Cafepress calendars - DPChallenge Forums

12/03/2006 09:06:29 AM · #1

Has anyone used cafepress.com to get calendars printed? I was wondering what the quality is like. I've read that their quality of apparel isn't so great, but people seem to like them in general. I've put together a calendar of photo collages, and I don't want to go ordering a bunch of calendars for Christmas gifts only to find out that they're terrible quality. Thanks! :)

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

12/03/2006 11:02:54 AM · #2

just a little bump :)

Truegsht

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

12/03/2006 11:27:37 AM · #3

BUMP~~~~~~

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

12/04/2006 11:52:48 AM · #4

one last bump? :)

Kavey

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

12/04/2006 12:16:51 PM · #5

Kteach
I was thinking of setting up both calendars and aprons - can you tell me where you've found any reviews on their product quality?
THANKS

CNovack

Canon EOS-600D/T3i Rebel

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS

12/04/2006 12:19:29 PM · #6

I used Cafepress last year and for the most part the printing was Good. I say good because of the 1 of the 12 photos had some 'artifacts' on it. Spoke with customer service and worked the problem out. They could not find why the artifacts/drop-outs were occuring in that one photo. It was not in the image file. So they printed another one for free. Send it out and the artifacts were still there but not as visible.

I did a calendar as a gift for a friend this year and again the quality was good. Again there was one photo that seemed to have problems with artifacts. Looking at both photos there might be a connection that if you have a photo that is silhouettes or has a dark shadow it will not appear as a 'true black' for there will be some 'blue noise' artifacts running through it. So if you have bright pictures that don't feature night shots or ones with deep shadows in it they will print out fine. But if you do just be aware that they will not come out perfect.

Other critiques on the Cafepress Calendar is that the 2007 calender is printed on thicker paper stock than last year - a plus. Another plus is the 2007 calendars now lists holidays which the 2006 & prior calendars did not.

Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC for Canon

12/04/2006 06:06:27 PM · #7

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Kavey-- I hadn't found many reviews about the quality of prints/cards/calendars, that's why I was asking. From what I had read, it seemed that people seemed unhappy with the quality of the apparel, describing it as cheap iron-on transfers that fell off quickly in some cases, and that clothing sizes weren't accurate. Seems that many feel the prices are high, especially for the quality of the product received, and if you're planning on selling in the stores, it seems like to make any money you'd have to mark up the prices quite a bit.

Perhaps I'll do a bit of searching for another place to have them printed, especially since the sale they were having is apparently over :P I don't have time to get them reprinted if they're not right the first time around.

Kavey

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

12/11/2006 09:43:18 AM · #8

Thanks, that's good to know...

I have since found I can't use their calendars anyway - they come pre printed with US national holidays on them. I did email them to find out if they could make a template with NO holidays pre-added but they said no. Shame, as it's not like I was asking for one for each country or anything! Also, having bought the domain cafepress.co.uk and just put up a page suggesting UK customers use the US site I'm amazed they aren't willing to de-Americanise products like Calendars so that I CAN do just that!

Oh well!

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

12/11/2006 09:51:57 AM · #9

Photoworks has various photograph products. I haven't ordered any yet but I have gotten prints from them and they were quite good. I'm currently working on a "photo book" there so I'll let you know how it goes.

lynnesite

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

12/11/2006 11:13:27 AM · #10

lulu.com lets you customize the holidays, etc. I used them last year, decent stock, one photo had a stripe that was sort of wide where the color was off, but the people that bought the calendar had no complaints.

My CafePress experience is more recent, and the 3 or 4 things I bought were definitely nice quality (baseball jerseys in junior and adult sizes, tank tops, T shirt), and again, the customers seem to like them.