Where to get photos framed online: Artifact Uprising review

Those of you who have met me (Janna) know that I get super excited when I start talking about design and the growing world of online printers, framers, and custom on-demand products of every type. Suddenly, the everyday person has the ability to create things that used to be the exclusive domain of professional designers.

In a related shift, many wedding and portrait photographers are now giving digital image files to their clients, rather than keeping the negatives and having clients order prints and albums through them. We have gone through this shift in our own business, and now, we typically give our clients flash drives with anywhere from a hundred to more than a thousand image files.

The possibilities are amazing… but they are also overwhelming. Most of us have thousands of image files sitting on our phones and our computers, not to mention flash drives from photographers if we’ve just gotten married or had a portrait shoot. We are all busy, and not all of us have the sensibility of a professional designer.

How can we find a way to do something special with some of those images, the ones that we can’t look at without a smile spreading across our faces?

That’s what our new YouTube series is about.

More About Kyo Morishima Photography TV

Kyo Morishima Photography TV aims to help people be creative with their photo files. It offers reviews, tutorials, and tips on how to use your personal images to make tangible art of all different types.

For our first episode, I am focusing on where to get your photos framed.  I decided to start with photo frames because it’s the most obvious and common thing that you do with a photo: put it in a frame and hang it on your wall or put it on your desk. In this episode, I review frames from Artifact Uprising, one of my favorite online photo companies.

Here’s what I cover in the video:

Artifact Uprising Framed Prints Review

Let’s say you have one knockout favorite photograph that you want to hang above the couch in your living room. Now, you could go to Target, make a photo print and stick it in an off-the-shelf poster frame. But maybe you’d rather invest in something better than that. You want the best possible print and a really lovely, simple, gallery-worthy frame.

For this purpose, one of the companies I’d most recommend is Artifact Uprising. Artifact Uprising is a company that makes photo books, prints, framed photos, and other photo products, similar to Shutterfly. But Artifact Uprising is on the opposite end of the spectrum; instead of having a multitude of different products for every possible photo purpose, and lowest possible prices, Artifact Uprising has a very carefully curated selection of products and extremely high quality.

In fact, Artifact Uprising’s limited selection — with only a few choices of frame and mat types — is actually one of the reasons I love them. They are artists and photographers themselves, and they have thought through exactly which types of frames and mats are the most simple and elegant and allow the photograph to have the biggest impact.

Artifact Uprising frames: The Nitty-Gritty

Artifact Uprising offers two lines of frames: Gallery frames and Deep-set frames. I ordered Gallery frames, which are simple, square-cut hardwood frames, 3/4 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches deep, and they come in a choice of four colors: matte black, matte white, maple, and dark walnut. I ordered frames in three out of the four colors: white, maple, and dark walnut.

One of my favorite things about the Artifact Uprising frames is the matting. They offer gallery style, extra thick mats with a nice variety of classic layout options. You can center the photo in the mat, or you can place it off-center with a generous border at the bottom.

The mats themselves are double-thick, 8-ply, and acid-free, which adds to the gallery feel. The prints themselves are crisp and vivid. And the backing is what you’d get from a professional framer: paper backing with hanging wire and felt bumpers to protect your wall.

So, how much did these frames cost me? They are not inexpensive. The least expensive frames, the 12×12 and 11×14, are $99. At the time when I ordered, Artifact Uprising was running a sale, so I got 10% off the total price. I ordered two 11×14 frames and one 16×20, and the three frames came to $347. Shipping was $44.97, and the discount was $34.70. The final total with shipping and after the discount was applied was $357.27.

I placed the order on the evening of February 25th and it was shipped out on March 4th, so the turnaround time was exactly as listed on the website — five business days.

Artifact Uprising has a clean, inviting website that’s very easy to use and gives an immediate sense of their style. Beyond photo frames, they also offer books, albums, cards, calendars, and some unique gifts. I guarantee you’ll be inspired looking through their products.

Do you have image files sitting on a hard drive or your phone, that you’ve been planning to do something with? What’s been stopping you? Please leave your comments!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. We only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will add value to our readers. We am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”