You won't find blankets and mugs on Mixbook. What you will find is photo prints, wall art, calendars, and a particularly deep selection of the best photo books and best photo cards. Quality seems to be Mixbook's priority, over price and selection. I do think Mixbook is one of the overall best online photo printing services, even if you're just using an iPhone 12. But the site could definitely be smoother, as I'll explain in this Mixbook Photo Printing review.
Note: Since this review was initially written, Mixbook has made updates to the website, making photo book creation much smoother.
Price: VariesBottom line: Mixbook focuses on high-quality prints, wall art, calendars, and especially photo books and cards.
The Good
- High-quality prints and products
- An incredible selection of photo books and cards
- Dual-side printing for photo cards
- No logo on the back of cards
- No card order minimum
The Bad
- Limited selection in some areas
- 20x30 bizarrely rolled up
- Photo book platform confusing
Two products in one
Mixbook Photo Printing revew: Features
The experience of placing an order on Mixbooks was not the worst and not the best. I ordered three 4x6 prints, an 8x10 print, a 20x30 print, one card (no minimum order), and an 8.5x8.5 photo book. Mixbooks apparently doesn't offer wallet-sized prints. All of the professional engagement photos you see in my order were taken by JMS Imagery.
It took me a long time to place my order. Sometimes the site allowed me to use photos I'd uploaded already and sometimes it did not. There were constant pop-ups asking me to rate my experience after I created each item. Ordering the photo book, in particular, was confusing at times. The way it's set up, it's not always easy to find the cheapest options. I prefer when the prices are listed upfront and you can just pick the price point you want and go from there, adding upgrades if needed. But I powered through, and I was extremely happy with my order overall.
Mixbook does not offer a huge selection of photo products; there are no water bottles or pillows or phone cases or anything like that. What they do offer is prints, wall decor, calendars, cards, and photo books. Their selection of cards and especially books is particularly large; you could order wedding invitations, wedding albums, and school yearbooks. I suppose the first clue that they delve so deeply into the photo book realm is in the name Mixbook.
Mixbook excels in its selection and quality of photo books and cards.
There was just one weird thing about my order. I've ordered quite a few of these 20x30 poster-sized prints. Most of them come rolled in a tube, which means the edges are rolled up, but with time and weight on the corners, they eventually settle down. Now I'm sure this poster will too, but I placed books on the corners overnight and as soon as I removed them, the poster curled back into a tube shape. In order to get a photograph of it for this story, I had to put wine glasses on the corners. Otherwise, the packaging was good and everything arrived undamaged.
Anyway, the big print itself is top-notch, as are the rest of the prints, including the black and white photos. The book I worked so hard to make is fabulous. My absolute favorite thing about the order is the card. Unlike many online photo printing services, there is no minimum card order, so you can order a single one. The price goes down as you order more, but even the single card wasn't terribly expensive. The card is printed on card stock as opposed to photo paper, so both sides can be printed. Mixbook's cards have no logo on the back, which is not an easy feature to find. My card came with four plain white paper envelopes; I guess Mixbook is not very confident in my ability to address an envelope without messing it up so they gave me lots of spares.
As I've mentioned, Mixbook's prices aren't the lowest, but there are always promo codes and deals available. Shipping is not free, and it is not cheap.
| Category | Feature |
|---|---|
| Print size range | From 4x6 to 24x36 |
| Photo books | Yes |
| Variety of photo products available | Medium |
| Free shipping | No |
| Cloud storage | Yes, but limitations unclear |
| Subscription | No |
| Shipping time | 14 days |
| Auto-crop | Yes, but easy to edit |
| Photo corrections | No |
| Option to pick up locally | No |
| Upload photos from other websites | Yes: Facebook, Instagram, Google Photos, and SmugMug |
| All items arrived undamaged | Yes |
| Photo quality | Great |
| iOS app | No |
Quality products
Mixbook Photo Printing review: What I like
I was so happy with my prints, my photo book, and particularly my photo card. Quality takes precedence over convenience, price, and selection.
Ordering a hassle
Mixbook Photo Printing review: What I don't like
The website looks quite pretty, but placing my order wasn't the smoothest experience. I wish it were all a bit more straightforward, and I don't appreciate the constant pop-ups asking me for feedback while I'm ordering. I don't quite understand why Mixbook's 20x30 print was so much more stubbornly rolled than the same size print packed into the same size tube from other sites.
Great books, cards, and prints
Mixbook Photo Printing review: Bottom line
High quality photo prints and photo books in every size and style you can imagine make some of the best photo gifts for yourself or a loved one. Between those and the gorgeous no-minimum, no-logo, two-sided cards, Mixbook is definitely worth checking out.
