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I’ve covered camera and printer gear here at Wirecutter since 2013 and have worked as a professional photographer and digital-imaging consultant for 15 years. I also ran my own digital-printmaking shop for a nearly a decade, producing exhibition-quality photographs on wide-format inkjet printers. I’m on the faculty of New York City’s International Center of Photography, and I lead photography workshops around the country.

In preparing this guide I researched pricing and features for 24 US-based online print shops. I sent an identical selection of digital files to the 10 most promising contenders and asked a panel of photo novices and hobbyists to weigh in on the results.

Who should use an online print service

With the ubiquity of images shared online, there’s something special and inherently pleasing about holding a physical print. Whether you’re into scrapbooking, creating a one-of-a-kind photo album, hanging prints on the wall, or sending your loved ones keepsakes of special moments, photo prints can be cherished for years to come.

If you need prints only occasionally, an online photo service saves you the up-front hardware cost and the hassle of ink and paper replacement.

Seasoned photographers often opt for a home inkjet photo printer. The best models, like our current photo printer pick, produce noticeably sharper images than the high-volume chemical process that online photo labs use. And of course, having a printer in-house means you can generate prints any time you desire. But inkjet printers optimized for pro-level photo output start at around $800 and take up a lot of desk space. They make the most sense for folks who print on a regular basis and demand gallery-quality results with unerring consistency. If you need prints only occasionally, an online photo service saves you the up-front hardware cost and the hassle of ink and paper replacement.

An Internet connection and access to your digital image files are all you need to place an order. Turnaround times are usually just a day or two (excluding shipping), and the best shops pack your photos securely to avoid damage in transit. And with print prices for the shops we looked at ranging from 9¢ to 30¢ for a 4-by-6, online printing is very economical.

We kept our initial criteria simple, opting for services that let you upload multiple image files, select individual print sizes, and ship them to your home. We began with 24 services and quickly realized how difficult it would be to make recommendations based on price. Shutterfly, for example, charges less for 4-by-6 prints than many of its rivals but significantly more for an 8-by-10. Print shops frequently offer discounts and promotions throughout the year, making price-per-print comparisons even less reliable. Shipping costs and options also vary, so although we do provide the order totals for our final picks here, we can rarely say with any certainty that one service will always be cheaper than another. And of course, a low price means little if the photos don’t look good.

In the interest of choosing services relevant to as many readers as possible, we were able to dismiss those of Costco and Sam’s Club, because they require an annual membership. We also eliminated services requiring in-store pickup, because the quality of the prints you receive can vary greatly from store to store. After creating logins for 20 services in order to evaluate the user interface, print choices, and shipping options, we narrowed the list to 10 contenders. (For a more detailed look at what we dismissed and why, see the Competition section.)

We found precious few editorial sources that had conducted real-world comparisons of print services, and none that had included all of our contenders. So we conducted our own test, uploading an identical set of image files to each service.

We uploaded 20 images—shot with mirrorless cameras, DSLRs, and smartphones—to each of our finalists. We included landscapes, a range of skin tones, neutral and tinted black-and-whites, low-light images, and photos with heavily saturated colors. When given the option, we had the images printed on luster paper and requested that the lab make no additional color adjustments. For each service we ordered 4-by-6 prints (or similar), a 5-by-5 square image, an 8-by-10 black-and-white portrait, and an 11-by-14 color landscape. As a reference we used the Epson SureColor P600 inkjet printer (our pick for the best photo inkjet printer) to make our own identically sized prints from these same files. The P600 produced notably sharp prints that matched the colors we saw on our properly calibrated iMac 27-inch monitor, providing a baseline by which we could evaluate results from the online print services.

Most of the shops we tested delivered “good enough” results.

After comparing the prints from each lab not just in image quality but also in how well they were packed for shipment, I whittled our list of contenders down to five finalists. I then set up a blind test with several colleagues in the Wirecutter office; some of the panelists were photo novices, and others owned DSLRs and took photographs on a regular basis. The testers made side-by-side comparisons of six sets of identical image files printed by Printique (then called AdoramaPix), Aspen Creek Photo, Bay Photo, Mpix, and Nations Photo Lab, along with the reference prints I made using the Epson SureColor P600. For each set of prints, I asked the testers to rate their first and second choices, as well as their least favorite prints.

Our pick: Nations Photo Lab

Of the labs we tested, Nations Photo Lab offers the best combination of quality, price, options, and service, delivering good-looking prints in secure packaging.

Buy from Nations Photo Lab

Nations Photo Lab is the best choice for most people looking to order photo prints online. Its service is easy to use, with pricing and printing options clearly displayed on a single Web page. In our tests, turnaround was impressively fast: Our prints shipped out the same day we placed our order. The prints had pleasing contrast and detail, and they ranked among the most color-accurate across the services we tested. And unlike some of the other shops we ordered from, Nations Photo Lab packed our prints very securely, ensuring that they wouldn’t take damage in transit.

Nearly all of the services we tested delivered prints good enough to frame and put on the mantel. To be honest, the differences in print quality that did exist were too subtle for us to show you via the Web. And all of the services we used had our orders ready to ship within three business days or less. Some shops are less expensive than Nations Photo Lab (prices vary with print size and quantity). But each service we tested brings compromises of some sort. Nations Photo Lab gets the most important things right: color-accurate prints, packaging that avoids damage in transit, and a hassle-free ordering process.

Nations Photo Lab gets the most important things right: color-accurate prints, packaging that avoids damage in transit, and a hassle-free ordering process.

As with other services, you begin the order process with Nations Photo Lab by creating an online account. Once that’s complete, you can order images in one of two ways. The Web browser interface lets you drag and drop images to upload them from your computer. At this point you can select an image to specify print size and select a paper type before manually cropping the image to taste, if necessary. You can also choose to have your image mounted on foamcore for an additional fee or converted to black-and-white or a sepia tone.

If you plan to order a lot of images at the same print size, you’re better off downloading the ROES (Remote Order Entry System) app from Nations Photo Lab and using that instead. ROES is a third-party app that many photo labs license to use for their customer orders. Though designed with the high-volume needs of wedding and portrait photographers in mind, the app is simple enough for just about anyone to use. To begin, you point the app to a folder on your computer containing the images you want to print (the images don’t actually upload to Nations Photo Lab until you place your order). Selecting a print size calls up a blank page onto which you simply drag an image. Add the image to your shopping cart, and then just drag the next image in its place. For large orders of multiple prints at different sizes, this process can be faster than using Nations Photo Lab’s Web interface.

The biggest advantage to using the ROES software, however, is that you can avoid having your photos cropped when there’s a mismatch between the aspect ratio of your image file and the paper size you’ve chosen. I’ll explain.

The standard 4-by-6 print has an aspect ratio of 3:2. It became a standard print size precisely because it’s the same ratio that analog cameras produced using 35mm film. DSLRs and most mirrorless cameras still use that aspect ratio today. But the image sensors in smartphone, point-and-shoot, and Micro Four Thirds cameras have a 4:3 aspect ratio instead.

Faced with this mismatch, you have two options. First, you can crop the digital file so that it fills the frame of a 4-by-6 print. But as you can see below, this tactic risks cropping out important areas of your image.

The second—and in this case preferable—option is to print the image at its native aspect ratio and leave a paper border on two sides of the print. The ROES app offers a Fit Entire Print icon that does just that, resulting in a print like the one below. You’ll have to manually trim the borders if you find them distracting, but you avoid an unwanted image crop.

Although I’ve used the example of an iPhone photo on a 4-by-6 print, the idea applies equally to any photo from any camera in which the aspect ratio of your final image doesn’t match that of the print size you want to make.

This package could have taken a severe beating without any damage done to the prints.

Our order of 17 small prints, plus an 8-by-10 and an 11-by-17, came out to $18.09 with shipping. The average order cost of the 10 services we tested was $20.70, placing Nations Photo Lab roughly in the middle in cost. Within hours of placing the order, we received an email saying the job was complete and ready to ship. Nations Photo Lab is based in Maryland, and we received the prints at our New York City address the very next day. We need to stress, however, that ours was a very low-volume order placed well outside of the holiday-rush season. Your mileage may vary.

Our prints arrived in perfect condition, which came as no surprise once we inspected the packaging. The prints were in transparent sleeves and taped down to an oversize sheet of thick cardboard with another laid on top so they were sandwiched in between. This bundle then went into a shallow but sturdy shipping box for maximum protection. I ran a digital-printmaking service for almost 10 years, and we shipped high-end prints on a daily basis. There’s simply no better way to pack photos of this size. This package could have taken a severe beating without any damage done to the prints.

We think most folks will be very pleased with the image quality of prints from Nations Photo Lab. In our tests, the print contrast was pleasingly punchy without sacrificing image detail, and colors were reasonably accurate compared with the digital files. If you’re serious about color fidelity and you have your monitor calibrated and profiled for accuracy, Nations Photo Lab offers a “color-corrected” add-on for a nominal fee that makes adjustments to your image before printing to produce a closer match to what you see on screen. The difference can be subtle for casual photographers who send only 4-by-6 holiday photos once a year, but is a worthwhile option for anyone making larger prints to hang on their wall.

Over a wide range of images including various skin tones, foliage, and saturated colors, our panel of testers consistently ranked prints from Nations Photo Lab near the top among our contenders. Nations Photo Lab tied with Aspen Creek Photo for the number of times selected as either a first or second choice, and it had among the fewest designations as a least favorite choice. Though no print service scored as high overall with our testers as the Epson SureColor P600 inkjet printer, we want to emphasize that image quality is not a dealbreaker with the majority of services we tested. Prints from one lab don’t necessarily appear identical to those from another shop, but the differences are very subtle and largely come down to personal preference. Viewing the images in isolation, we think that outside of imaging professionals, most folks will find little to complain about.

Though gift wrapping is not an essential feature, Nations Photo Lab’s boutique packaging add-on should hold great appeal for anyone wanting a special gift for family or friends, or for clients if you’re a pro photographer: For an additional $6, Nations can deliver the photos in a sleek box tied with a silk ribbon in one of three color options, a classy touch.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

As we described above, the image sensors on smartphone cameras have a 4:3 aspect ratio, so we’d appreciate appropriately proportioned print sizes like the 4-by-5.3 offering that Snapfish and York Photo offer. Again, Nations Photo Lab does give you a full-print option in which your uncropped image prints on a 4-by-6 sheet, but that leaves you with white borders on the left and right that you’ll need to trim manually.

Finally, we’d like to see an additional verso-printing option in which the filename and capture date are automatically pulled from the files’ metadata and printed on the back of each photo. This stamp would prevent confusion over when an image was taken (assuming you’ve set your camera’s time and date correctly) and make it easier to locate the original digital file by searching for its filename. Again, this isn’t a new feature; two of the shops we tested, Printique and Shutterfly, already provide this as an option.

What about professional photo labs?

Miller’s Professional Imaging, ProDPI, and WHCC all have reputations for high quality and excellent service, but they’re geared toward working photographers, with services such as custom portfolios and drop-shipping directly to clients. Using these services effectively requires a degree of input that’s beyond what we expect most amateurs would feel comfortable with.

According to its website, Miller’s is “reserved for professional photographers.” It points all other photographers toward Mpix, the online lab that Miller’s created specifically for consumers and hobbyists. We spoke with representatives of ProDPI, who told us the company individually vets all new clients and requires prospective customers to submit a link to a site featuring their photography to gain approval to place orders.

Before you can place an order with WHCC, the lab requires you to submit up to five test images, which the company prints (free of charge) as 8-by-10s for you to confirm that your monitor is properly calibrated. Only after this process may you place your initial order. Though committed photographers can appreciate this dedication to print accuracy, we think that folks looking to get occasional 4-by-6 prints of the family vacation will find this extra step arduous.

What about big-box stores and pharmacies?

Costco and Sam’s Club each offer photo printing services, but you must be a member to use them, greatly limiting their appeal. We also eliminated shops with in-store pickup options, like CVS, Office Depot, Target, and Walgreens. Although picking up your print from a local retailer within a couple of hours of placing the order is a great convenience, the results we’ve seen in the past have been very disappointing. The quality of the prints you get with in-store pickup depends on the maintenance of that location’s equipment as well as on the expertise of whoever happens to be behind the counter when your online order arrives. We’ve seen dreadful output from our local Walgreens, for example. Your results may vary, of course, but the inherent lack of consistency means we can’t recommend such services as an option for most people. In addition, these shops offer a very limited range of print sizes, and none of them can print a smartphone photo at its native 4:3 aspect ratio without cropping the image’s edges. Walmart does offer a smartphone-friendly 4½-by-6 print size that avoids any cropping, but its overall choice of print sizes is far more limited than those of our main picks, and we have the same concerns about using its in-store pickup option.

Printique had been our runner-up pick for this guide, but that was almost entirely because it offered an app that lets you upload images from your mobile devices, even though that app doesn’t let you place an order. You have to go to the website on a computer to do that. Now that Nations has an app, we didn’t feel the need to keep this recommendation.

Aspen Creek Photo was our top pick in a previous version of this guide. In our testing, we ranked the color accuracy of its images above that of any other service we tested, and we loved its intuitive ordering interface. Unfortunately, after hearing from some readers about delays in fulfillment of their orders from Aspen Creek, changes in the company’s pricing for smaller prints, and conflicting communications regarding the company’s future, we have dropped our recommendation.

Mpix is one of the most popular photo services, with a mobile app that lets you order photos directly from your smartphone. In our tests, however, we were disappointed by its inability to print smartphone photos without significant cropping. Smartphones, along with point-and-shoot and Micro Four Thirds cameras, have sensors that produce images in a 4:3 aspect ratio, and Mpix offers no small print sizes that match that ratio. Sending Mpix a smartphone photo to make a 4-by-6 print, which has a 3:2 aspect ratio, means your image will be enlarged to fill the extra width of the paper, with portions of the image cropped off along the sides as a result.

If you create images with careful attention to composition, this forced cropping is likely a dealbreaker. EZprints, RitzPix, and York Photo, for example, offer a smartphone-friendly print size at a 4:3 aspect ratio, and Printique, Aspen Creek Photo, and Nations Photo Lab give you the option to print your image uncropped, no matter the aspect-ratio mismatch. As of this writing Mpix provides neither of those options.

In our blind print tests, though no company was a runaway winner, Mpix’s photos ranked as a least-favorite choice more than any other contender. With image quality that fell below the competition’s, plus its lack of support for smartphone-format images and its middle-of-the-road prices, Mpix simply didn’t make a compelling choice against our main picks.

Bay Photo offers small print sizes optimized for smartphone photos, along with sturdy packaging of your order, but in our tests its print output was decidedly middling. In our blind print test, participants rarely made it a first or last choice in side-by-side comparisons with our other contenders, usually slotting it as a reasonable second choice. On their own, we suspect the prints would look fine to most people, but we had many contenders that elicited favorable responses more frequently.

No other service we tested offers lower prices than Snapfish, but this service yielded some of the most disappointing results. The 8-by-10 and 4-by-6 prints suffered from harsh contrast (meaning fewer details in shadows and highlights), and our portrait pics had noticeably orangish skin tones. A close look also revealed sharpening artifacts along detail edges. We weren’t pleased with the packaging, either: Smaller prints shipped in a thin cardboard mailing envelope with no additional padding to protect against rough handling. The 11-by-14 print shipped in a sufficiently thick tube, but no padding was placed inside to protect the print’s edges from the tube’s end caps, resulting in a bent print, shown below.

A print from RitzPix arrived damaged, as well. The company shipped our 11-by-14 print in a flat envelope sandwiched between thin sheets of backing board (the kind you see in the back of cheap photo frames). Because the shipping envelope was only marginally larger than the 11-by-14 photo, the print was dinged in the corner when the package was crushed on its edge during shipping. RitzPix could have prevented the damage by simply using a larger envelope, or better yet, a box, as several other shops did. The inadequate packaging was especially disappointing given that the company billed us a whopping $14.95 for shipping, more than twice the average shipping cost of the other shops we ordered from.

EZprints, like Snapfish, was one of the few services whose prints stood out as uncommonly poor. Every print had a hazy, washed-out appearance, as if covered by a veil. These were the least sharp photos of the bunch, and clear areas of tone had a somewhat mottled appearance. Like all of the other services we tested, EZprints uses a wet chemical printing process. The photos were printed on Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper. Other services used this paper with much more pleasing results, so we can ascribe EZprints’s poor results only to quality control rather than the equipment or the development process.

Our order from Shutterfly was the second most expensive in our tests, and the print quality was average at best. Our biggest complaint was about the packaging. The small prints came in a thin, flat envelope, and the 11-by-14 came in a tube, resulting in a curled print that would need flattening before display. (Note: The quickest way to uncurl a print is to wrap it around a wide-diameter tube in the opposite direction of the original curl and roll it up. It can take some practice to do this without accidentally creasing or creating ripple marks in the print, however. A much safer approach is to lay the prints flat under some weight for a day or two.)

Though a tube is a necessity for very large prints, other competitors were able to ship our 11-by-14 print flat and still provide plenty of protection. Given the choice, we’d rather avoid having to flatten a print.

York Photo sent us prints that consistently had a warmer, less accurate color cast than those from the best-performing shops. Our 11-by-14 print shipped in a tube, and though York Photo did put end padding inside to prevent the sort of damage we saw with Snapfish’s print, we still prefer a flat-shipping option at this size to avoid having to uncurl the print. Also worth noting is that York Photo’s 11-by-14 print shipped from District Photo Inc., the same photo finisher that owns Snapfish.

Zazzle lets you make photo prints but has a user interface designed for single-order-at-a-time jobs. You can’t upload more than 10 images at a time, and the process of choosing a print size involves dragging each image individually on its own order page over a print-size template. That’s far too tedious to make even a handful of separate prints.

Winkflash has a steady stream of very negative reviews. Apparently the company was sold to new ownership recently, and during the transition many customers lost access to their photos hosted on the company’s servers. That, coupled with the fact that the only customer support available is via a Web form—there’s no phone number or even an email option—made Winkflash an easy dismissal.

FreePrints, as its name suggests, lets you get up to 1,000 4-by-6 prints per year without charge, though you do pay for shipping. Judging from the limited information on its single-page website, you must do everything via a phone app. With virtually no information provided online about the company, the prints, or the order process, we fall back on the maxim, “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”

SmugMug is a platform for creating a website that showcases your photography (for a monthly subscription) with photo printing offered as a service to anyone who wants to buy prints of your work. This feature is of limited use to most people, and the actual print services are handled through partnerships with labs like Bay Photo, EZprints, and WHCC, companies you can order directly from instead.

Amazon Prints offers 4-by-6 prints at 9¢ each, matching low-cost rivals like Snapfish and providing free shipping. Amazon Prime members already using the company’s Prime Photos service to store their pics can order prints of those images directly. We placed an order using the same test files we submitted to our other contenders. Amazon’s order process was dead simple. Print quality fell toward the middle of the pack—certainly not the best that we saw (skin tones skewed toward orange), but not the worst. The photos arrived within six business days. We were disappointed in the packaging, which consisted of a flat mailer with two sheets of thin cardboard inside; the entire package bent easily in the hand, so not surprisingly one of the prints arrived with a corner ding.

As of this writing, Amazon’s service has significant limitations. Anyone shooting with a smartphone should know that unlike every other service we tested, Amazon won’t let you print those 4:3-aspect-ratio smartphone images full size (with borders) on a 4-by-6 sheet. Instead those images will have to be cropped, so you may lose bits of heads or limbs if you’ve shot tightly framed portraits.