Adventures of an Idiot - occasional ramblings of a photography freak

There’ve been a few occasions in the past when, on one of my photo-taking jaunts, I’ve missed not having a business card or similar to give to folk. As there have also been occasions when the odd person here and there (and believe me, some of them have been very odd) has suggested I really should get some business or visiting cards done.

“Easy enough”, I’d thought. So knocked up something with a bit of software I just happen to have on one of my machines. Snag is, a couple of years or so ago my printer ran out of ink and I’ve not yet got around to replacing the cartridges (it takes two at a time - a huge deterrent).

Consequently, I’ve been sans cards.

Now Flickr have some sort of a connection with this company named Moo (yeah, I know, damn stupid name… at least they don’t have a dozy-faced cow for their logo) who produce printed stuff from Flickr members’ pics.
Never really paid much attention to them before (what possible reason could I have for ever getting any of my pics printed? My intention right from the very start was only ever to use my pics on the Web), although I’ve been aware of their existence.

But last week, purely on an impulse, I took a rather closer look at their service, and in particular a thing they call MiniCards (what they describe as “photo calling cards”).
Basically they’re trimmed down (very trimmed down) business/visiting cards. They’re real titchy, measuring some 1″ x 2.75″ (approx.) and you get to have one of your Flickr pics printed on one side, with some customised text printed on the reverse.
There’s all sorts of uses for them, and Moo have a few suggestions of their own.
Also, they’re cheap! Just under a tenner (plus delivery charge of course) for 100… less than the cost of just one replacement cartridge for my printer!
“Hmm” thinks I, “could be a substitute for some ‘proper’ business cards”. And the fact they’re real small plays well into my environmental awareness type activities… conserving resources and all that.

So, following the same impulse, and almost before I realised what I’d done, found I’d ordered a 100-pack from Moo. Oops!

Well, they arrived in the post today! That’s a pretty good turnaround, even given the fact that they appear to be printed/despatched from London.
So with some eagerness, yet still with a bit of a sinking feeling (anticipating the worst), I opened the pack…

Wow! I say again, wow!

I’m pleased. I’m impressed. I’m chuffed. They’re great!

The card stock’s superb. The printing’s superb. Must confess to having had some reservations about this latter, as I’d read comments elsewhere from purchasers who were moaning about the reproduction of their pics.
Well, I’ve examined my cards fairly closely, and can’t fault the print quality. And bear in mind that I’m speaking here as an ex-printer myself, having been trained in the trade as a youth and spending a significant number of my adult years as a printer, running four-colour offset litho machines (i.e., “proper” printing!). So the only conclusion I can draw from this is that the fault would be with the original quality of the photos rather than in the printing process… hence, not Moo’s fault.

Ok, a couple of the cards had the text printing on the back not quite straight… but that’s not a printing issue, its a trimming one. And in fairness, that can happen with any print job.

So I’m well impressed. And I’ll soon get used to their really small size. Only problem is, I’m now beginning to think along the lines “Hmm, wonder what some of my other photos would look like printed… full size?”

Damn!

These are the pics I’d chosen to use on the cards (25 cards of each):

[Edit 2nd May '08: Something I forgot to mention in my glee at how well the cards turned out, and another huge plus for Moo... The cards arrived very well packaged and in their own dinky little box, which is recyclable. As are the cards themselves. And the paper Moo uses is sourced from sustainable forests. Great stuff!]