Photo Labs, Matting, Framing – Where do you go?
Photo Printing
I recently was asked in a facebook group, what I do about printing, matting and framing my images while being a full-time RVer. My images sales are very modest. I have a small display at Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery in Ochopee, Florida and I have a handful of images at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center in Fort Davis Texas; and I occasionally have online orders. So, I normally don’t have any images stored in my RV while on the road. Additionally, I try to keep my matting inventory very minimal. I tend to buy as I need.
I started printing some of my images a little over two years ago. I read blogs, reviews, talked to people and received samples. Everyone has different printing needs for their images. My needs were simple, quality prints at affordable prices for myself and customers. Over the two years, I’ve found that some labs are good in some areas and a little lacking in others. Here is a list of photo labs that I have used in that time and my own experiences. I’ve also included the two matting suppliers I have used.
ProDPI
I’ve used ProDPI the most out of all the labs listed. I’ve printed magnets, notecards, paper prints and metal prints. I’ve been pleased with all of the products with the exception of their magnets. All orders go through ProDPI Roes software. I’ve had issues (all user error on my part) with using the Roes template for notecards. Each time, customer service holds my order and contacts me right away to confirm. Their customer service has been excellent!
I’ve been pleased with the quality and pricing for both paper and metal prints. I’ve printed on paper from 5×7 to 11×14 and metals from 5×7 to 12×18. Never had an issue with the quality.
Nations Photo Lab
Nations Photo Lab is great if you’re looking for discount prices. They have several specials ongoing and I receive a lot of promo codes from their email list. I’ve printed note cards, paper and metal prints. Paper prints I’ve ordered 5×7 – 11×14. Prints were inexpensive, quality was acceptable. However, I prefer the prints I receive from ProDPI. I had a promo code for 50% off metal prints about a year ago; so I decided to print some metals with Nations. The prints were sent with the hanger backing unattached. I had to place them on myself. Additionally, I noticed some of the prints clearly did not look as good as the ProDPI metals.
I received a discount code for notecards in my email one day and decided to try them again. For a great price, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. The notecards looked great! In conclusion: I have no reason to order paper prints from nations. Metal prints, never again; but they will get my business anytime I need notecards.
You can order through the Nations Photo Lab website or download their Roes software
Bay Photo Lab
Bay Photo’s prices are a little higher. However, my experience has been that the higher price is justified for the higher quality product. I’ve ordered a few prints from Bay, up to 18×24 and their button magnets. Prints and magnets are both beautiful. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is with the quality in prints of their larger metals. Bay Photo Lab is my go-to for metal prints up 18×24 and 20×30. The metals look and feel better. The hanger is a metal cleat instead of the Gatorfoam hanging mount and the metal feels solid. Bay also uses Roes software
MPix
I use Mpix for a specific customer who always orders his images matted and framed. Living full-time in and RV, I’m simply unable to store framing materials in my tiny home. MPix offers prints, matted and framed. The first couple of orders I had the images shipped to me for inspection. I was pleased with the print and the framing. Now I place the order and have the images drop shipped to the customer. Haven’t had any issues.
Golden State Art
Golden State Art has been my normal supplier of matting. You can purchase common sizes (8×10, 8×12, 11×14, etc) in sets which include the mat, backing board, and poly sleeve. For not so popular sizes, you can contact them and request a quote for your needs. I had to do this with panoramic images that I needed matted. These special orders will cost a little more.
The Display Guys
During the past year, I began purchasing my smaller mats (8×10 mat for 5×7 images), from The Display Guys eBay store. The price was a little less than Golden State and I still received the complete set of matting, backing and sleeves.