Photoshop Insider

1. ^#1

   I just tried Mpix and without a doubt it’s the finest quality prints I’ve seen.
   Like Scott said, I had some 16 x20 shots done in the metallic and there wonderful. The packaging also really impressed me, boxed and a cardboard backer on both sides. This means no bent corners, small creases, ect.

   The prices are a little higher than some, but I’ll pay for quality prints anytime.

   casey

   casey on August 28th, 2008 at 5:44 am
2. ^#2

   Yeah, but still no international shipping, which sucks

   Ivan on August 28th, 2008 at 5:52 am
3. ^#3

   Also a big fan of Mpix. The quality is unbeatable and the quick service is fantastic. Also a fan of shortrunposters.com. Had some 18×24 posters made and for two dollars a poster you can’t go wrong.

   -Bob
   (Boston)

   Bob on August 28th, 2008 at 6:06 am
4. ^#4

   I really cant say enough good things about Mpix. I’ve been using them for a really long time now and their service is just as excellent as their quality. I even made a mistake one time on my shipping address, and when I thought i wouldnt get my prints in time for a show i had, Mpix got them back to their location and reshipped them overnight to me - at no charge - even though it was my fault. You send them an email and they respond within minutes. They really are excellent. I cant wait to try the 2.0!

   Karen on August 28th, 2008 at 7:27 am
5. ^#5

   I’ve been using Mpix for a while and still can’t get over their speed and turn around time. Highly Recommended!

   I have two question for Scott or any of the techies though:
   1) If Mpix uses sRGB printers, and printing workflow, is there any advantage to shooting, photoshoping, and working with Adobe RGB files that are destined for print?

   2) If the prints produced by Mpix are so flabbergastingly beautiful in sRGB, then what is the advantage of Adobe RGB in the first place?

   If anyone could answer that, I’d be grateful. Thank you in advance for your time and response.
   -Mark

   Mark on August 28th, 2008 at 8:11 am
6. ^#6

   Mpix has definitely been the best photo lab that I’ve used. I’ve used them for 2 years and never had a single problem. They have always been fast, accurate, with high quality prints that amaze my customers every time. I’m glad that NAPP is spreading the word!

   Matthew Walton on August 28th, 2008 at 8:57 am
7. ^#7

   How does Mpix compare to whcc or Miller’s?

   Chris on August 28th, 2008 at 9:14 am
8. ^#8

   I plan on ordering a few prints this week and will try them out.
   Is Mpix ever going to give NAPP members a discount??

   Thx, Glenn

   Gnieciag on August 28th, 2008 at 9:36 am
9. ^#9

   bob in boston… where do you see 18×24 posters for $4?

   I to love mpix… I use them along side with another online vendor.. since I like to have more then just 1 source… etc

   thanks

   -Adam

   Adam on August 28th, 2008 at 9:40 am
10. ^#10

    >If Mpix uses sRGB printers, and printing workflow, is there any advantage to shooting, photoshoping, and working with Adobe RGB files that are destined for print?

    They do not use sRGB printers because there is no such beast. The sRGB color space is based on an emissive display. Same with Adobe RGB (1998). What they do is assume all documents going through their process are in sRGB and automatically convert for the output color space of their devices. So unless you have an ICC profile of that printer, its not possible to say if its larger than sRGB but I would bet dollars to doughnuts it is in some if not many areas. Most modern printers are. If you know the printer type (Lambda, Frontier etc) I can say more as I have built ICC profiles for such devices (and yes, they exceed sRGB gamut).

    The other problem with these “sRGB only” workflows is you can’t soft proof. Until you have an output profile of the print process, what you see on screen isn’t an accurate soft proof of the print process. Again, there isn’t an sRGB printer on the planet, that’s simply impossible. We don’t print these prints using emissive RGB color.

    Yes, there’s always an advantage to shooting in a larger color space (or better, Raw) because you never know what output device you may use in the future. For example, the Epson K3 inkset has a gamut that’s quite a bit larger than even Adobe RGB (1998)! That means the next size up, ProPhoto RGB (in 16-bit).

    Andrew Rodney on August 28th, 2008 at 10:02 am
11. ^#11

    I’ve been using MPix for a while now. Read about their service here, tried them out, and you were so right Scott!

    Their metallic paper works so well on some prints. Whenever folks see my metallics they ask “how did you do that?” MPix!

    I’ll have to check out 2.0. I haven’t ordered from them in at least 2 weeks, so I better check out the changes.

    Thanks for the recommendation in the first place. I always find good information here!

    Rich C on August 28th, 2008 at 10:05 am
12. ^#12

    I LOVE Mpix and I especially love the metallic prints. When I submit metallic prints for the local photo club competition, I always get rave reviews.

    Deb on August 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am
13. ^#13

    Because of the rave reviews, I finally decided to order a few metallic paper prints from Mpix. Mpix is pricier that other finishers, but I had to give ‘em a shot. I received my prints a couple days ago, and WOW!!! I am impressed with their turn around time, the quality of their packaging (which at first seemed excessive to me, but you can tell they care about providing the highest quality product to their customers which is really appreciated and respected) and most of all, the fine quality of their prints. I can’t imagine using anyone else now. They’ve definitely won a fan.

    Ross on August 28th, 2008 at 11:25 am
14. ^#14

    I also have used MPix and loved them. The one time there was a problem with prints they redid them immediately with no questions asked. In cases where I’ve needed prints in a hurry, it has been less expensive to use MPix plus fast shipping than to print locally.

    One of the new features of MPIX 2.0 is that you can mix paper types in a single order, which you couldn’t do previously.

    On the sRGB color space question (as well as TIFF vs. JPEG, 8 vs 16 bit), MPix says don’t worry about it, although folks might not find their explanations convincing. You can read their take on it here: http://mpix.com/support/Help.aspx?id=3.

    My question is 8 or 16 bit and TIFF or JPEG for their true black & white process. I tried an 8 megapixel comparison at 8×12 inch size and tested the prints on my friends. As I recall, one person out of about a dozen confidently and correctly selected the 16-bit TIFF over the JPEG. I’m curious about the experience of others.

    I don’t know where I read it, but I thought MPix uses a Lightjet for photographic prints. I remember seeing long ago an offer on mpix.com to send printer profiles to those who want them for soft-proofing.

    Kurt Shoens on August 28th, 2008 at 11:45 am
15. ^#15

    Andrew Rodney,
    Thanks so much for the detailed explanation.
    What strikes me as interesting, is the fact sRGB workflow prints (Mpix)work so well, that they are the preferred lab for NAPP. Would Adobe RGB or ProPhoto workflow prints look that much better? if they were side by side, could we tell the difference?
    I’m really interested in this b/c I’ve spent lots of time researching this topic and sweating the details between shooting and photoshoping in sRGB, or in Adobe RGB, and I think in the end, it doesn’t seem to make much difference in the “real world”. It does make for some great discussion though.
    Photos that are posted online are sRGB. Photos printed by Mpix are sRGB. where does the advantage of Adobe RGB really come in, if I can’t really see it besides on my monitor?
    Thanks again for anyone who contributes to help me understand this topic. I appreciate the time and response.

    Mark on August 28th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
16. ^#16

    Hey Adam, go to www.shortrunposters.com.

    It is actually $2.00 a poster. You just saved yourself 2 bucks.

    I had 12 posters printed, one for each kid on my sons little league team. You should have seen their faces when i passed them out. I was actually a bit skepitcal since I always believe you get what you pay for. But for 2 bucks you can’t beat it. The color is not the greatest but again for 2 bucks it is worth it.

    Bob DeChiara on August 28th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
17. ^#17

    >What strikes me as interesting, is the fact sRGB workflow prints (Mpix)work so well, that they are the preferred lab for NAPP. Would Adobe RGB or ProPhoto workflow prints look that much better? if they were side by side, could we tell the difference?

    IF the capture device and working space are larger than the output color space, there’s going to be clipping. If you clip to sRGB, its not like you’re going to get awful prints! The workflow does work. But you’re throwing away colors that you could potentially print. If your work is brides in white wedding dresses, you’ll never notice a difference. If your work is of a highly saturated nature (say Jay Maisel kind of work), it could. And we don’t know since we don’t have an output profile from so many providers. Nor as I said can we soft proof, control the rendering intent (which is image specific, not output specific) or post edit the image based on that soft proof. So its not ideal but it works. Its a workflow that blows lots of prints out the door quickly. But its not ideal in terms of end user control.

    Lots of labs do profile their devices and supply them to customers. If and when more customers ask for this, its more likely we’ll see it offered.

    Adobe didn’t put all that custom soft proofing in Photoshop, or the ability to convert working space images into output ready color just for grins. Soft proofing is a major big deal. We’re hearing many LR 2.0 users asking how that one got missed from the release….

    Andrew Rodney on August 28th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
18. ^#18

    >Photos printed by Mpix are sRGB. where does the advantage of Adobe RGB really come in, if I can’t really see it besides on my monitor?

    This Adobe white paper might help:
    http://www.adobe.com/digitalimag/pdfs/phscs2ip_colspace.pdf

    As far as monitors, I’ve got two that are nearly the gamut of Adobe RGB (1998) and far, far wider than sRGB. Such displays are actually affordable these days.

    For my work, even Adobe RGB is too small. But I output to Epson K3 inks which have colors that exceed this space. And my capture device (Raws from a Canon 5D) produce far wider gamut too. I want to store and use all the colors I’ve captured.

    Andrew Rodney on August 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
19. ^#19

    Scott, I had a quick question about canvas prints (gallery wraps)… is Mpix your place of choice for canvas? I haven’t seen many examples, the one a friend of mine did just wasn’t the quality I would have expected. Is this an exception? (I’d also love to hear other people’s input.

    Thanks

    Mike Paterson on August 28th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
20. ^#20

    I’ve seen a lot about Mpix lately so I thought I would give them a try with a personal project before using them for any of my professional work and unfortunately things did not go so well.

    I ordered a 24×36 gallery wrap from them and it arrived within a few days of ordering which was impressive. However the quality wasn’t that great. Black streaking lines began to appear where it wraps on the frame! Soon people began commenting on the black streaks as they were distracting from the beautiful photo. I have since removed the photo from view.

    I contacted Mpix customer support about this issue on July 29 and on July 30 Matt from Mpix agreed to reprint the gallery wrap and put a protective coating on it. I was impressed with the quick response and happy they were going to reprint it. If I were to ever use them for my professional work it would be important to me that if a customer had an issue with a print that Mpix would be responsive and take care of any issues ASAP.

    Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case. I waited a couple weeks and the reprint never showed up. So on August 13 I contacted Mpix again to check on the status. I never received a response and again contacted them on August 19. Finally on August 20 Matt emailed me back and said he thought I had received the reprint and that he would check into things. He asked me to upload the image again so they could do the reprint.

    It is now August 29 and still no reprint and no word from Mpix. If this had been a print for one of my customers I would have had a very upset customer that probably wouldn’t be doing business with me again. Well, actually after the first week of not hearing from Mpix I would have done the reprint at my own expense with a more reliable and professional company.

    It is because of this that I cannot recommended Mpix for professional work.

    Greg

    Greg on August 29th, 2008 at 11:12 am
21. ^#21

    sRGB is the working space for photographic printers. Consequently working in a larger color space does not offer any advantage from a printing stand point. A larger color space in theory allows a greater range of colors and dynamic range to be captured and manipulated. We suggest sRGB as the working space because that is the color space that the printers require. Before images are printed here they must be converted to sRGB by suggesting that clients use sRGB as their working space they are insuring that what they see will be what they get as much as possible.

    John, Mpix.com

    John, Mpix.com on September 1st, 2008 at 2:01 pm

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