In today’s digital age, while we capture countless photos on our smartphones, the desire to hold physical prints remains strong. Turning digital memories into tangible prints allows us to create photo albums, decorate our homes, or share cherished moments with loved ones. However, with numerous online photo printing services available, choosing the best one can be overwhelming. This guide analyzes some of the most popular photo printing sites to help you select the ideal service for your needs, focusing on print quality, convenience, and overall value to identify the Best Photo Printing Sites.
Mpix, a widely recognized name in the photo printing industry, offers a user-friendly app for ordering prints directly from your smartphone. Despite its popularity and ease of use, our evaluation revealed some significant drawbacks. Panelists consistently ranked Mpix prints as their least favorite in blind comparisons. A major issue arose with smartphone photos: Mpix’s inability to print them without substantial cropping.
A close-up of the edge of a rolled-up print from Snapfish that was damaged during transport, illustrating packaging concerns with online photo printing services.
This forced cropping can be a deal-breaker for photographers who meticulously compose their shots. If preserving your original image composition is crucial, services like EZprints and RitzPix provide smartphone-friendly print sizes with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Alternatively, Printique and Nations Photo Lab offer the flexibility to print your photos uncropped, regardless of aspect ratio mismatches. As of our review, Mpix lacks both of these options, which limits its appeal as one of the best photo printing sites for smartphone photographers.
Bay Photo is another service that caters to smartphone users with small print sizes optimized for these devices and boasts sturdy packaging. However, our tests indicated that its print quality was decidedly average. In blind print comparisons, participants generally placed Bay Photo prints in the middle, rarely choosing them as their top or bottom pick, suggesting it’s a decent but not exceptional option among photo printing sites.
For budget-conscious consumers, Snapfish stands out with its incredibly low prices. It’s undeniably one of the cheapest photo printing sites, but this affordability comes at a cost to print quality. Our tests revealed that both 8×10 and 4×6 prints from Snapfish suffered from harsh contrast, resulting in a loss of detail in shadows and highlights. Portrait photos exhibited noticeably orange skin tones, which is not ideal for accurate color reproduction. Packaging was also a concern. Smaller prints arrived in flimsy cardboard envelopes without padding, offering minimal protection during shipping. While the 11×14 print was shipped in a tube, the lack of internal padding led to bent edges, as shown below. This raises concerns about Snapfish’s reliability as one of the best photo printing sites regarding print quality and safe delivery.
Snapfish’s packaging issues were not unique. RitzPix also delivered a damaged 11×14 print. Their packaging consisted of a flat envelope with thin backing boards, similar to those found in inexpensive photo frames. The envelope was barely larger than the print itself, resulting in corner damage when the package was crushed in transit. This damage was easily preventable with a larger envelope or a box, which several other services utilized. The inadequate packaging was particularly disappointing given RitzPix’s high shipping fee of $14.95, more than double the average of other services we tested. This incident further emphasizes the importance of considering packaging when choosing from the best photo printing sites, as damage during shipping can negate print quality.
A close-up of the corner of a photo print from RitzPix that has been damaged, in front of a green background, highlighting packaging issues among photo printing sites.
EZprints, similar to Snapfish, stood out for its subpar print quality. Every print from EZprints had a hazy, washed-out appearance, almost as if veiled. These were the least sharp photos among all the services tested, and areas of consistent tone appeared mottled. This consistently poor performance places EZprints low on the list of best photo printing sites in terms of print quality.
Shutterfly, while being the second most expensive service in our tests, delivered only average print quality. The primary complaint with Shutterfly was its packaging. Small prints were shipped in a thin, flat envelope, and the 11×14 print arrived in a tube, causing it to curl significantly. While a curled print can be flattened, it requires extra effort and care to avoid creases or damage. The inconvenience of dealing with curled prints detracts from Shutterfly’s appeal as one of the best photo printing sites, particularly considering its higher price point.
A large photo print that was shipped in a shipping tube and now has a very defined curvature, resting on a table, illustrating packaging concerns for online photo printing services.
Zazzle offers photo printing but is primarily designed for single-item orders and has limited paper options. The ordering process is cumbersome, requiring users to drag each image individually onto a print-size template on its own order page. This tedious process makes Zazzle impractical for ordering multiple prints, hindering its usability as one of the best photo printing sites for bulk orders.
Winkflash suffers from numerous negative customer reviews. Beyond reported issues of customers losing access to their stored photos due to a change in ownership, many users have complained about poor customer service. Winkflash only offers customer support through a web form, lacking phone or email contact options. These significant customer service and reliability issues make Winkflash an easy service to dismiss when considering the best photo printing sites.
FreePrints, as the name suggests, offers up to 1,000 free 4×6 prints per year, with only shipping costs to pay. However, information about the company and its services is scarce on its single-page website, suggesting all orders must be placed through a phone app. The lack of transparency and readily available information raises concerns. The adage “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is” applies here, making FreePrints a questionable choice when seeking reliable best photo printing sites.
Amazon Prints provides 4×6 prints at a competitive price, though it was previously cheaper. Amazon Prime members who use Prime Photos can directly order prints of their stored images, simplifying the process for existing Amazon users. The ordering process is straightforward, and print quality was decent, falling in the middle range – not exceptional, with slightly orange skin tones, but not the worst. However, packaging was again a letdown: prints arrived in a flat mailer with minimal cardboard protection, resulting in corner damage to one print. While convenient for Amazon users, the packaging and mid-range print quality position Amazon Prints as an average contender among the best photo printing sites.
Walmart offers a 4×5.3-inch print size, accommodating smartphone 4:3 aspect ratio images without cropping. However, their overall selection of print sizes is less extensive than our top picks. While Walmart can be a convenient option for uncropped smartphone prints, its limited size selection might not meet everyone’s needs when searching for the best photo printing sites.
In conclusion, navigating the world of online photo printing sites requires careful consideration of various factors beyond just price. Print quality, packaging, user-friendliness, and customer service all play crucial roles in determining the best service for your needs. While some services like Snapfish and FreePrints attract with low prices, they often compromise on quality or reliability. Services like Mpix, while popular, may have limitations in cropping options. Ultimately, the best photo printing site for you will depend on your priorities – whether it’s top-notch quality, uncropped smartphone prints, or budget-friendliness – and carefully weighing these factors against the reviews and features of each service.
