First of all, if you haven’t read part one click here to see how the pricing stacked up. Now that all the cards are here, I must say that I am surprised at the results. One company in particular blew me out of the water with their print quality. Take a look at each of the cards… front & back… zoomed in & zoomed out. Click on each photo to see a bigger version. Pick your favorite and then click the bar under the pictures for the big reveal!
2. GotPrint.net – $18.80 total price
3. PrintRunner.com – $30.90 total price
4. Moo.com – $39.98 total price
5. 1800BusinessCards.com – $34.51 total price
6. uPrinting.com – $21.99 total price
7. VistaPrint.com – $21.46 total price
8. OvernightPrints.com – $19.79 total price
My Notes About Print & Color Quality
- OvernightPrints.com: Stunning print quality. Clear lines with zero pixelation. Detailing is clean and fonts are crisp. Paper is very thick, with a gorgeous gloss and the brightest white stock. Colors are over-saturated. Biggest concern: the cards are slightly miscut which makes the horizontal lines on the front seem skewed. I plan on contacting their customer service to see if that can be corrected.
- GotPrint.net: Very good print quality. Fonts and detailing are clear. Paper is thick with a nice gloss. Colors are the most true to my design and intention. The turquoise in particular is right on the money… more blue than green.
- PrintRunner.com: Print quality is average. Fonts show some pixelation. Some details are not clear. Colors are slightly over-saturated. Paper is thick with a nice gloss.
- uPrinting.com: Print quality is average. Fonts show some pixelation. Some details are not clear. Colors are true to design. I ordered “14pt cardstock gloss” but neither side of this card is glossy. It has a slight sheen (eggshell?).
- Moo.com: Print quality is average. Fonts show some pixelation. Some details are not clear. Colors are slightly over-saturated and too yellow. Paper is the thickest of the bunch, nice gloss but has a slight yellowish cast.
- 1800businesscards.com: Print quality is not up to par. Fonts & details are blurry or pixelated. DPI (dots per inch) is easily seen with the naked eye. Color is slightly over-saturated. Paper thickness is okay, gloss has a strange texture.
- VistaPrint.com: Print quality is not up to par. Fonts & detailed are blurry or pixelated. DPI is easily seen with the naked eye. Colors are true to design. Paper thickness is okay, gloss has a strange texture. Even though I paid extra for their “glossy stock” the back was not glossy and the front gloss was fairly thin.
- PrintPeppermint.com: Print quality is poor. Font edges are muddy. Details aren’t visible. DPI is easily seen with the naked eye. Color is slightly over-saturated. Paper is very thick with nice gloss. Quality is bad enough that I will be emailing their customer service to request a reprint.
Turnaround, Shipping & Delivery
Here’s a table with all the details. I had these cards shipped to my home in Seattle, WA. They were all ordered on 8/18/14 between 3pm and 4pm PST. Each of these print companies are US based although some do ship internationally.
This is the time from ordering to shipping (how long it took to print and pack). Overall the turnaround time was great and each company met their promises.
1 business day
- PrintRunner.com
- 1800businesscards.com
2 business days
- PrintPeppermint.com
- GotPrint.net
- VistaPrint.com
3 business days
- uPrinting.com
- OvernightPrints.com
4 business days
- Moo.com
The speed of shipping varied widely from 1-6 business days despite having paid for standard ground shipping for each printer.
1 business day
- Moo.com
3 business days
- PrintRunner.com
- 1800BusinessCards.com
- PrintPeppermint.com
- GotPrint.net
- VistaPrint.com
- uPrinting.com
6 business days
- OvernightPrints.com
Each company met their promised turnaround times and in some cases beat them by wide margins.
4 business days
- PrintRunner.com
- 1800BusinessCards.com
5 business days
- PrintPeppermint.com
- GotPrint.net
- VistaPrint.com
- Moo.com
6 business days
- uPrinting.com
9 business days
- OvernightPrints.com (It should be noted that I paid for the super economy shipping & turnaround time. The estimated delivery date was 9/8 and I received them on 8/29. More than a week ahead of schedule.)
The Final Wrap Up
These are my personal thoughts as a consumer and as a designer. This is my art so I want cards that I can be proud of and a printer I can rely on for quality and value.Print Companies I Can Recommend without Hesitation
These two were the least expensive and had the best print quality by far. Hands down. If you don’t have a time crunch, order from OvernightPrints.com with their economy shipping option.
Print Companies I Can’t in Good Conscience Recommend
- PrintPeppermint.com: Far too pricey for such poor quality. A complete disappointment compared to the sample pack they sent me.
- Moo.com: The most expensive of all but not a value based on their average print quality. I would only recommend them if for some reason you need to use their Printfinity service.
- 1800BusinessCards.com: While these cards came lightning fast, the quality did not match the price.
- VistaPrint.com: Most people consider VP to be synonymous with inexpensive prints. In my experience their quality didn’t match their less expensive competitors (GotPrint.net & OvernightPrints.com)
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