I have been searching for printing options for several weeks . As a San Antonio wedding photographer I have great sources for photo prints that come in great every time I order. I use couple different vendors , both of which require a resale permit but one also has a consumer side which I have not tried but assume would be of top quality. The two I use are Millers with it’s consumer side under the name Mpix. The other is White House Custom Color or WHCC for short. Both print all sizes of portraits for my San Antonio wedding photography business.
Millers and WHCC require professional photographers to order free test prints to verify there colors match what the photographer expects before opening an account. In addition to traditional photo prints they also do press printed cards and provide both fast delivery and quality color reproduction. Both companies focus on short run pieces, usually 25 to 50 so the price is a little higher than printers doing high volume jobs. This is a great alternative if you only need a few pieces for a special promotion.
For traditional lab photo prints and press printed cards they usually print within minutes of receiving the order so don’t expect time to make changes after you press the send button. Assuming you sent the order in early they usually ship it out the same day. WHCC provides second day delivery for free and low cost next day service. Millers will ship air service so it is also a quick delivery.Both offer reduced rates so you never waste money when you are in a rush.
For higher volume I tried all the well known names such as Overnight prints, Vista Print etc. While Overnight prints does a good job they are not reliable as far as shipping dates so I would not trust them for any job that has a required delivery date plus the rush shipping will eat away any savings. It looks like many of these discount printers make more off retail shipping than printing. Of course they get large shipping discounts due to their volume but charge the customer standard retail list rates. A lot like the rate card you see in hotel rooms. They have a high list price shown so they can get every penny when the area is sold out during conventions but the normal rate you pay is about half that most of the time. The printers just charge the listed rate and never discount allowing the retail shipping rate to add to the bottom line.
Later I tried Vista Print with really disappointing results. super slow to ship and my business cards were totally stuck together. My cards were like a 1000 card brick that had to be pried apart. Yes, they did a free re-print but the cards came in with the same problem. I got lucky and found another printer called U-Printing. They have fair prices and seem to stand behind their shipping schedule. They offer a lot of unusual die cut business card styles without additional fees.This alone is a nice option to make your card stand out. I have used them for photo place cards as well as postcards and flyer’s.All the products came in with good color reproduction and on time.
I use both the photo printers listed for my San Antonio Wedding Photographer business. They do all sizes and materials including canvas and metallic photo stock. The other printer, U-printing has done a great job on several business stationary and promotional cards I use for my business.