do your work. They get to know you and how you like your prints to look. The people there tend to be well trained – not just button pushers. Besides you can still upload to professional labs and just travel once to pick up your job. Small high end local labs can do all kinds of cool stuff you may not even know about and you can check it out in person rather than on a screen – metallic prints, giclee prints, canvas, vellum and even sheer fabric. Stuff like that.
Thank you again for this thought provoking comparison. It would be interesting to do this test in 6 months and see how consistent the results are.
What a wonderful thing you have done for us! Thank you. I will have to provide a link to this on my own Blog. Thanks again
Stephanie, I happened across this post last night while in the midst of my own blog post, which speaks of my choosing Shutterfly to fit my personal need of compiling photos from our large families to create a family yearbook! WOW, what timing!
I thank you for such a thorough review of these sources you have personally experienced and I have linked to your review as well as Wendy’s on creating photo books at the end of my post! I hope you don’t mind as I always wish to present options to my readers.
Both yours and Wendy’s posts are invaluable and I SO appreciate The Daily Digi for it’s plethora of information regarding the needs of a scrapbooker!
Wishing you a lovely and productive week!
I have used Scrapbook Pictures, Scrapping Simply and Persnickety Prints and my absolute FAVE is Persnickety. The colors were true, Customer service fabby and shipping was pretty darn fast. =)
I’ve used walmart, winkflash, and scrapbook pictures and I would say that scrapbook pictures was my favorite as far as best color from those three, but I totally agree you get better color on their cheaper paper. My friend got a HUGE print from them and I would have say that it looks pretty impressive.
Hi. Thanks for the reviews. I used to use scrapbookpictures.com for all my 12×12 printing but I thought there interface was horrible. I even e-mailed the owner with a few suggestions but he dismissed them in his reply. Anyhow, I have ordered from Persnickety 3 times now and I love their quality and the speed at which they ship.
LOVED this post, Steph!! I would love to see a follow-up where you add in the other companies that have been mentioned in the comments. I have never sent my layouts out (I just print at home), but I have been very tempted. Mostly, I’m freaked out that I will spend a lot of money and have edges cut off and colors all wrong. With that being said, I am SO thankful that you are testing these sites for us!! PLEASE do it again!!
Thank you for this! I just used Persnickity and I was super pleased with their work. Now I know why
oh – I just read everyone else’s comments and when you do the book review you MUST include Blurb. I’ve gotten 4 books from them and LOVE the color and the price. i made a ‘year in review’ book for a friend of her blog (you can download it really easily) Artscow was terrible next to them. Thanks for all your hard work!
Thanks for the info, I’m ALWAYS looking for good places to print photos. It might be worth it to get a Costco membership just to have the convenience!
Nothing to add, lol, just a big thank you for doing this!
GREAT post, Steph! I use Costco myself and have noticed vast differences in their quality, depending on how long it’s been since they changed their printer cartridges & whatnot. They know me there and quite often redo prints before I even get there because they know I’ll ask ‘em to redo it if I’m not happy
I tend to get clearer, crisper prints if I take them in on a thumb drive vs. uploading via the website (I get the same error you do, btw, when using IE, but Firefox works well) [Yes, I use the full resolution upload]. They get out the paper trimmer for me when they see me coming 
My only quibble is that we don’t have the 12×36 size here – darn! If I didn’t procrastinate so long on absolutely everything I’d definitely try Persnickety.
Very interesting information!!! THANKS for sharing it!
Oh! I neglected to mention, it’s cheaper to order photocards via the website vs. in-store. The last bundle of photocards I did (200) saved me $7.00 by ordering via the website. Interesting, huh? Oh, and I had that order printed twice because I didn’t like the color the first time (the background turned out grey instead of brown) and they gave me a refund no questions asked. I LOVE their customer service.
Thanks for the post! I’ve never printed anywhere but at Walmart (mostly because I like instant results) but for layouts that can wait on printing I think I might try Persnickety. Thanks!
For us people that live overseas (in my case Australia) my first concern is always about availability and cost of shipping. For instance costco will not ship to Australia and our new costco branch will not print 8×8 or 12×12. I had a quick look at Pernickity prints and note that they only way to find the postage costs is at checkout once the order is made. I just can’t be bothered! Artscow is attractive because they clearly advertise their postage costs. It would be a real help to me if you included information on postage in your reviews. thanks
Hi Linz,
Shipping is actually found on the home page of http://www.PersnicketyPrints.com, titled Shipping.
thanks
edit to say i had an old website address there, just in case you click it. Changed it to the right one now
Steph, thank you so much!
I was so surprised hearing you say your Costco print was blurry because mine are spot on, I could not want anything more from a print. Great price, instant gratification, perfect colors etc. But after reading the comments I see that results vary from Costco to Costco. Must depend on the equipment they each have. My costco here is very new so maybe that’s why.
I know you “missed” a few other printing places, but don’t worry! This is so great! If I may suggest, you could continue to use the same layout and sample new places, and just keep adding to this post and then just re-link to it in a new post when you do. It would be a GREAT resource for many people for a long time to come.
Thank you so much for doing this!
You know, I never, ever would have classified my Costco prints as blurry before. But, after seeing all of the other prints, I saw it. It was really interesting to see the differences and compare side to side the different prints of the same layout.
My Costco that I used to use was (before moving) was very new and small. I think the highlight of their day was when I placed an order because they just didn’t have anything to do. They loved reading the journaling on my layouts and knew me by face and name and would start pulling my orders when I walked in. Anyone of my friends (digi and real) would say that I am a HUGE Costco fan!! But, I have not been able to get it right yet at the new Costco. They are much bigger and much, much busier (4-5 people in the lab at all times and there is still a wait).
Thanks for the input! I have thought about adding on with the printers I missed…it will get hard for the smaller printers though as they see this post and the image that was printed. I wouldn’t want to give them an unfair advantage
This *review* is so thorough, we at Persnickety are quite impressed with your printing knowledge Steph! The funny thing is we specifically remember your order, thinking hmmm, not very many people order just one print & pay the $5 shipping. She is SNEAKY! You must of spent a fortune on this review! You all must purchase the $5 subscription to the Digi Files to help her recoup costs, not to mention time!
I think there is good to be said of all these mentioned companies, where i think we differ, is that the digital scrapbooking community is our total focus. We aren’t trying to “do it all”. Our store is a pro lab & photo studio, we don’t sell camera’s, equipment, etc. so we are FOCUSED on you!
In my spare time (none), I “try” to digi scrap so I know how much time goes into these layouts, I would hope that if anyone wasn’t completely satisfied with their order, they would let us know so that we can take care of it. We have a 100% guarantee.
Just to clarify, we ship Internationally for $10 USD flat, no tax, no weight limits. U.S. and Canada is $5. INT Shipping time depends on your countries customs.
Thanks for all of your feedback!
Scrap some for me!
~chari
I use Creative Memories for both pages and photo books… would have loved to see how they compare. I am very happy with them! Blessings!
Thanks for the information! Do you think you could review Inkubook when you do your book review? I have used them and had a good experience overall but my pictures were not a crisp as I would have liked. I think it was my fault for not saving them in a high enough resolution. I’m just curious to hear about someone else’s experience who actually knows what they are doing.
Wonderful information to have! I’ve only had prints done at Scrapping Simply. They did an amazing job! But I’ve changed to printing 8 x 8s so I can just use my own printer. I’ll consider the others when I send out for prints again. Thank you!!!
On your list, I’ve only ever used WHCC, Scrapbook Pictures, and Scrapping Simply. WHCC is to pricey. Scrapping Simply totally cut off the right sides of all my layouts. Scrapbook Pictures is the winner for me. You can my review on my blog with photos of the difference between Scrapbook Pictures and Scrapping Simply. http://www.listgirl.com/2010/02/print-compare.html
I didn’t include trim in my review because this is something that can be fixed pretty easily by using Wendyzines actions or templates. I have learned from Wendy that every printer trims the layouts down, either they shrink the layout to fit or they don’t…knowing which they do can fix trim issue.
I didn’t use actions for these prints though and I noted any really odd trim things in the additional information, but other than that, most of the trimming was actually pretty good, including Scrapping Simply. I did look at your photos though and there is a big difference.
The bigger problem for me is the detail in printing and color…that’s not as easily fixed. Did you notice any difference in the color and detail between those printers?
thank you for all the work. I have printed from scrapbook pictures and shutterfly. Shutterfly has a little better quality.
This is a fab review– I’m SO glad you’re going to be doing an album review soon, too! Thanks a bunch!
Hi Steph, really appreciate this review….thanks so much.
I was just wondering if you would be reviewing ‘Blurb’ when you do the book/album reviews. I have reading some good reviews and it seems they offer a heavy weight paper..which I am interested in as well as their specs to allow for the trim and the spine….and doing a double page spread.
I only recently realised that you can also do Blurb here in Australia hence my interest. I have only used Artscow in the past…which is shipped from Hong Kong. Great prices however have experienced a few issues with the colour and you have to be careful with their shipping prices as they do not combine items when shipped which can really blow out the total cost unless you are using a coupon or offer with free shipping.
Look forward to you next review…and yes I have already purchased this months Digi Files.xxox
Living in Australia makes it really hard to print my 12×12 layouts out because that is not an option in the regular printing sizes here. I’ve done two orders with Persnickety (around 120 layouts) and they are all amazing. They look fabulous on the Fuji photo paper compared to what I get when I print at home which is too costly at the rate I scrap! I paid the flat rate of $10 to ship to Australia and Chari kept in touch with me throughout the whole process. Nothing at all was cut off around the edges, so I’ll be using Persnickety and would recommend them to anyone
I love the effort and time you put into comparing all of the scrapbook pages. I wish you would have also included Heritage Makers and Creative Memories (I think they do scrapbook pages but they may just do digital storybooks). Another newer company is How Fast Time Flies (not sure if you can upload your own layouts though or if you have to use their templates). I’d love to see how they compare with the digital scrapbooking community– especially to other companies that have been around longer. If you do another review, it would be great to see how you rate their ease of use and quality. Thanks for all your time! It was very educational!
I was going to recommend that you download the printer profiles from Costco, but it looks like that has already been covered. It really does make a difference. A slight, but noticeable difference.
Thanks for all of your research for this post!!!
Thank you for all your work and for sharing with us! I have just printed 4×6 pictures at my local Costco so far and I’ve been happy with them but will try them for layouts also.
What an awesome post!
I placed my first order with Persnickety on Wednesday and had my prints Friday morning – lightning fast shipping! And the prints were amazingly perfect!
I just placed an order with Persnickety this week and I was amazed at their speed of delivery and wonderful color on my pages. I’ve printed at other sites before, but Persnickety is getting all my business from now on. Thanks for your detective work Steph!
Thanks for all this info. Really appreciate the review of all the printers.
Thanks for all the great info!! I’ve been trying to decide where to print layouts and this will definitely help. A few years ago I printed a bunch of layouts at Viovio- I didn’t see anyone mention them- does anyone know if they are still around and if the quality is good?
Viovio is still around and they will be included in my book review, I know Liz of Paislee Press uses them a lot. I didn’t know that they printed just layouts though….sigh.
Thank you so much for taking the time and money to dedicate to a very important part of digital scrapbooking. This was a great post!
Thanks for all the info !!! I’m excited to see the photobook review….although I just ordered my first one !!:)
Great information…thank you for taking the time to put this all together!
oh mah gosh! THIS was such an amazing post! Once again, my hat is off to TDD for going through so much trouble and effort. Thanks Steph!
One thing though…my husband and I own a printing business and we are constantly explaining to people with home computers that the colors you see on your monitor sometimes are not able to be replicated on a printing press. I don’t know if the same holds out to be true for photography and photo prints but I would imagine it does. No amount of calibration on your monitor will help that. You can come close, very close, but not exact. Just a word to the wise.
GREAT post! Thanks again!
Wow! What great reviews! Thanks for the great info!
Wow what a great post Steph… I have read reviews about many of these companies but love that a scrapper has compared apples to apples… So far I have only printed my pages using my own printer. Have been reluctent to try a print site as I am so picky and know it’s pretty hard to have a perfectly cali mon..One of the perks of printing at home is you get to know your monitor and printer well and can get what you like with ease. But I have tinkered with the thought of outside printing (It’s a bit cheeper) and am wondering if in time you would get the adjustments need figured out and eventually get a print you like..
Thank you so much! This was so helpful!
Thank you for this blog…love that my money is going for things like this
Thank you for all the time and effort it took to do this
i’ll chim in with my 2 cents here. i use scrapping simply when they have sales and costco when i have a few pages at a time.
my pages flow beautifully and i have not hard any complaints from either. the kids @costco have known me for 10 years or so, so they know not to mess up my pics:) LOL.
i would recommend both highly!
Thank you, Steph for this great review. I have yet to print any of my layouts in 12×12. I had planned on using Scrapbook Pictures, but I’ll skip them after reading your review. Instead, I’ll try Persnickty.
When I needed 8×8 or 10×10 prints, I take them to a local print shop, then trim them myself. The price is reasonable & color laser prints are safe for scrapbooking.
Great review! I have had great success with Mpix. I always have to make sure I check the no color correct box during checkout. Mpix does send out coupons and has sales often.
Here is where you go for the individual prints at Shutterfly. http://www.shutterfly.com/prints-posters/scrapbook-pages
They are not printed the same as their books. My experience with individual Shutterfly pages was great. They turned out gorgeous.
Yes, I did the no color correct on all of these prints.
THANKS for the link to the layouts at Shutterfly prints, I spent over 30 minutes looking for them, but I am the first to admit that I can be clueless at times.
If you try the Shutterfly prints (and I hope you do, to round out your review), make sure you turn VividPics OFF after uploading your photo. You can also get PSD files with guides for trim, bleed, etc. here: http://www.shutterfly.com/digitalscrapbook/scrapbook-pages-design-specs.jsp
Thank you Steph,
Such thorough work and wonderful recommendations.
I will have to try Persnickity but I had hoped to
print my first book in 8×8. (That is not an option!)
I am assuming, then, you print your pages and put them in a purchased album. Is this how you like to do it and why???
Yes, I print and place in an album. This is how I have always done it, only because books scare me!! That’s one of the reasons I started the album series, is to help me overcome my fear!!
The other reason, is that I want my little kids to be able to look through albums without me worry about them tearing pages (especially when I have paid so much for a book)
Maybe, after I start seeing the results of printing in a book though, I will do it more often! We will see!
I knew you would have good reasons. I like the idea of album accessibility for your children.
Persnickety DOES have 8×8 books Lee, and 4×6 prints, and ships internationally for $10.
I only did a quick look. Thanks for setting me straight! I will look again!!!
Ha, Ha BONUS- Persnickety Prints is like 5 minutes from my house LOL. I had no idea!!!
Yay!
Thank You for such an in depth review! I just ordered 40 prints from mypictales – papers only no photos and I had exactly the same experience as you. It’s like I received the pastel version of everything. VERY washed out and not at all how they appear on my screen or out of my inkjet printer. I had used them in the past without problems. It’s been awhile… not sure what happened. I’m waiting on a response.
I’ve been printing all my photobooks at American Color Imaging. Less intimidating than WHCC and the quality is fabulous.
I will have to try Persnickety next.
Thanks Again – GREAT post!
Thank you so very much for this!! I am an aspiring photographer and I did the White House test prints and they were awesome! My monitor is not calibrated but I think it is pretty true to color based on what others have said their calibrated monitor showed and White House was pretty spot on.
I can’t wait to print some layouts with Persnickety!
I print–a lot! so I have an Epson 3880 and can print up to 19×22, and I am SUPER picky. Incredibly picky. but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my printer. And I order special paper because I can get it at a good deal.
That said, when I use a printer, I use WHCC. The photos are amazing and I love the paper choices. I ordered 5×7 flat Christmas cards this past year, in two separate batches. The colors were a smidgen different when compared side-by-side, but both looked wonderful compared to my calibrated monitor. I used textured paper for my card, but the elements and shadows were wonderful, and the photos were amazing.
Once you get past the test photos–of which you get 5 FREE 8x10s–the ROES software you install makes uploading and ordering whatever you want very easy.
I have seen their gallery wraps, Christmas cards, and framed images, and all of them look wonderful. (My photographer-neighbor uses them exclusively.)
I think it’s well worth trying, especially if you want special items like a giant gallery wrap of a favorite layout. (Remember, you are an artist, not just a recorder of moments.)
I’ve used White House Custom Colour (WHCC) alot for my layouts. The quality is great, however the price is very, very high…$4.00 for one 12 X 12. The paper is extremely thick and high quality because their market is professional photographers (not scrapbookers). Shipping is free but you have to have a $12 minimum order. You receive your pics in about 3 days. Thanks so much for all of your work, it was extremely helpful.
Thanks so much for this! I am very bad about actually printing my LO’s, but as part of my New Years resolution I am determined to do more printing.
So… last week I ordered for the first time with Scrapbook Pictures. I was disappointed in how dark everything came out. There was a lot of detail lost. They were good about answering my emails but haven’t offered a refund or reprint. You have no idea how nice it is to hear that you thought they were too dark too!
So… last night I ordered for the first time from Scrapping Simply. The upload and ordering process was indeed easier. I have my fingers crossed that I will be happier with this set of prints. A few are duplicates of the ones I printed at Scrapbook pictures, so I am interested to see the comparison.
Let me know how it goes! I will be interested in your results too!
I’ve used Scrapbooks to Share (sbtoshare.com)for a while. I’ve been very happy with them. Price is very nice for 12×12 prints and I’ve had no issues with quality.
Thanks for all the reviews.
I was worried I might miss some!
I agree with Kellie… I love Scrapping Simply. Although I remember having to install a plugin called Silverfish (or something like that?) for my browser to be compatible with their upload software.
Although if the link wasn’t working, then that’s a problem too.
Their customer service is awesome! Which is why I’ve stuck with them. Not only do their prints come back awesome, but if I have a question on an order, I get a response usually same day. Then I get a follow up after the question is answered.
Although Persickney sounds like a good place to try too.
You put a lot of effort into this review; thanks so much! I have been VERY happy with Scrapping Simply, and I feel like they have earned my loyalty. I just placed an order with them yesterday and didn’t have to download any software or anything. I hope they don’t change it up on me soon! {Of course, I’ve been ordering with them for over a year now, so it’s possible that I already have the software downloaded.}
Kellie, do you ship internationally with them? How expensive is that? I’m sure some of our readers would like to know.
With Scrapping Simply, their international shipping is only 10 dollars. I had my last order shipped over here, and it took about two weeks, which is average for packages arriving from the States.
Wow what awesome detective work you’ve done all for our benefit. Thanks for your efforts and honest reviews.
You talk about comparing the prints to your monitor. Is your monitor calibrated? If so, what calibration software/hardware did you use? Did you investigate which calibration software/hardware each sight suggested in relation to what you are or are not using? Thanks!
Yes, I stated in the post where it talks about what I was evaluating on, that I was comparing the layouts to my calibrated monitor. You can read about how I calibrate here: http://thedailydigi.com/i-see-your-true-colors-shining-through/
As a note, I did recalibrate recently.
I did not check with each printer on which hardware/software the suggest because 1) I don’t think most scrappers would really do that. We want a printer that can do a good job without us having to purchase specific software/hardware.
I think most printers have profiles you can download and install, but I did not do that either, because I wanted to make sure it was fair for each printer and I once again, I think most scrappers want an “out of the box” printer, where they can just upload, print, and get good results without too much extra effort.
All things being equal, if there is one printer that is an “out of the box” printer and I don’t have to calibrate with specific hardware or install profiles and I get good results, I will choose them over the other guy that is not.
Hi ladies, I am the printer for persnickety prints. We love 4×6′s and you can find them in the “other print sizes” option. I have my printer set up to print your embedded color profile. If there is no profile attached to your image, it defaults to srgb. I feel that this gives us the most desired result. Thanks for the great review.
What I do like about Costco is that if I don’t like the printing job, they will refund or reprint without any problem.
If you print from them alot it might be worth downloading your club’s printer profile and installing it.
I live in a metropolitan area so I have three costcos within 30 minutes of my house. They don’t all have the same equipment and I do get different results from each store.
I slightly reduce my size on my 8x8s and have them trim them at the club if there is any white on the edge.
I too use their larger sizes and then have them trim them or do it myself at home. If I want them to trim the larger size,I try to ask at a time when they are not busy or do my shopping and come back and pick them up.
They are the best price around here and I don’t have to pay shipping.
You can upload from home or take a disk or flash drive to them.
Thanks for all your work Steph!
Yes, you do get different results from each Costco. Before I moved, I would get perfect prints from my Costco. I have not been able to duplicate the printing at my new Costco, despite installing printer profiles and talking to them. I think I will be taking in my Persnickety print and telling them that THIS is what it’s supposed to look like and what do we need to do to get it there?
I have a project I will be working on this week and need some 4×6′s and know that I will be printing there for that (Persnickety doesn’t offer that size and I’m not sure I could have prints uploaded and back in enough time for my project, only because I won’t be ready to upload until mid-week). So, it would be nice to get it figured out, but sometimes it is more work than it’s worth.
Thanks so much for doing all this research for us – VERY helpful!
WOW, Steph! That was a lot of work and so helpful to so many people. Thank you very much!!
I just got my first Persnickety order yesterday and it was PERFECT!! I ordered a ton of prints when they had a sale this week and got personal feedback from them and amazing prints in just a few days.
They were the fastest out of all them!
I’m curious to know about Shutterfly… Did you try them out too? I was thinking of printing a photobook there.
You know, I could not ever find a place to order JUST 8×8′s or 12×12′s. They will be included in my book review coming up though!:)
If you go to Shutterfly’s home page and click on “Prints & Posters”, you can scroll down and there is a section for printing scrapbook pages.