CXC
8-Aug-2005, 14:49
After reading recent discussions on this forum about online printing and binding, I chose to give www.mypublisher.com a try. I ordered a 12"x16" hardbound album with 24 images, one to a page, for about $72. Here are a few personal judgments:
1. All images are uniformly overexposed on the order of 1 or 2 f/stops. A profile would have been nice. I did use the auto-correct function throughout.
2. Newton rings which are not noticeable in the scans are prominent in the prints. This may just be an artifact of the overexposure.
3. Tiny detail is just not there.
4. Color accuracy is good.
5. All color skies are grainy. This may be due to the size of the scans, which were smaller than the recommended 8M. However the grain looks different than I am accustomed to seeing in a wet print, so who knows.
6. I threw in 3 b&w's, and they all look quite good. Except for the overexposure.
7. The binding is strong and attractive, but bulges out at the top of the front cover indentation/fold point.
8. Very nice paper.
9. Book seems too thin with only 24 leaves in it. 50 or more would be good.
10. At about $3 a shot, I'd say you get your moneysworth. The folks on this forum are not really the target audience for this product. However, our moms/wives/kids would be impressed.
11. With proper care and selection, all shortcomings could be overcome, except #1 and #7. Were I to use this service again, I would: a) contact mypublisher directly to discuss the overexposure problem; b) be more selective; and c) maybe do all b&w.
1. All images are uniformly overexposed on the order of 1 or 2 f/stops. A profile would have been nice. I did use the auto-correct function throughout.
2. Newton rings which are not noticeable in the scans are prominent in the prints. This may just be an artifact of the overexposure.
3. Tiny detail is just not there.
4. Color accuracy is good.
5. All color skies are grainy. This may be due to the size of the scans, which were smaller than the recommended 8M. However the grain looks different than I am accustomed to seeing in a wet print, so who knows.
6. I threw in 3 b&w's, and they all look quite good. Except for the overexposure.
7. The binding is strong and attractive, but bulges out at the top of the front cover indentation/fold point.
8. Very nice paper.
9. Book seems too thin with only 24 leaves in it. 50 or more would be good.
10. At about $3 a shot, I'd say you get your moneysworth. The folks on this forum are not really the target audience for this product. However, our moms/wives/kids would be impressed.
11. With proper care and selection, all shortcomings could be overcome, except #1 and #7. Were I to use this service again, I would: a) contact mypublisher directly to discuss the overexposure problem; b) be more selective; and c) maybe do all b&w.