By Eva Williams 9 days ago, Photo Editing Tips
Whether it’s to capture unforgettable moments in life or give an exclusive gift to a loved one, personalized photo blankets are the right choice for each of these occasions.
Different brands offer custom features like your family photo fully printed on one side or with photo and/or text, creating a collage, using various blanket materials like 100% recycled polyester, etc.
Verdict: Shutterfly is one of the companies that makes the best photo blankets and offers you custom attention for your prints. They offer three types of fabrics: fleece, Sherpa, and plush fleece. They also have predefined sizes, for example, 30x40”, 50x60”, and 60x80”.
You can conveniently choose from the templates offered by the seller, which means you can easily design your own images on the blanket. Shutterfly offers high-quality prints that withstand several wet washes without paling or fading.
Verdict: CanvasChamp is one of the most universal canvas printing services, which offers a broad range of options. You can order photo blankets in any size, from blankets to custom blankets in king-size. Also, this company provides you with a wide range of materials, from standard fleece, plush fleece, and Sherpa to woven fabrics.
CanvasChamp offers you an extremely convenient tool for print previews. You can order a blanket with your print on one side and also on the top and bottom. Besides, the service often gives its customers significant discounts. Compared with any other services, this one will give you more, a blanket of exceptional quality, and a substantially lower price.
Verdict: Walgreens Stadium Blanket is another widely respected photo printing service when it comes to buying a photo blanket. If you are looking for a water-resistant material (they use soft mink with a water-resistant underlayer), this is the place to go. Also, you can customize your order by choosing other materials, such as arctic and plush fleece, plush Berber, and woven fabrics.
The company uses a fixed blanket size, which is 50x60”. Also, the set includes buckles and a carrying strap, with which you can take along your blanket comfortably when visiting a park or picnic.
Verdict: Costco can print your images on a blanket in 50x60" and 60x80" sizes. They use non-woven and plush fleece on which they place your photo, stretching it from edge to edge. You can also create a collage of your images (up to 20) using one of the free photo collage makers.
The turnaround time is usually up to 7 days, so you can receive your blanket within a week. However, to place an order, you need to be registered as a member of the Costco Club, which is beneficial for you due to the discounts and services offered by the company.
Verdict: mPix uses highly-developed photo printing software to increase the quality of the prints to the maximum and give them a natural-looking but bright base color. The company offers several printing options for your photo blanket, such as a custom design, collages of your images, and text (up to 12 characters).
mPix uses only plush and makes blankets with images in a single size of 50x60". The turnaround time is short - 2-3 business days, plus additional time for delivery, and you will have your beautiful creative photo blanket in your hands
Material. On the one hand, there are several materials that manufacturers take as a basis for photo blankets - from fleece to plush fleece to Sherpa. The first one is the most widely used and comfortable material because it is super soft and can be cleaned in the washing machine. The disadvantage of the fleece blanket is its ability to absorb dust, which leads to frequent cleaning.
On the other hand, the wool blankets with pictures are more expensive than those made of fleece, but they look solid. They have a drawing on the top side, while the material on the bottom side is similar to sheep’s wool. The photo to be placed on the top must be of the highest quality. Also, some services offer woven fabrics, which are more expensive and presuppose an initial photo of the highest quality.
Quality. Before ordering a particular photo blanket, you’ll undoubtedly want to ensure that your photo looks sharp and up to high-quality standards. For this reason, many services offer a preview function allowing you to see your picture printed on a specific material. To that end, you’ll need to upload your photo and select the right size and the other necessary parameters for your order.
Cost/Quality Ratio. The average price of a non-woven photo blanket is less than $100, depending on your needs. Remember that a cheap product, in this case, is not quite the best because, in the long run, such a blanket will inevitably need to be replaced. And that is why I would not recommend you buy a blanket for a price below $30.
Turnaround time. If you decide to use a particular service, you should take into account its turnaround terms, especially if you want to give the blanket on a specific date. For a complex custom blanket, the delivery time can be several weeks, so you may not be able to meet the deadline for your gift. Companies with excellent turnaround can produce a custom blanket in 1-2 days, while the average takes 1-2 weeks.
