Product/Service Review: FedEx Printing

Normally, I wouldn't write a blog entry about a corporate giant (like FedEx), but I have to say I'm quite impressed with the quality of work I received from them for a collage I had printed on photo paper.

I use FedEx quite regularly for shipping, but I've never used them for any kind of personal printing I've done in the past. Normally, I would just print my own stuff on my printer at home. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for this particular project. Basically, at the end of every year, I compile all the pictures I've taken with work colleagues throughout the year. Then, I print the collage to hang in my office. It makes me happy to look up at all the fun I've had with my co-workers over the previous year. I only started doing this since I started work at FMI. My collage for 2011 wasn't very big because I began working for the company in August. I was able to print that collage on my home printer. But I had a lot more pictures for my 2012 collage.

I know it's hard to tell in this little picture, but we definitely had a lot of fun in 2012 (or at least, I did).

I ordered a frame for my collage a few weeks ago, but I've been putting off ordering the actual photo print. I found a couple of places online that offered printing, but I kept having trouble with those places. My photo is 12 x 18, and a lot of the places online didn't offer that size as an option. I was in the process of trying to print via Walgreens, but the site kept saying my picture was too low quality. Hello...all you accept is jpg format. Of course it isn't going to be great quality. I needed a printer who could print from a pdf, where my collage looked crisp and clear. I was about to give up hope when I remembered that FedEx is for more than shipping.

From the FedEx Office site, I was able to upload my file, specify a custom size and place my order within a 5-minute (or less) time frame. I never even had to call the store. The online ordering system made everything so incredibly easy. I did get a call from the FedEx store that was handling my order to ask if I needed a proof, which I appreciated but thought wasn't necessary.

The final good point I can bring up about FedEx is that they completed my order before noon the following day. I had submitted my order around 5 p.m. and almost 18 hours later, my project was complete. It wasn't a rush job, but they certainly didn't waste any time on it. And the price of $25 was reasonable considering I had a custom request.

*Note: I'm only recommending FedEx if you have a small project (like my one picture). If you have a large project, I would recommend going to a local, professional print shop. Cliff works at a great print shop in the area, but I would have never bothered him with a job as insignificant as printing my collage. That's what FedEx is for.