I have been looking for low cost, quality 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 a two different vendors , both of which require a resale permit but one also has a non-business side which I have not tried but am sure would be of good quality.
The two I use are Millers Lab with it’s consumer side under the name Mpix. The other is White House Custom Color or WHCC for short.They print all sizes of portraits for my San Antonio wedding photography business.
Both require photographers to send in test files to make sure there colors match what the photographer expects before opening an account. In addition to traditional photo prints they both do press printed material and do a great job . It is aimed at short run pieces. Usually 25 to 50 so the price is a little higher than printers doing larger run jobs. This is a wonderful alternative if you only need a handful of well printed pieces for a small promotion.
The delivery time is fast . For traditional photo prints and press printed cards they usually print the same day or next day depending on the time the order is placed. It seems to go to the press within seconds of placing the order so forget about making changes after you hit the send button . Assuming you sent the order in early they usually package and ship it out the same day. WHACK provides second day delivery and many times the order will come in faster since one of the printing plants is only 1 day ground service away from most areas . Millers will deliver by overnight service so it is also a quick delivery. Both offer Edit this below cost rates and even no cost shipping for almost all orders.
For business cards I tried all the well known names such as Overnight prints, Vista Print etc. While Overnight prints does a good job they are not known for shipping on time as far as shipping dates so I would not trust them for any job that has a required delivery date plus the overnight shipping will eat up any savings. It looks like most of these discount printers make more off 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. The printers just charge the full retail rate and never discount allowing the high priced shipping rate to add to the bottom line.
When I used Vista print the business cards came in as if glued together and the re-order came the same way. Not worth saving a little money when you have to pry business cards apart before handing them out. I found another printer called U-Printing. They have good prices and what appears to be reliable shipping dates . Of course the rush shipping is also expensive but if they ship as listed rush service may be avoided. They offer a lot of unique 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 cards as well as postcards and flyer’s.All the products came in with great color reproduction and on time.
I also use U-Printing for my Domain Resale Business. It is Domain Name Collective and offers no cost domain name search and $8.49 dot com names.
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