Printing Companies - Who do you use? (For professional photographers out there)

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oamphotography

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Who do use and why?

I'm looking for a company to do all my prints; mainly portraits, weddings, and events.

Album covers, frames - different ways to present my photos - would be good.
 
Ollie, I think it's quite rare to find one company which will be able to service all of your needs. But companies with a very wide range of products along the lines of those you mention would include Loxley Colour, Colourworld, SIM2000 and One Vision.
 
I use Loxley for 90% of my stuff, quality is great and very easy to deal with, certainly not the cheapest, but hard to beat on quality.
 
CarlukeDave said:
I use Loxley for 90% of my stuff, quality is great and very easy to deal with, certainly not the cheapest, but hard to beat on quality.
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Completely agree with this... Loxely are top drawer.

I use GF Smith for my albums but everything else is Loxley.

One thing I liked recently about Loxely is that I placed an order for a client's canvas... they rang me the next day to say there was a quality control issue and there would be a 2 week delay in receiving the canvas. They then offered other options instead that could be delivered much quicker.

I rang the client, they were happy to wait and Loxely sent the canvas 2 weeks later and it was top notch.

Not great they had a QC issue but they dealt with it well and didn't just send any old crap and hope for the best.
 
Thats great service Andy. Need to use them more, but Loxley are very good. As are dscl for prints, Oxford Imaging for Canvas, Ultimat & Kaleidascope for frames
 
ajax_andy said:
Completely agree with this... Loxely are top drawer.

I use GF Smith for my albums but everything else is Loxley.

One thing I liked recently about Loxely is that I placed an order for a client's canvas... they rang me the next day to say there was a quality control issue and there would be a 2 week delay in receiving the canvas. They then offered other options instead that could be delivered much quicker.

I rang the client, they were happy to wait and Loxely sent the canvas 2 weeks later and it was top notch.

Not great they had a QC issue but they dealt with it well and didn't just send any old crap and hope for the best.
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I would have expected a discount at the very least, then again if you dont ask you dont get. For really good quality prints I get them done local, from a printer dealing only with photographers and they are good! And for prints that I dont need as good quality for I choose Pixum.
 
I use DSCL, but always toying with Loxley as they get such a good name and I've seen the process and equipment 1st hand and the place is top notch
But DSCL have never failed me in delivery times or quality (yet) and I tend to be loyal when given good service
 
admirable said:
Loxley colour
2nd recommendation already. A friend of mine who is also an artist recommended them to me.

http://www.loxleycolour.com/
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POAH said:
DSCL or home printing
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What's your home printing setup? Is it a worthwhile investment?

Lindsay D said:
Ollie, I think it's quite rare to find one company which will be able to service all of your needs. But companies with a very wide range of products along the lines of those you mention would include Loxley Colour, Colourworld, SIM2000 and One Vision.
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Great point... Loxley do seem to have a lot of products available though! Thanks for the other recommendations.
CarlukeDave said:
I use Loxley for 90% of my stuff, quality is great and very easy to deal with, certainly not the cheapest, but hard to beat on quality.
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ajax_andy said:
Completely agree with this... Loxely are top drawer.

I use GF Smith for my albums but everything else is Loxley.

One thing I liked recently about Loxely is that I placed an order for a client's canvas... they rang me the next day to say there was a quality control issue and there would be a 2 week delay in receiving the canvas. They then offered other options instead that could be delivered much quicker.

I rang the client, they were happy to wait and Loxely sent the canvas 2 weeks later and it was top notch.

Not great they had a QC issue but they dealt with it well and didn't just send any old crap and hope for the best.
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Service I doubt you would receive from the likes of vistaprint! Loxley do seem very tempting.
cambsno said:
Thats great service Andy. Need to use them more, but Loxley are very good. As are dscl for prints, Oxford Imaging for Canvas, Ultimat & Kaleidascope for frames
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z101 said:
I would have expected a discount at the very least, then again if you dont ask you dont get. For really good quality prints I get them done local, from a printer dealing only with photographers and they are good! And for prints that I dont need as good quality for I choose Pixum.
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That's cool. I know of some fairly local printers, I'll have to look into them.

BruceMo said:
I use DSCL, but always toying with Loxley as they get such a good name and I've seen the process and equipment 1st hand and the place is top notch
But DSCL have never failed me in delivery times or quality (yet) and I tend to be loyal when given good service
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Thanks for sharing your experience (and everyone else, too!).

How do you all use these companies in conjunction with your services? I was overwhelmed with choice when I was looking on the Loxley website, and yet most Photographers only seem to advertise a few options for albums, frame etc... Linking customers to the Loxley page to choose would seem to be counterproductive (you could lose business with them ordering directly from Loxley?).
 
The customer service at the Print Space is excellent, I went through the recently for a very expensive bespoke project and they were fantastic

I've had some problems with Loxley's quality control before (perhaps they are better nowadays) so I rarely use them now.

ProAm and DSCL are very good if you just need loose prints.
 
I use Colorworld Imaging for prints as it's only 5 mins away and means I can check quality when I pick up.

Sim for wall displays.

Loxley for presentation items.

Can't fault any of them so far.
 
ding76uk said:
They are very expensive (make Loxley look cheap) but are amazing in terms of quality especially for Giclee stuff. Customer service is also out of this world.
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I'd agree with that. I used them for a 40x50cm on photorag recently that cost £25 ish after delivery. The print quality was outstanding and was next day delivery too (as I ordered early in the day). I will be using them again. If I was selling high quality low volume prints, they'd be who I'd use.

Though if I was running off a number of smaller prints like 10x8s or something I'd use DSCL. Used them for a set of 100 or so 6x4s and was very happy with the quality and price. Beats a supermarket lab by a mile.
 
ding76uk said:
They are very expensive (make Loxley look cheap) but are amazing in terms of quality especially for Giclee stuff. Customer service is also out of this world.
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I buy A2 prints from Printspace all the time and having just looked at Loxley, it's pretty much the same. PS = £19.20, Loxley = £19.31. In addition, production time for Loxley is 3 days. I have had orders from PS delivered the following day. Am I missing something?
 
dragonfly said:
I buy A2 prints from Printspace all the time and having just looked at Loxley, it's pretty much the same. PS = £19.20, Loxley = £19.31. In addition, production time for Loxley is 3 days. I have had orders from PS delivered the following day. Am I missing something?
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Yes you are, it's 3 days for 'Non - ROES' orders and 1 day for orders submitted via ROES.

Any order I place via ROES gets delivered the next day via RM.
 
Understood, but that still doesn't answer the question regarding the cost difference, which from what I can see, is very little between the two companies - printspace & loxley.
 
urban_muppet said:
just checked out proam, seem very competitive , what's the quality like steve ?
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Sorry for late response, quality is good. They are used I believe by a lot of wedding togs and by club photopgraphers for RPS type competitions, I have seen judges comment on the quality of the print.

The only issue is the postage cost is £8 so you need to order a few prints at a time to make it cost effective, although the packaging is really good and delivered by courier so you receive them in top condition.

Certainly worth one order to see what you think?
 
I've been looking around recently and am leaning towards Loxley a lot. I have just had my test prints back and the quality is amazing, and they were free, with free postage. Their customer service is fantastic so far.
 
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