Vistaprint

If you are the type who sends out Christmas cards, holiday greetings, note cards and the like, or if you fancy personalized coffee mugs, t-shirs, return labels, business cards, envelopes and and the like, then I recommend Vistaprint. And not just regular recommend either. I strongly recommend Vistaprint. They do an excellent job of it. Their prices are quite low. I cannot imagine them lower. I could not do better myself.  Their packaging and mailing rates are kept low. I am impressed.

But, Man, do they ever market. They just flat do not let up. Once they have your attention they resist letting go. And not just regular resist... At each step you are enticed to look at their other offers. It can be a bit overwhelming. Checkout is multistep process that allows them to keep urging you to add on. At payment they automatically calculate mid speed delivery at mid-cost, to have the lowest shipping rate you must choose a slower option. Then the final "continue to pay" button is not on the bottom as usual, they automatically add on labels down there at the page bottom unless you scroll back up mid page to continue without the the return labels. And it makes you think, "Hey, I could use those." Finally when done the page presented appears as if you are not really done and you must read the whole page to confirm, yes, I am done, but they succeed in having you read it and look again at their wonderful things all over again. Proper bastards with pushy marketing, but I must admit it all really does look very good, and you wonder, "What's wrong with me that I don't take them up on business cards or a few mugs?" Surely Nana would like a few photos of her grandkids or possibly a few of my dog."

I showed already the Photoshop I made when the super moon was in the news.

Simple. Egyptian without being overt. No hieroglyphics. The poster came out very nice. Nicer than most posters you see out there, larger than expected even though it was all measured beforehand, and the cool thing is I did it myself. 

A whole world of possibilities opens. 

I ordered another. Edge of the woods by French artist Paul-Elie Ranson, seen on Ace. Ranson's painting is displayed in a wide range of values. I chose the brightest and clearest, the happiest among them then adjusted in Photoshop for this: 

I rotated the photo for printing so that its dimensions fit what Vistaprint offers. 

This is a middle size poster 18" X 22". The cost for the printing is astonishingly low $6.00 with their special offer. (They always have special offers). With shipping $5.00. The poster comes rolled inside a sturdy triangular cardboard tube. Total cost $11.00, and you simply cannot do better than that. 

This will be mounted on mat board and framed. They also offer canvas versions for $24.00, much lower at least by half, than Flickr and Photobucket, and other photo hosting sites that make their real money from the same and similar things. 

For Christmas cards, this is the way to go. If you like, I can help you put something together with your own photos. Something that exceeds anything you can buy and for much less.