Mypix.com review

MyPix.com is an offshoot of online hardware retailer Pixmania. The website is rather cluttered and a little confusing to use, but there are loads of different photo products to choose from, from stickers to clocks. A stable and easy-to-use Java or ActiveX (for Internet Explorer users) file browser makes it easy to upload your photo collection but can only handle JPEG images of up to 20MB in size. You can also upload TIFF images of up to 8MB using a more basic uploader. Unlike most of the online services we looked at, there’s no downloadable utility to handle bulk uploads, but you can transfer photos from Google’s Picasa image sharing service.

Once you’ve uploaded your images and selected the ones you want to print, you can crop and rotate your photo. You can also use the Picnik online photo editor to remove red-eye and adjust exposure, contrast, saturation and colour temperature. MyPix has a range of print sizes available, but defaults to 6×4.5in to match the 4:3 ratio common to compact digital cameras. Automatic colour compensation is enabled as standard and you can crop and align your photos before continuing with your order.

The service is based in France, which explains the higher-than-average delivery charges of £2.97 but the basic fee of 11p per photo is reasonable. You can further cut costs by buying photo credits in advance. Plans are available for 150, 300, 600, 1,200 and 2,400 photos. The company also runs regular discount offers including half-price prints. As well as the usual range of debit and credit cards, you can also pay for your photos using PayPal, which is a convenient addition. MyPix quotes a delivery time of three working days; our photos were dispatched within two and arrived on the third day.

Most of our blind-test panel were reasonably pleased with the MyPix’s sharply focussed prints. A slight emphasis on blue tones produced some rather cool-looking colour temperature effects and oversaturated some natural colours. It also gave a blue cast to black and white photos and reduced contrast on our night-time test shot.

However, the impact of this on most of our photos was barely noticeable; some of MyPix’s rivals can produce better, but we had no serious complaints about our colour prints. After four months in the sun, our test photo was starting to look visibly washed out.

Although postage costs are higher than average MyPix is particularly useful if you want photos printed on unusual items or in unusual sizes. For prints, though, we prefer Bonusprint.