I'm a Millers Lab customer. For the working pro, this place is
exceptional. I have nothing but the highest praise for their operation. In
November and December they print more in one day than many operations do in
an entire year. Yet, suprisingly, they don't take shortcuts. The operation
is very scaleable according to the amount of business. The minutes spent
per order is the same during the busy times as they are during the slow
times. It's just that there are more people and machines running.
MPIX is their division for the customers which are not contracted with them.
Millers "requires" (yet isn't overly enforced) a certain amount of business
to be sent to them and they limit the number of photographers/studios to
keep predictable limits on their busy/slow schedules so they don't get
flooded.
With the exception of a few products, MPIX offers everything Millers does.
The primary difference between the two labs (and they really are two
seperate labs, not even in the same city), is that Millers will print an
entire order on ONE machine. Every machine is calibrated almost hourly.
This means that if you have one print that is 20x24, the entire order is
printed on that one machine--even the wallets and 4x6 prints. Another major
difference is that with Millers, EVERY print is hand-inspected. Even if you
forgo color/density adjustment, if the print is aweful, they will adjust it
and reprint. Thirdly, their turn-around time is mind-boggling. I can
upload images to their server and have on two occasions gotten them uploaded
by 11AM and still received them fed-ex the next morning. This was even with
color/density adjustment, spraying and mounting.
On the two occasions where I've had "issues" with prints, they were
extremely professional and quick on the reprinting. One of the two times
was with a major enlargement which they asked me to send it back to them so
they could figure out what went wrong on their machine. (banding problem).
I've been using Millers for three years now, I think--maybe four, and I'm
not going anywhere else. This operation is a keeper. I use their software
which is loaded on my computer, but they also have a web-based upload
program. I use the PC-based one because it is faster for me and offers a
few additional doodads which are quite helpful. The album design/ordering
software is also top-dog. My image orders with files are uploaded overnight
and on more than one occasion took more than six hours with a speedy DSL
connection. If the order is HUGE (600+ 12MP files), I'd probably burn it on
DVD and overnight it to them. (They cover the Fedex charges coming and going
which is really nice).
Don't tell them, but as a professional, I'd still use them at twice the
price. I am easily saving a minimum of ten hours per wedding thanks to their
ordering software as compared to printing my own or using alternative
on-line printing operations like Smugmug. (ick)
I occasionally use MPIX when I'm doing drop-ship or some hired-dude work for
somebody else, and their on-line ordering software is essentially the same
as Miller's on-line ordering software. The print quality is the same, but
you do run the risk of slight miscalibration since they calibrate those
printers twice a day instead of hourly and not every image is hand-checked,
only random prints from any one order. (yet every order is hand-checked,
but not every print within the order is inspected).
Oh, BTW, with Millers, if they have to reprint anything from a particular
order, it comes off the same machine--even if this is several days later
when you discover a flaw (like a scuff) that needs reprinting.
AG
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