I received prints today from Shutterfly. This is the first time I've used this online lab so I was anxiously awaiting my order to compare Shutterfly's work to other online labs I've used. I'm generally pleased because the prints work fine for the purpose I bought them for (namely being framed or even just magnetically tacked up for display in my own home). However if I had a less specific or more formal need for these prints I'm not sure I'd be so pleased.

The color prints have phenomenal and true color. Deep greens, true reds and pure whites. I have absolutely no complaints about the color quality. The black and white prints are another story. The contrast that I had both on my screen and in some samples I printed with my low end photoprinter was exactly as I wanted it. The black and white Shutterfly prints are muddled. The contrast is weak and shadows and shades of gray just seem inadequate. I'm sure a combination of less than high end post production on my end and lack of calibration on Shutterfly's end is probably to blame but the black and white prints definitely aren't where I'd like them to be.

The main issue I have with the Shutterfly prints though can be looked at in one of two different ways. Either "it's such a minor thing you should let it go and not make a big deal out of it." Or "this is such an obvious detail I can't believe they don't have better quality control in this area." I fall into the latter camp. On each of the dozen or so prints I got one edge of the print was rough to the touch. The roughness is from an unclean cut in the paper. Imagine you used a paper cutter on photo paper that was clearly not sharp enough. Instead of making one, swift clear cut instead the cut is ragged with tiny bits of fiber left over that weren't separated. I would never give a print with such an obvious defect to a client or a friend. I'm proud of my photography and want to be proud of my prints as well. If I'd made the prints at home I'd never hand one out if I'd failed to get a clean cut on the edges so you can be sure I wouldn't hand one out like that when I've spent money on it.

To be fair to Shutterfly I'll mention a couple things I really liked about their service.

1. The service was incredibly fast. The order was printed and shipped within less than 24 hours.
2. You have the option of adding a caption to the back of each print.

So would I use Shutterfly again? Yes absolutely if I was only ordering color prints for either my own private use or if I was going to frame them before delivering them to anyone else.

Tags: shutterfly, onlinelab, prints, photo prints, photography