Flash forward a couple of weeks, and to my surprise I find a message in my inbox from 858 Graphics here in San Diego asking if I would like to send them a photo and get a free 16x24 acrylic print in return for a review. (looks like normally costs $80) Well, as it turns out, I would like that very much. So I picked out an image to send their way from a recent shoot of my family.
Turnaround time was negligible, very quick turnaround. Print was ready in a couple of days, and it looks absolutely awesome. The main holdup in my posting this review has been my unsuccessful attempts to get a picture of the print ( I know, very meta right?) but seriously, when they say "ultra high gloss finish" they aren't kidding. I finally came to the conclusion that to get a picture of the print that didn't show you a reflection of some random feature of my apartment or me, I would need to built a black box set and set up some serious product style lighting. I tried to do that this evening, but my son decided he could destroy faster than I could build, so I gave up. Here is the best image I could get without you seeing too many incriminating reflections:
Print came with the mounting hardware, pretty easy to attach and it sits about an inch off the wall with the supplied mounts.
As you can see, installing the mounts is pretty simple. Overall I am very happy with the service and quality of the product. My point of contact was very easy to deal with throughout the whole order and made getting the print a simple and even fun process.
But, despite the free stuff and my overall happiness with the print, I would be remiss if I did not mention two small issues (neither of which will likely effect paying customers at all)
The first issue was image submission, there was no simple way to provide a high resolution image to 858 to print. I think this was due to the fact that I was getting the print outside of their normal ordering system, it looks like with the normal ordering system you can upload up to a 500mb file, so that shouldn't be an issue when you order from them, unless you are shooting something seriously massive. A single full resolution raw image from my D800 comes in under 100mb.
The second issue I had with the print was banding in the dark sky areas of the image. I won't hold this against 858 either, because I have had the same issue in prints I have ordered from other printers, so I think I must be doing something wrong when I export my files for printing. I don't print a lot or on a frequent basis, so I am more than willing to assume the error lies more in my print preparation than in 858s printing process. And unless you look really closely, you wouldn't notice it.
So, the only two issues I had were both fairly minor, and I have a feeling that neither would have come up in the process of a normal paid order. Also, judging from my interactions with the staff, I have a feeling that if I had mentioned the banding issue to them they would have probably offered to work with me on the file I submitted and reprint the job for me. But I didn't mention it, because that would have been a total dick move on my part (hey- this awesome thing you gave me for free isn't quite awesome enough, how about a redo? Not my style. I may be a beer snob, but you buy me a Corona I'll say thank you and drink it)
To sum it up, awesome service, amazing products. Next time I need something printed up I will definitely give 858 Graphics a call, and not just because the bribed me with free stuff. I also like that they are local and I can go in and talk to a real person, not just some faceless internet order service from a distant land. (although they do offer faceless distant land service as well, if you aren't lucky enough to live in or near San Diego.) Look them up, and give them some business because they rock and will work to earn it!
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