Mpix

We're crazy about printed photos! We ordered the same 10 photos from mpix and Chatbooks, scanned them all in, and created this guide just for you. mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) See all the scans Or see the full review Pricing, shipping, paper quality, and other juicy details When we tested August 2020 August 2020 Summary Chatbooks photo prints are nicely packaged and presented on a thick cardstock. However, they're best for square prints from Instagram. For standard 4x6 prints, it's best to explore other photo printing services as Chatbooks doesn’t give you any way to crop your images prior to printing and they're automatically, awkwardly shrunk to fit into the square format. Additionally, even the prints we uploaded as square didn't bleed to the edge; instead a white and uneven matting was added. Print quality (local pickup) Online only Online only Print quality (online orders) 92% 10 Photos: $6.35 $0.24 4x6s + $3.95 to ship 10 days 45% 10 Photos: $6.99 $0.50 4x6s + $1.99 to ship 9-12 days Local pickup available No No Cost per 4x6 print (local pickup) Online only Online only Formats available for pickup Online only Online only Finishes available for pickup Online only Online only Paper type for pickup orders Online only Online only Pickup speed Online only Online only Online only Online only Online ordering available Yes Yes Cost per 4x6 print (online) $0.24 $0.50 Formats available online 3.5x5, 4x4, 4x5.3, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, nearly all sizes from 1.75x2.5 to 24x36 5x5 Finishes available online E-Surface,Lustre,Linen Glossy Paper type for online orders KodakProfessional Endura 24 millimeters thick Unbranded, uncoated cardstock 45 millimeters thick Cheapest shipping option $3.95 To ship 10 photos $1.99 To ship 10 photos Delivery speed for cheapest shipping option 10 days 9-12 days Order online Order online mpix vs Chatbooks print quality comparison On 2/13/20, we ordered the following photos from mpix. On 2/13/20, we ordered the same photos from Chatbooks. We scanned in both sets of prints without color correction. Here's how mpix compares to Chatbooks. mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix (Test: E-Surface) Chatbooks (Test: Glossy) mpix envelopes When you order photos from mpix, here's what you can expect the envelope to look like. Mpix sends your photos in a rigid, cardboard envelope mailer to reduce bent corners and warped photos. In our tests, Mpix's envelope and Amazon were tied for the most rigid, aside from those sent in cardboard boxes like Chatbooks and Office Depot. Additionally, your photos are enclosed in a secondary plastic envelope inside the rigid exterior envelope. Compare mpix and local labs 10 Photos: $2.50 $0.25 each 10 Photos: $2.30 $0.23 each 10 Photos: $2.30 $0.23 each 10

Compare images in a range of Megapixel sizes, from 1MPix to 48MPix. Our product image report shows that 1MPix is the most common size for a product image, but it’s a plurality and not a majority. Product image dimensions are all over the map. I’m also trying out a wide variety of MPix because I want to see how accurate two of Google’s usage notes on Guetzli are: Okay, that might matter once I get past 12 MPix images. How long should this take, anyway? That's pretty dramatic. Hmmm.... Without further ado, let’s get cracking! Guetzli vs MozJPEG at 1 Megapixel 1 MPix JPEGs exported as quality 100 and 90 from Photoshop. Quality 100 then compressed via MozJPEG and Guetzli with byte size, real encoding time, and CPU encoding time provided. Original 172 KB 1200x857 (1 MPix) MozJPEG 40 KB real 0.197s cpu 0.166s Guetzli 54 KB real 55.043s cpu 53.937s Original 530 KB 1200x800 (1 MPix) MozJPEG 137 KB real 0.307s cpu 0.277s Guetzli 174 KB real 1m27.901s cpu 1m25.005s Original 791 KB 800x1200 (1 MPix) MozJPEG 204 KB real 0.497s cpu 0.380s Guetzli 210 KB real 1m43.810s cpu 1m41.016s Original 1.1 MB 904x1200 (1 MPix) MozJPEG 281 KB real 0.585s cpu 0.549s Guetzli 258 KB real 1m40.167s cpu 1m28.336s Lightning Analysis Average results, rounded to hundredths: 1 MPix product image compression averages (JPG quality from 100 to 90) Byte Compression Encoding Real Time Encoding CPU Time MozJPEG 74.47% 0.40s 0.34s Guetzli 74.59% 1m26.73s 1m24.57s Bytes: Byte size is a wash. In three of four instances Moz produced smaller images, but the average tilts marginally in Guetzli’s favor because the one instance it won was the largest image. Time: Look at those encoding times! Moz averaged less than half a second, while Guetzli was pushing a minute and a

Half. If you’re processing hundreds or thousands of images (or in our case, tens of thousands of images a day), that really adds up. Quality: I can’t tell the difference. Can you? Let’s take a look at larger images and see how that effects our results. Guetzli vs MozJPEG at 12 MPix - 48 MPix JPEGs exported as quality 100 and 90 from Photoshop. Quality 100 then compressed via MozJPEG and Guetzli with byte size, real encoding time, and CPU encoding time provided. Original 6.6 MB 2804 × 4205 (12 MPix) MozJPEG 1.6 MB real 2.773s cpu 2.708s Guetzli 1.7 MB real 25m13.057s cpu 21m14.924s Original 2 MB 4789 × 3421 (16 MPix) MozJPEG 433 KB real 2.245s cpu 2.178s Guetzli 670 KB real 20m2.125s cpu 18m29.1237 Original 14.2 MB 4021 × 5334 (21 MPix) MozJPEG 3.6 MB real 6.472s cpu 6.367s Guetzli 3.5 MB real 40m42.399s cpu 37m41.174 Original 18 MB 8510 × 5674 (48 MPix) MozJPEG 4.6 MB real 10.585s cpu 10.406s Guetzli 5.9 MB real 188m21.088s cpu 118m33.993s Lightning Analysis Average results: 12-48 MPix product image compression averages (JPG quality from 100 to 90) Byte Compression Encoding Real Time Encoding CPU Time MozJPEG 74.92% 5.52s 5.41s Guetzli 71.12% 68m34.67s 48m59.81s Bytes: MozJPEG averaged 3.8% better byte compression, which makes them about equal when you consider the small sample size. Time: Again, wow! The fastest Guetzli encoding was 20 minutes, while the slowest was over 3 hours. If you’re a photographer or someone else looking to store full size JPGs locally, Guetzli is completely impractical. Even iPhones shoot 12MPix these days, and our test at that size took 25 minutes to encode. Parting Google Guetzli Thoughts The idea of perceptual psycho-visual encoding improvements sounds cool. It is cool. At this time, however, there simply isn’t enough of a