If you want the best when it comes to creating photo books, calendars, and cards, your two best options are mixbook vs. printique.
In our tests of the best photo books, best photo cards, and best photo calendars, mixbook and printique tied for first place in all categories: software, photo reproduction, and print quality.
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The differences between companies, to a certain extent, stem from their origins. Printique is the online printing service of Adorama, a New York City-based photography store for professional and serious photographers. as such printique has a more professional patina. for example, their templates often have an elegant simplicity, and the printing service will not change the color of your original photos.
mixbook started out as an online printing service for consumers, which is reflected in its many types and styles of templates, its photo editing tools, and how it handles colors in your photos.
While those generalities may help you choose between the two services, here are the most salient differences (and similarities) between the two to help you determine whether mixbook or printique is appropriate for your personal needs and interests.
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mixbook vs printique:software
both mixbook and printique software are versatile, flexible and powerful. its rich tool sets, depth of options, and fully editable templates will satisfy a wide range of people.
printique’s main advantage over mixbook (and any other similar software I’ve seen) is the huge library of cutout shapes. these include the letters of the alphabet, polygonal, heraldic, and amorphous shapes, as well as numerous variations of hearts, ovals, triangles, stars, and other shapes. mixbook cutouts are limited to a single instance each of a heart, oval/circle, triangle, and star.
however, printique doesn’t have mixbook’s photo editing tools. and while I wasn’t happy with all the aspects of mixbook’s calendar event photo date handling, it does have a date management tool (which printique doesn’t have) that keeps track of all your personal events for future projects .
Unlike most providers, both printique and mixbook allow you to edit your calendar’s date grid pages with backgrounds, clip art, photos, and text, the same way you can edit photo pages. That means you can end up with personally designed pages throughout your calendar, as opposed to the uninteresting, white-background grid pages of most other providers.
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The only difference is in how much of the grid page structure you can edit (printique gives you more of that), and whether you want more control over photo and event date management (which mixbook provides to a certain extent). in our judgment, we give higher marks for accurate reproduction of photographs.
mixbook vs. printique: print quality
choosing between printique and mixbook in terms of photo reproduction is, in most cases, a matter of taste. both offer clean, sharp, crisp photos with good detail. colors in mixbook photos tended to be brighter and warmer, while printique photos have more accurate colors and a wider dynamic range, as well as deeper, richer tones and shadows.
When I was comparing printique and mixbook photo books, I wasn’t comparing exactly like with like. That’s because while Mixbook’s basic book option is a standard hard cover, Printique’s is a flat book. Unlike standard books whose open pages protrude upward from the center of the binding, the two facing pages of a layflat book will literally lie flat. and layflat books are generally recognized as a higher quality option (although some companies actually don’t make any book well, including layflats).
the printique book is professionally produced, with a great binding and exquisite paper. it received the highest marks for photography, text, paper, and binding quality. for a standard hardcover book, mixbook is top of the line, highest among all the standard hardcover books we reviewed.
printique and mixbook calendars have a very similar quality. however, the mixbook paper was thicker, with a smooth and attractive feel, while the printique was a good quality semi-gloss paper that was just a nice rather than good weight. Also, while both did well with text, Mixbook was a bit cleaner, particularly in the smaller fonts.
As with photo albums, printique cards default to better quality paper than mixbook. however, the texture of the printique paper caused a small loss in the quality of the photos and text. on the other hand, the mixbook cardstock was pleasantly smooth and a good weight, but it doesn’t have the expensive stationery feel that printique has.
mixbook vs. printique: prices
photo books
For photo books, your choice depends on the type of book you want. mixbook offers a beautiful standard hardcover book for $29.99 (for an 8.5 x 8.5-inch). printique does not have a similar standard hardcover book; all of their hardcovers are magnificent flat books.
all providers, including mixbook, charge extra for layflat books; however, printiques are not only some of the most beautiful, but also inexpensive. for example, an 8 x 8-inch printed flat book costs $49.99; an 8.5 x 8.5-inch layflat mixbook costs $79.99.
photo cards
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For cards, either mixbook or printique costs less depending on the quality of paper you want and how many cards you’re buying. Comparing the two we ordered, if you get just a few cards (say, about 12-15 cards), the Printique and Mixbook cards cost about the same – about $1.75 each for a 5×7-inch card.
printique’s price is the same regardless of which fine paper you choose and does not vary on typical sales volume. mixbook prices increase with paper quality and decrease with volume. therefore, if you increase the quality of the paper and not the volume, printique could be less expensive. but if you increase the volume and not the quality of the paper, mixbook will be smaller. your particular card order will be priced according to other variations on that theme. by the way, anytime you order a really high volume of cards, call the vendor to see if you can negotiate a lower price.
photo calendars
printique and mixbook calendars are very similarly priced. a printique 10×10-inch 12-month calendar costs $25.99, while a mixbook 11×8.5-inch calendar costs $24.99. incremental differences in prices correspond to the same type of variations in format and size. In other words, you can choose between the two depending on whether you want a square or rectangular calendar page of a certain size, price won’t be a factor.
mixbook versus printique: end result
printique is definitely a top-tier professional print shop with a healthy dose of “wow” value in their products. but mixbook gives printique a good run for its money.
In terms of photo reproduction, choose printique, if you’re a professional or serious photographer who wants your print service to respect your color management and reproduce the colors you created on your calibrated monitor. If you prefer your print service to adjust the color values of your photos, which will tend to result in slightly rosy cheeks, warm lighting, and brighter images overall, choose MixBook.
for your photo album, the best quality combined with a good price is the printique layflat book. however, if you want to spend less money and still want the best you can get for a standard hardcover, go with mixbook.
For its calendar, mixbook’s ratings slightly outperformed printique’s. so go with mixbook, unless accurate colors are most important to you.
And for your card, the print quality is roughly on par between the two, although printique cards have a thinner paper stock by default. and price is a complex issue related to the number of cards you buy and the quality of paper you want.
Which company you go with (mixbook or printique), you’ll have fun creating a high-quality book, calendar or card you’ll be proud of.
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