Mpix press photo book problems

[roxandnate]

Anyone have experience with Mpix press? I have used Picaboo in the past and was generally happy, except for their software flexibility, so I gave Mpix a try. Results? In a word, awful! Most of my pages contained vertical reddish/pink banding. These bands were often centered in the middle of the page, up to an inch wide, and most prominent on blue backgrounds (sky). I sent the book back and was told by the customer service department that such artifacts were normal characteristics of press printing. I have never heard or experienced such a thing! They did try to reprint and, when the results were the same, refunded my money - so I have no complaints about the customer service. Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing?

[mjs1973]

Welcome to the Forum. I have had some business cards printed from Mpix press and they came out great. I haven't tried them for a book yet. From what I have read on the mpix forum, people seemed pretty happy with the books they had printed. I started a thread a week or so ago asking about places to have books printed. Lots of people recommended www.blurb.com

I have downloaded the software for both mpix and blub, but I haven't played with them yet.

[Old Timer]

My print experience with Mpix has always been good. I have had a number of prints done for sale and had no problems at all. No complains from clients or customers about the prints that they received.

[adina]

I use a very similiar lab and have never ever had any problems with printed press products. I also know dozens of photographers who use mpix and don't have those issues. Sooo....while such issues are certainly possible, they are not standard results.

Try www.whcc.com or www.sharedink.com

[Dylan8i]

ive printed a few pics from mpix and haven't had a problem with them

[mjs1973]

I agree with Adina, this is the exception, not the rule when it comes to Mpix. I also agree with Larry and Dylan that the prints from Mpix are great. Of course the press products and the photos we have had printed are not using the same processes.

I should ammend my original post. The business cards I had printed on the standard card stock turned out great. The ones on the metalic stock, not so great, but still usable. For future orders, I will stick with the standard paper. As for your book, I would try some place else and see what they can do. I still plan on trying Mpix for a future book project knowing that I'm happy with what they have done for me so far, and knowing that their customer service will make things right if there are any problems.

[another view]

Of course the press products and the photos we have had printed are not using the same processes.

Whole different world. Their photo prints look great, but I've never talked to them so I don't have any opinion on their customer service - but haven't needed to talk to them which I think is a good thing. Kind of like B&H, you place an order and it shows up when it should, and correctly.

Books are a whole different thing than photographic prints. I bought one of Brian's books, hardcover version and I am overdue on posting a review of it (promise it will be soon, Brian). The quality really is excellent; the kind you'd expect to see in a book put out by photographers at a place like B&N, etc. Brian ordered a copy for himself, then I ordered one a few days later but they had problems printing it (Blurb prints to order). It took a week or two, but they tried it again and everything is fine. Although I have only seen this one book from Blurb, I'd try them myself. Customer service was very good, and they were very interested in solving the problem.

[Speed]

While I haven't had a book printed (it's on my "to do" list) I have used Mpix quite a bit. I've had everything from 4 X 6 prints to 20 X 30 canvas prints made, and I've been happy with their work.

It is reassuring that they have great customer service and refunded your money.

[roxandnate]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am going to submit the "same" book to Blurb and I will let you all know if the results are better. I will also still consider Mpix for their non-press (photo) products, based on your feedback. More to come...

[roxandnate]

I wanted to let everyone know that I just got my book back from Blurb. It was OUTSTANDING! 10x better than the same book containing the same photos from Mpix. Thanks for the recommendation! :thumbsup:

[FrankJ]

I recently purchased my first Mpix photo book. Their service was fantastic - I had my hard copy photo book delivered to my door in less than 24 hours! Wow!

HOWEVER, the photo quality in the book was awful - flat, dull colors. The shots were taken with a Nikon D700 and a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8. They processed and printed beautifully on my computer and at an external lab. But not so from Mpix. A huge disappointment. Regrettably, when I contacted Mpix, they said that the problem was that "press books" are printed using CMYK rather that RBG. Duh. There are millions of photo books and magazines, all printed using CMYK that are absolutely gorgeous. My opinion is that it was printed on sorry paper, paper they describe as "stock." I get the same result if I print one of my photos on my Epson R1800 printer using standard inkjet paper. The results are lousy. If I use decent paper, the results are fantastic. Mpix needs to use a slick surface paper rather than a dull, absorbent matt finish paper.

Anyway, when I contacted them they did offer to refund my $75.75 if I returned the book. Their customer service and their response times are great, I just wish that their press books were, too. I've now placed the order with Shutterfly to see how they do. They advertise that they use a high quality, slick surface paper to get excellent results. We'll see... (and I will post the results)

[Kajuah]

I try to make sure I know what kind of ink and paper the printers' are going to be using to print off my order before going through with it, if I don't like the type I'll ask for something specific and sometimes, if it's not a total inability, they'll meet my specifications. Most times there is a price hike for higher qualities of paper, but that's reasonable enough.

Can you two send us a URL of the package you ordered from Mpix? I'd like to see what they say on their webpage

[Liz]

I used to order from Mpix. However, the last time I got 4x6 prints from them, they were not good at all. Someone here told me that if you post process, you have to tell them NOT to post process.

Is this true? I would really like to go back to Mpix, but was so disappointed the last time.

Another question - at what size do I upload the images? I forgot all the specifics. I don't get a lot of prints, so I've been using the local "cheaper" stores and the prints are awful.

Thanks.
Liz