A report on Mpix Labs prints.
About once a month there is a post asking for recommendations for "on-line" printing labs. The most recent led me to test Mpix. Received my first "test" prints today, and they are outstanding. Details follow.
I started using pro labs about 7 years ago. Tested about 6 different labs, local and mail order, and picked American Color Imaging (ACI) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mostly for wallet prints of seniors. ACI produces excellent and consistent quality at reasonable prices, but their "on-line" process requires special software that is unattractive to me. It's burdened with many options about film, retouching, and "packages" that I never use, so I never used it. Have been mailing CDs to them.
I started the Mpix process late Wednesday morning. Took about 2 hours to open an account, review and understand how it works, pick test images, upload, and order. Finished about 2:00pm. At 9:30pm the same day I received Mpix e-mail notices that two of my orders had shipped. At 9:30pm the next day, Thursday, I received e-mail notice that my 3rd order had shipped. The first 2 orders had "no color correction", the third had the same images with color correction. It appeared that color correction takes an extra day.
On Friday, in my 1:30pm USPS mail delivery, all three orders arrived. Total time from order to receipt was 48 hours. But to be fair, I live in Des Moines, IA, and the Mpix lab is in Columbia, MO, which is pretty close.
So much for the service, how about the quality?
Quality was outstanding, equal to or greater than my old source. I submitted portrait, landscape, and still-life images. Ordered identical prints with and without Mpix color correction, plus two monochromes - one "true" B&W and one with a "platimum" tone, both submitted as RGB. I also ordered 3 color prints on the Kodak "Metallic" paper, which I've never seen before.
The color corrected and non-corrected landscape and still-life images are identical in color, tone and contrast. And they match about perfect to my own prints from an Epson 2200. This is good news, and as it should be from my calibrated system. I rarely check the "soft proof" in Photoshop, and never make custom edits based on the soft proof. Like most, I want prints to match my calibrated monitor as closely as possible without a bunch of extra work.
One of the portraits I submitted had a slight yellow color cast. The un-corrected print from Mpix maintained the color cast and matched my monitor and Epson print. The color corrected Mpix print accurately removed the color cast and gave excellent skin tone.
The monochrome portrait prints are also excellent. The "true" B&W print appears to be very neutral in tone. The "platinum" tone came through fine on the other. No problem with either.
The Metallic prints are "interesting", but not for my taste. I've never cared for glossy prints, and these are just another form of glossy. Also, the Metallics are darker in tone, about 1 full stop I'd guess. But that appears to be a result of the paper stock. Easy to see in the blank white border, which appears light gray on the Metallic print.
I've scoped all the prints with a loupe, looking for banding, posterization, or sharpness issues. Can't find any problems. Now add that Mpix prices are about 10% to 20% less than my old pro lab, and you've got a converted customer.
My only complaint, but it seems common to all on-line labs, is the need to make separate orders (any pay extra shipping). Mpix paper choice and color correction options are "global" per order. So I had to make 3 orders to get luster vs. metallic paper and color corrected vs. non color corrected prints. $15 shipping instead of $5. Also, those choices appear at the end of the order process, which I found confusing. I backed out of the order process twice and went back to the Help/FAQ trying to find where to set those options.
About once a month there is a post asking for recommendations for "on-line" printing labs. The most recent led me to test Mpix. Received my first "test" prints today, and they are outstanding. Details follow.
I started using pro labs about 7 years ago. Tested about 6 different labs, local and mail order, and picked American Color Imaging (ACI) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mostly for wallet prints of seniors. ACI produces excellent and consistent quality at reasonable prices, but their "on-line" process requires special software that is unattractive to me. It's burdened with many options about film, retouching, and "packages" that I never use, so I never used it. Have been mailing CDs to them.
I started the Mpix process late Wednesday morning. Took about 2 hours to open an account, review and understand how it works, pick test images, upload, and order. Finished about 2:00pm. At 9:30pm the same day I received Mpix e-mail notices that two of my orders had shipped. At 9:30pm the next day, Thursday, I received e-mail notice that my 3rd order had shipped. The first 2 orders had "no color correction", the third had the same images with color correction. It appeared that color correction takes an extra day.
On Friday, in my 1:30pm USPS mail delivery, all three orders arrived. Total time from order to receipt was 48 hours. But to be fair, I live in Des Moines, IA, and the Mpix lab is in Columbia, MO, which is pretty close.
So much for the service, how about the quality?
Quality was outstanding, equal to or greater than my old source. I submitted portrait, landscape, and still-life images. Ordered identical prints with and without Mpix color correction, plus two monochromes - one "true" B&W and one with a "platimum" tone, both submitted as RGB. I also ordered 3 color prints on the Kodak "Metallic" paper, which I've never seen before.
The color corrected and non-corrected landscape and still-life images are identical in color, tone and contrast. And they match about perfect to my own prints from an Epson 2200. This is good news, and as it should be from my calibrated system. I rarely check the "soft proof" in Photoshop, and never make custom edits based on the soft proof. Like most, I want prints to match my calibrated monitor as closely as possible without a bunch of extra work.
One of the portraits I submitted had a slight yellow color cast. The un-corrected print from Mpix maintained the color cast and matched my monitor and Epson print. The color corrected Mpix print accurately removed the color cast and gave excellent skin tone.
The monochrome portrait prints are also excellent. The "true" B&W print appears to be very neutral in tone. The "platinum" tone came through fine on the other. No problem with either.
The Metallic prints are "interesting", but not for my taste. I've never cared for glossy prints, and these are just another form of glossy. Also, the Metallics are darker in tone, about 1 full stop I'd guess. But that appears to be a result of the paper stock. Easy to see in the blank white border, which appears light gray on the Metallic print.
I've scoped all the prints with a loupe, looking for banding, posterization, or sharpness issues. Can't find any problems. Now add that Mpix prices are about 10% to 20% less than my old pro lab, and you've got a converted customer.
My only complaint, but it seems common to all on-line labs, is the need to make separate orders (any pay extra shipping). Mpix paper choice and color correction options are "global" per order. So I had to make 3 orders to get luster vs. metallic paper and color corrected vs. non color corrected prints. $15 shipping instead of $5. Also, those choices appear at the end of the order process, which I found confusing. I backed out of the order process twice and went back to the Help/FAQ trying to find where to set those options.
