Anyone use MPix? Soft prints

[ETW]

Just ordered some B&W 8x12s from mpix.com and they came back pretty soft. Grain is smoothed out etc. The files I sent them were sharp on my monitor and over 5000px wide. Should I have resized them before I sent them? Is there a better way to get good black and white prints? Would I get better results printing at home than using one of these online places? I have an old Epson 2200 here but I haven't touched it in years.

Thanks

[jwc57]

I use Mpix regularly and can't think of any prints I've gotten that were soft....unless they were meant to be of course. That goes for scanned film and DSLR files.

[furcafe]

Same here.

Originally Posted by jwc57

I use Mpix regularly and can't think of any prints I've gotten that were soft....unless they were meant to be of course. That goes for scanned film and DSLR files.

[ETW]

Hmmm... Something is definitely wrong with mine. Should I be resizing first? They only accept jpeg right? Could I be using the wrong color space or bit mode?

My pictures were shot on Tri-x and scanned with Plustek 7600

[colyn]

Originally Posted by ETW

Hmmm... Something is definitely wrong with mine. Should I be resizing first? They only accept jpeg right? Could I be using the wrong color space or bit mode?

My pictures were shot on Tri-x and scanned with Plustek 7600

If they are using standard chemical processing you should send them sRGB 8 bit jpg's.

Where I work we see softness in B&W prints that are printed to color papers so they may be doing that.. I do all of my own B&W printing in my darkroom and only send out color but if I were to send out B&W I'd find someone who will print to B&W paper..

[grdglass]

Mine have been fine. Size (ppi) and format them per their instructions. Size to their required ppi for the size you want. Most importantly, make certain not to check the box that has them change or correct anything you've sent. If you know what you are doing, they will mess it up if you let them. They will also re-do gratis anything that is their mistake, but not if it is your mistake. I find their B+Ws the best. But their color prints are too dark compared to other labs that are spot on with my color managed environment.

[charjohncarter]

I've had them soft too. They were 'true B&W paper' prints. Is there an answer? I sent a 2.8 file. It is discouraging especially when their response was like dealing with the US Government, they put the blame on me. My files were sharp as I always pre-print with Costco, but they use color paper and sometimes there is a color cast.

I will say when they are doing good work, I really like that paper and their product.

[Ed Weatherly]

I have used Mpix and Mpix Pro extensively for DSLR files, never for B&W prints though. I have found their customer service to be exceptional and any issue I had, they fixed immediately. I would suggest that you contact customer service and I suspect they will help you figure out the issue with your files.

[willie_901]

I use MPIX exclusively and have never noticed any loss of detail.

Of course prints never appear as sharp as a decent computer monitor.

[charjohncarter]

Originally Posted by willie_901

I use MPIX exclusively and have never noticed any loss of detail.

Of course prints never appear as sharp as a decent computer monitor.

Glad to hear it, I am going to try again. And if I have trouble; I'll yell. As I said, I did pre-prints with Costco really to judge contrast, brightness, and color casting. But these were not just soft they were way off, and when I complained it was a 'no go, your fault' responses.

[Terry Christian]

I don't know what standard Mpix uses, but generally 72 dpi for screen and 300 dpi for printing are good specs to use.

[charjohncarter]

Originally Posted by Terry Christian

I don't know what standard Mpix uses, but generally 72 dpi for screen and 300 dpi for printing are good specs to use.

Do you have a choice when you down load? I don't think my files were printed at the level I sent them; they automatically resize for their use. I originally tried gray-scale files which they would not accept, and they didn't care how big the file were when I converted to RGB. As I have said, I like their paper, but for me 50% of the time their quality control sucked. And I will soon try them again, living in hope for the best.

[Bob Michaels]

Originally Posted by ETW

................ Is there a better way to get good black and white prints? Would I get better results printing at home than using one of these online places? ...............

Yes and yes.

[charjohncarter]

OK, my third try with MPIX. So far only 1 sucessful batch. Here are the results: Costco (upper) and MPIX (lower). MPIX is softer, but they improved over their last try, plus the contrast was also lower. I don't know if you can tell on a monitor but here is the scan (not scans) and no adjustments. These were both from the same digital file. Too bad I like their MPIX B&W paper way better.