First experiences with Pixaco

[simpo two]

I'd only used PhotoBox before but Pixaco were significantly cheaper and as I'm speculating with my own money, thought I'd give them a go.

I ordered about a dozen 18 x 12" and one 30 x 20". They arrived a few days later in three cardboard tubes strapped together (thought the postman was suicide bomber!). My impressions, though not scientific, was that the rendition was not as good as PhotoBox, but then the ones from PhotoBox were A4 so that's not really a fair test. In one tube I found that the prints inside had been crushed somewhere in the packing process (the tube itself wasn't crushed) and the prints had creases in them which meant I couldn't really offer them for sale.

I mailed Pixaco and after a swap of mails for more info, they said:

Pixaco said:

We have raised the issue with the laboratory of posters being damaged during packing, and so steps should be taken to ensure this will not happen again. We have also instructed the lab to arrange for reprints of your posters to be shipped to you (at no additional charge to yourself, of course.) If I understand correctly, it is more efficient for them simply to reprint all the posters in the 18x12 format rather than to extract the appropriate files, and so you should receive fresh prints of all the 18x12 posters. We hope you have a use for these duplicates! Thank you for your co-operation and patience in this matter, and we hope the replacements reach you in time for your sale.

So, all is well, some freebies I wasn't expecting, and good service.

[joust]

Not sure about the relative quality because, as you say, 18x12 held in front of you is going to play into the brain's perception problem compared to a 6x4.

As myself, Luca and a few others have posted on here, I think, given their somewhat "mad" pricing (6x4.5" are 10p at the moment!) the customer service, and the willingness to reprint them, is very good.

Posting them from Germany has it's own challenges, but overall I still rate them above anything else I've tried.

J

[poah]

I found their service quick and the quality of the prints very good but the comparison between what I see on my screne and what I got was terrible. not only was colour off but contrast and brightness. they had also cut the pictures wrongy. I got reprints but they were not as good as what I could print myself. would not use them again

[simpo two]

poah said:

not only was colour off but contrast and brightness.

Actually you have a point; mine seemed a bit darker and more contrasty than PhotoBox.

[ehasler]

Not tried Pixaco, but my prints from Photobox always match my calibrated and profiled monitor.

The one time that they didn't, I phoned them up and they admitted that the printer may not have been calibrated correctly, so sent me a replacement set the next day. Very good service, and not only did I get to speak to a real person, but they actually knew what they were on about!

[_dobbo_]

poah said:

comparison between what I see on my screne and what I got was terrible

Isn't this more likely to be down to how your screen is calibrated?

[poah]

_dobbo_ said:

poah said: comparison between what I see on my screne and what I got was terrible Isn't this more likely to be down to how your screen is calibrated?

this is true but then it's true for everyone. not had any problems with other places I've used

[_dobbo_]

poah said:

_dobbo_ said: poah said: comparison between what I see on my screne and what I got was terrible Isn't this more likely to be down to how your screen is calibrated? this is true but then it's true for everyone. not had any problems with other places I've used

In which case, it's a fair criticism, I'll confess I didn't check mine were dark when I got them from pixaco.

[simpo two]

Had a closer look at one of my prints today. The sky on the PhotoBox print was faithful; the Pixaco one has multicoloured noise in it. There also seems to be slight chromatic aberration - a border that has perfect black edges on my monitor has a very fine red line below and blue line above in the print.

So - (new acronym warning!) - YGWYPF!