not dazzled.

recently, i tried out zazzle, a company that creates customized products using your images, for a project i had and i must say, i cannot recommend them. while the user interface is intuitive and quite easy to use, the final product (a postcard) came back in extremely poor condition. the image was pixelated to the point that i wondered if they had anyone reviewing for quality at all. also, the order took much longer to process than the company promised, which delayed my client's deadline (christmas). if anything, this is the time to shine, not to fail a new customer miserably. i ended up having to reprint them at my local printer instead at 1/3 the cost. i will say that they offer a guarantee, so i had no trouble returning the postcards, which was a relief.

that said, while they espouse the following philosophy, it would be helpful if they lived it, too:

"we are passionate about producing on-demand products of extraordinary quality with unprecedented speed. the combination of high-quality raw materials with proprietary printing and manufacturing processes give customers the quality they demand.

as an alternative, i can say the quality of a calendar i saw recently produced by photoworks.com seemed exceptional. heavy paper stock, too. most of all, i like the fact that they have unique, non-cheesy designs for their products.

lesson learned yet again: when it counts, go with the tried and true.