We Tested Them, and These Are the Best Photo Gifts You Can Give

New York Times

4 hours ago

Socks
The InterestPrint Photo Socks were the cheapest ones we tried, and they have lots of great reviews on Amazon. However, while the images looked great when the mid-calf socks arrived, the images cracked and distorted as soon as we put the socks on. Not only that, but these socks were way too tight, and the band at the top left a mark (even with less than five minutes of wear).
The Shutterfly Custom Socks were disappointing as soon as we started the design process. We could not find the simple floating-head design we wanted. And though there were tons of color options, the socks themselves come in just one size. We found the final product (a blend of polyester, nylon, cotton, and spandex) to be scratchy and stiff. When we put them on, they felt thin, like old-school knee-highs.
Jigsaw puzzles
The Shutterfly Upload Your Own Design Puzzle and Printique Photo Puzzle are clearly both printed by the same third-party printer, and they arrived as the exact same product in the exact same packaging. The flimsy pieces were loose in the box, so they went flying as soon as we opened it. If you don't lose them first, the puzzle pieces wear out quickly and become loose-fitting and wiggly.
The Snapfish Photo Puzzle was slightly better. The puzzle pieces were a little thicker and more substantial than the pieces in puzzles from the other companies. But they still didn't come close to the pieces in our PuzzleYou pick.
Photo books
For the most part, we found the differences in the photo books we tested to be fairly minor. That said, even though the Printique Book's images were crisp and colorful, we really didn't like its thick, stiff photo-paper pages or the shiny, 'puffy' cover.
The VistaPrint book was a lot like our picks in terms of style. But the color was off, and the images came out way too pink, as if everyone was blushing.
Shutterfly is an old standard, and it's the easiest service if you already use it for other photo projects, like holiday cards, and are familiar with its interface. Yet even though the book is good enough, it just didn't have the picture quality of our pick.
Wall calendars
We prefer big, classic wall calendars with large photos and roomy, usable calendars. The Minted Wall Calendar features a large calendar plus particularly nice, toothy paper. In fact, the finished product is quite elegant. But this is a fold-over, single-page style, so the photos are smaller than we'd like. Plus, we found the user interface to be clunkier than necessary.
While the Snapfish Wall Calendar had an interface that was easy and quick, the end product suffered from poor print quality and bad coloring.
Canvas prints
Easy Canvas Prints and Canvas Champ were new to us. Both companies seem to run perpetual sales of up to 95% off, which can be alluring. But we prefer it when the price is stated upfront. At Canvas Champ, after we were done paying $5 for the recommended lamination, $3 for HD printing, $1 to go from 0.5-inch thick to 0.75-inch thick, the print came to $20, with another $10 for shipping. The final product was quite good, with sharp details and great color. And the chipboard behind the canvas prevented it from bagging or stretching over time. But the moving-target prices and hidden costs make us wary. Easy Canvas Prints has a similar nickel-and-diming pricing strategy. Our total for the same exact print was only $26, but it took nearly two weeks to arrive. The final product had decent color and good positioning (with minimal cutting off of heads), but it was a bit fuzzy and pale.
The Canvas Pop print we tested had sloppy, uneven edges that showed white space, and it came to over $100.
Shutterfly Canvas Prints made it nearly impossible to position the photo in the frame. (The note to myself says, 'I would never order this if I didn't have to.') And the finished print shows the texture of the canvas through the photo, making it look blurry and weird.
With Mixbook Canvas Prints, the user interface gives you a little more control in positioning your photo. However, although the final print is fine, the texture of the canvas also shows up in the skin of the final image.
The Snapfish Canvas Print was the most disappointing of them all. The image seemed foggy, and the color was grayish and muddy.
Vista Print Canvas Prints offers six sizes. But it doesn't offer an 8-by-10 size, and there are no custom sizes. The final print has a nice, creamy color, yet it doesn't come close to our pick for sharpness, color, or quality.
Fleece blankets
Canvas Champ Photo Blanket comes in seven sizes, but you're limited to four photos. Its regular fleece is made of the flat, napless stuff that shows photos really well, but it feels more like a moving blanket than something you want to snuggle up with. 'Sherpa' fleece is available for about 60% more.
The Shutterfly Photo Blanket has tons of templates and design options, and it arrived in California in a speedy four days. We ordered the plush fleece, and while the blanket feels nice, the printing is warped by the nap of the fabric, and it's less than crisp.
Similarly, Snapfish Photo Blankets have lots of design and layout options, and the user experience is painless. However, on the plush fleece blanket we received, the printing was noticeably inferior, with poor color quality and images that were interrupted by the nap of the blanket.
Printer Pix Photo Blanket is another company with too-good-to-be-true permanent sales. You have to pay extra for HD printing and more still to leave its logo off the blanket. We paid a total of $56, which included shipping, for a flat, napless fleece throw blanket with very crisp, vibrant images (photos always look better on thinner, less-fuzzy fabric). But again, we don't want to be tricked by sales and gimmicks: We want the best quality and the best price, up-front.
Ornaments
The Mpix Custom Ornament we tested was made from a thin piece of aluminum sheeting cut into a circle, with a hole drilled in the top (right though my husband's head). The only advantage this one had over our picks is that it was printed on both sides.
The Artifact Uprising Ornament we tested was just a small, 3.75-inch black or brass circle or a square frame with an acrylic pane and a velvet ribbon. There was a tiny print slipped inside, but it didn't stay put. And the ornament itself is very heavy. If you wanted to change out the photo every year, this one would be a good choice.
Mugs
Like most Shutterfly products, the Shutterfly Photo Mug offers lots of templates and design choices, and it's a good option if you already use the platform for other projects. But we found the color to be too orangey, and we were disappointed by the way the top of our image was cut off in the wrap.
The Mpix Photo Mug and the Printique Mug both had good design options and friendly, intuitive interfaces. Yet in both cases, the final images were dull and washed-out.
This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter.