Some of my co-workers have expressed interest in buying prints of my photos. I'm gotten prints made a handful of times but this is the first time I will be making prints to sell. I'm not planning on charging an arm and a leg, maybe 50% of the printing cost. What I'm wondering is if it is worthwhile to get spray coating or styrene mounting (probably from Bayphoto, maybe mpix)? I'm trying to minimize the cost for these guys so I don't want to be paying for extras that aren't worthwhile. Any help on this would be much appreciated!
Jake,
I have had several things printed at MPIX and believe them to be top notch as far as customer service and quality. I think that the luster coating and mounting on styrene to be a great combination. Styrene prevents any effects of temperature or humidity on the print and the coating protects the surface of the print. I have not looked at your images yet but I highly recommend the metallic paper for landscapes, just a great look for almost all images.
I do not think you can talk to them on the phone but they answer email within an hour and I have never had an instance where I had a problem that they did not move heaven and earth to make things right..not to say that this happens very often at all. Most prints from MPIX ship that day or the next and if you have a canvas wrap you might have to wait three days from upload to them shipping to you. Everything is well packed, looks good, and protected great.
If you are looking to keep cost down I would recommend single weight dry mounting with lustre spray. If prints are larger than 16x20 do double weight dry mount. Styrene is overkill for a project like this if you ask me...but it does look very nice. I use Millers Imaging which is the parent co. of Mpix....probably one of the best labs in the country.
Joe Rogers
MPIX is great. I really like the lustre coating, as it helps minimize fingerprints. As far as any mounting, it's cheaper not to do that and just have the mounting done on foamcore at the time of matting and framing.
Discussion
3 repliesI have had several things printed at MPIX and believe them to be top notch as far as customer service and quality. I think that the luster coating and mounting on styrene to be a great combination. Styrene prevents any effects of temperature or humidity on the print and the coating protects the surface of the print. I have not looked at your images yet but I highly recommend the metallic paper for landscapes, just a great look for almost all images.
I do not think you can talk to them on the phone but they answer email within an hour and I have never had an instance where I had a problem that they did not move heaven and earth to make things right..not to say that this happens very often at all. Most prints from MPIX ship that day or the next and if you have a canvas wrap you might have to wait three days from upload to them shipping to you. Everything is well packed, looks good, and protected great.
Bob
Joe Rogers