NetPrint - “the best” photo printing service

The holidays are approaching and I finally found the time to write a post, why I had to abandon netprint.ru photo printing services. I think he will give reason to think and not allow my mistakes to others.

If you are interested in how netprint spoiled more than 150 photos and didn’t recognize this, I ask for a cat.

Having collected more than 150 family photos, I decided to print them through Netprint. There was no negative experience before. I placed an order, and since I am in Moscow on business issues, the delivery point was the point of delivery. A day later, the status of the order was “Complete”. Due to the above reasons, I was worried why the status was not “Transferred to the delivery service” and wrote about this to tech support. I was surprised that I did not receive an answer with a text about the receipt of my appeal, although I remember that I received it earlier. I received a response to my appeal after I received the order, which upset me very much, since I was driving for the order without being sure of its receipt.

Having received the photographs and arrived home under normal lighting, I noticed that all the photographs were printed with a skewed color scheme in yellow. Moreover, business cards printed from the same "originals" had a normal color. I wrote a letter to tech support about this. The message was written in a "scandalous" tone, caused by the expectation of an answer to the first question. Quotes are preceded by a timestamp. If you are interested in the result of communication with technical support, proceed to the conclusion at the end of the post.

09/09/17 18:46

I am outraged by the situation with printing photos !!!
As a result of printing on your equipment, all the photos turned yellow !!! Although you have written that all images undergo color correction and white balance correction. And in the uploaded photos, the white balance was adjusted. Those. This is a hardware error. I demand to solve this problem at your expense !!!
On the attached images of the photo of the check and photos. Faces are yellow, the circled lamb should be white. The body on the child should be gray.

The image I sent:

and the originals:

And again, I did not receive an answer, or rather received it, but a day later. Apparently the auto answer is generated not by the robot, but by the first line of technical support.

After almost four (!) Days, I received an answer:

2011.09.21 16:04

Thank you for message.
Upon the fact of your appeal, a request was sent to the specialists of the printing center. In relation to the situation, a resolution was passed on the absence of marriage in your order. The color rendition of the images corresponds to the features of printing technology, you can learn more about which in the section "About the Company" - "Equipment". We also send you an image to the email address, where you can see that the original image also has a yellowish tint. All technologically norms during the execution of the order were met, and therefore the provision of compensation in the absence of a defective company is made impossible.

And the attached picture:


I will not bother you with the full text of the correspondence, you can read it here: part1 and part2 , I will give some squeeze from it.

I asked 3 questions:
1. Why did the business cards turn out with normal colors, but there is no photo?
2. Having quoted the information about color correction from the page “Equipment” :

In the section "About the company" - "Equipment" wonderful lines are written:
Before each file is sent for printing, it undergoes digital processing, which includes:
-sharpness correction;
-correction of contrast;
-color correction;
- white balance correction.

And the question itself:

And the photos turned yellow. Those. lines about “color correction;” "White balance correction." - words to the wind? Explain yourself.

3. Question about not receiving an auto answer:

Why I do not receive confirmation of request for feedback in the mail?
Getting confirmation of the request is a good form in working with customers! In the absence of confirmation, we can say that the user did not send anything. By clicking "Send Messages" now, I won’t even get the message "Message Sent." Sending may not occur due to communication problems, but I still won’t know about it.

And my attached images:


And after I repeated these questions three (!) Times, I finally got an intelligible answer (let's give credit to tech support, I received the answer to the 1st question after only 2 reps):

The difference in print quality is due to the fact that printing is done by different principles. Business cards are printed on printing equipment (printing with inks). Photos are taken on "photo equipment" - printing with light on silver-containing paper. The gulf between these technologies does not allow making the
product of the same color from the same source (file). This is due to the color gamut of the equipment (a comparison was sent to you by mail).
Upon the fact of your appeal, a request was sent to the specialists of the printing center. According to the conclusion of which, printing was carried out precisely from the original files. Comparing photos with the image on the monitor is not correct, because the monitor does not transmit true colors. Correctness of comparison is recognized when the monitor is calibrated and special temperature and light conditions are observed (this is not possible at home!). Thus, if there is a shade on the original itself, re-printing will lead to a similar result, with the exception of 10 * 13.5 and 10 * 15 formats. An automatic color correction complex is used for them: in this case, the difference from the originals will be in any case. Therefore, for correct printing, you need to use the profiles www.netprint.ru/moscow/176/16358#prof .
In order to improve the quality of images, we automatically colorize images 10x15 and 10x13.5, and therefore the prints may not match the originals in color, if you want to receive your photos without automatic color correction, order large format images using profiles that you can download on the website in the section "About the Company" - "Equipment".
After sending the letter through the feedback form on the website, a message will be sent to your email address stating that your message has been received and will be answered in the near future.

And color profiles:

I expressed my emotions in the next letter, but again I received the answer only after the second repetition and clarification of my question:

Good afternoon. Let's finally find out who is to blame for the fact that the photos are VERY yellow, and how to get normal photos in the future. I had an order 10 * 15, glossy.
1) I wrote to you about the problem, you recognized that in the original and photos the spots are yellow. The issue of color grading was ignored.
2) I suggested comparing business cards and photos - you referred to different printing technologies, ignored the issue of color correction.
3) I asked a question about color correction directly. You answered:

here is a repeat of the previous citation with an emphasis on some phrases, you can not read:

Upon the fact of your appeal, a request was sent to the specialists of the printing center. According to the conclusion of which, printing was carried out precisely from the ORIGINAL FILES. Comparing photos with the image on the monitor is not correct, because the monitor does not transmit true colors. Correctness of comparison is recognized when the monitor is calibrated and special temperature and light conditions are observed (this is not possible at home!). Thus, if there is a shade on the original itself, REPEAT PRINTING WILL RESULT IN AN SIMILAR RESULT, EXCEPT FORMATS 10 * 13.5 and 10 * 15. THE AUTOMATIC COLOR CORRECTION COMPLEX IS APPLIED TO THEM: in this case, DIFFERENCE FROM ORIGINALS WILL BE IN ANY EVENT. Therefore, for correct printing, you need to use the profiles www.netprint.ru/moscow/176/16358#prof .

And then my question is:

IMPORTANT! Those. in the same letter you write that my photos were printed from the originals. And a little lower - that for 10 * 15 color correction is done and there will be a difference from the originals in any case.
I repeat quotes:
printing was carried out precisely from the original files ... if there is a shade on the original itself, re-printing will lead to a similar result, except for the formats 10 * 13.5 and 10 * 15. An automatic color correction complex is used for them: in this case, the difference from the originals will be in any case.
Those. for my order this automatic color correction complex was not made or was not made correctly. So? Or do you write falsehood in letters?
If in the future I print the same photos in the size of 10 * 15 and on glossy paper, what will I get? On one sentence - “reprint will lead to a similar result” and a little lower you write that “there will be a difference from the originals anyway”. How to understand you?

And then I get a masterpiece answer that acknowledges its problems, but does not recognize marriage:

Indeed, printing is done precisely from the original files. However, since this is a 10x15 print, automatic color correction was performed, as we previously informed you in letters.
Initially, an image was sent to you in Photoshop, where you can see that the original also has a yellow tint. Given the fact that color correction was performed from here, the yellow color in the photographs is taken.
In a specific situation, color correction is performed in such a way that aligning the results of the final color rendition is impossible, because photo enhancement is made in accordance with the realities of the sent files. Therefore, the automatic color correction factor is unstable.

And after my clarification, another answer:

There is no further review of your claim, as the resolution was previously issued.
This order is not recognized as defective after a resolution has been made in the claims department.
When printing photos in 10x15 format, an automatic image correction system is always used.
Thank you for understanding.

Well, and the end of the conversation.

Question:

Okay, with my order, I understand that I can’t wait for an adequate answer.
But please answer, how to achieve a normal result when printing 10 * 15 photos? And when printing the same photos that I did not succeed?

And the answer is:

You need to be guided by the information sent earlier that in the case of printing 10x15 photos, automatic color correction is performed. In the case of printing large formats, it is necessary to install color profiles.

Conclusion

As a result, I received more than 150 photos of poor quality and a sense of cognitive dissonance, because Netprint used to inspire a lot of confidence in me. Thank you for reading the full text that I cited. For those who ran his eyes, a very brief squeeze:

Netprint: Given that the color correction was carried out from here and the yellow color in the photographs is taken. This order is not recognized as defective after a resolution has been made in the claims department.
Question: How to achieve better print quality of 10x15 photos?
Answer:When printing photos in 10x15 format, an automatic image correction system is always used. In a specific situation, color correction is carried out in such a way that aligning the results of the final color rendition is impossible, because photo enhancement is made in accordance with the realities of the sent files. Therefore, the automatic color correction factor is unstable. In the case of printing large formats, it is necessary to use color profiles.

As a result, I abandoned Netprint in favor of competitors whose test suite of photos turned out without color shifts. Unfortunately, from other Netprint services, due to the almost absence of competitors, it is hard to refuse. In the future, when printing with them, I advise you to print a test sheet with a gray color to confirm the marriage. Having highlighted this situation among colleagues and acquaintances, I learned about the presence of some negative experiences in printing photos with Netprint.

Good luck and unspoiled "Russian business" holidays!