Bay Photo Lab Review

I took a photo in Central Park last week and knew I wanted to enlarge it but really didn't know how to do it. I ended up putting it on metal and I'm really ecstatic about the job that Bay Photo did. It looks awesome!

Picked up acrylic prints here. Staff was very friendly and the quality was excellent.

Amazed with the Infrastructure they have built up and lean manufacturing is awesome

Amateur photographers first time experience with Bay Photo and I must say I am THRILLED with the results. I was concerned how I would crop, position my photos and their site made it incredibly easy and simple to do. Photos were very well packaged and arrived in pristine condition. Quality is outstanding- could not be more pleased. Looking forward to my next order! HIGHLY recommended!

A very professional skilled lab. They offer top quality prints on many different mediums. I've ordered prints on metal, acrylic, wood, and many others. I was never disappointed in the final product, and if there were any problems the customer service department is amazing - they are friendly, helpful, and always willing to help. They truly go above and beyond!

Over the past years I've had 4 or 5 images printed and mounted by Bay Photo ... The good: since I proof everything myself I can't comment on their color correction. My prints and what I receive from their lab match perfectly... The turnaround is outstandingly fast with ball park pricing, I had an issue on a previous large print which took care of immediately (more on that later). The not so good: I usually print myself and have a frame shop in San Rafael do my mounting, their prices are quite reasonable and everything they do is of great quality.. But I need to drive across the bridge drop it off and pick it up a week or so later, not a big deal if I'm having multiple images mounted. I will use Bay photo sometime when they have a special... although what you see is not always what you get. I just used one of their specials. It was any 2 prints at least 16 inches in size for 40% off. Sounded pretty good to me so I mastered a couple of images and sent them off. They came a day or so later, very fast. Problem was there promo was a little misleading, it was 40% off for the prints and nothing else, mounting the spraying and everything else was the normal price, feel a little cheated on that one, as I could've printed those myself had San Rafael do it and saved 70 or $80. The 2nd issue which I mentioned earlier, I had a large metal print (60x20) done by them as it was ..of course... on special. Problem was it was mounted on gator board and when delivered to me was slightly warped. Called them up they jumped right on it and sent me a 2nd print. That one is a little warped as well... Luckily it was a personal print for me, if it had been for client it that would not have flown. The problem is the gator board is just too thin for that size image. They should have used thicker gator board, or used two vertical mounting blocks on the back along with the 2 horizontal blocks they use keep the warping in check. ... I gave them 3 stars and might use them again, but next time I will be a lot more careful on what I order.... and for sure read the fine print!

Bay Photo Lab has the best print photo services in the region. They have metal print, canvas, collage wall, stand out, fine art, wood print, custom albums etc, etc, etc. customer service is very nice, Very accessible parking.

I use Bay photo to sell my fine art photographs and the prints come out absolutely beautiful!

Always a problem with Bay Photo. Problem #1- took a oversized photograph there to be scanned. It was a restoration job for a client. Photo was extremely damaged and I was hired to fix it. But my scanner wasn't large enough to scan the photograph, so I took it to BayPhoto to simply have it scanned and put as a digital file on CD. Once I got the CD home & opened the image, I was absolutely shocked that the technician decided to try to fix the image! It was covered in gigantic clone stamp (Photoshop edits) marks! It looked awful.
Needless to say, I had to go out of my way and make a second trip to BayPhoto and again wait even longer for the turnaround to just have a simple task as scanning done .
Problem #2- Twice upon picking up an item at the Branciforte store, after I ordered through the BayRoes application, I received the wrong item! They gave me another photographers CD case! Twice!! So again at my inconvenience I had to re-order re-upload and go through the whole process all over again twice!
Problem #3- I once again ordered another CD case for a wedding client and decided to do the local route delivery which is a great convenient way to receive my products at my doorstep if they delivered the right product. Again I received the wrong CD case!!! Absolutely puzzling.
Problem #4- You'd think I would have learned my lesson! But I ordered again through BayRoes some prints for a client and had it as a pick up at the Branciforte store, dragging along my 2yr old son. After spending 15 minutes with a crazy toddler & the person behind the counter who could not locate my item. I decided to call the Scotts Valley Lab. As if the employee couldn't do that! They informed me that it was shipped over to the Soquel store! So I had to load up my toddler and drive across town at 4 o'clock in the afternoon on a Friday to pick up my prints that should've been at the Branciforte store. Inconvienced again!
Problem #5- just this past Tuesday again ordered a DVD case for a client and had it as local route delivery which usually is a turnaround time of 24 hours. Today is Friday and I have yet to receive it. So once again, I called the Scotts Valley Lab, only to be informed that it wasn't in production yet! And the soonest they can get it to me was Monday if I still chose the local route delivery. For some reason they didn't have a delivery driver, yet no one took the time to call me and let me know of this inconvenience. And to make matters worse the gentleman who answered the phone was very rude and very unapologetic. It's supposed to be ready for pick up tomorrow at the Branciforte store. God help me if it's actually there.
Perhaps Bay Photo needs to pay closer attention to their clients needs and the efficiency of the delivered item.
Absolutely will not do business again with Bay Photo. Such a bummer as Santa Cruz had limited options

The quality and service I have received from Bay Photo has been exemplary. From the products ordered to the staff it is hands down the only place I'd ever use for my metals or Photos.,

Stellar service - huge order was done and shipped in ONE day, simple because I asked if it could get to me within 7. They didn't charge extra, and even gave me a discount for being a first time buyer. That does it, I'm ordering from these guys more. The metal prints look fantastic too.

Their customer service goes above and beyond! I am beyond pleased with their service and prompt replies! I would work with them again and refer to everyone!

I've been very pleased with my experiences ordering from Bay Photo.

Their acrylic prints are affordable and high quality. The color has always been spot on. I switched to Bay Photo after having issues with other labs, such as misaligned acrylic and miscolored images. I'm happy with my decision to switch!

The only issue I had was resolved quickly. I received a large print that was improperly done; I contacted them and they sent me a replacement. Great customer service!

I've also found their online ordering system to be one of the easiest to use.

NOT A PROFESSIONAL PRODUCT. As a professional photographer, I can't use any of the medium to larger canvas, stretcher wrapped prints that I spent a couple grand on. The canvas becomes wavy across the frame, it is not stretched flat. The stretcher is cheap finger jointed wood, it is not a real painting stretcher that can be adjusted with wedges. The stretched canvas products are NOT "professional". I can't and wouldn't put any of these in the gallery. After spending over three hundred on the larger prints, now I have to buy stretchers and redo them, though I will never recover the ultimate adjusted cost of these reworked prints. Very disappointed.

5 stars says it all. Mike runs Park avenue and he's the best

My original order was for 6 metal prints for a Veterans Art Show. Only 5 prints arrived. I made 1 call to report the mistake and a remake print arrived in 2 days. Bay Photo continues to be a # 1 photo business to work with. OOORA!

Bay Photo lab makes excellent photo prints! I am very happy with the quality. Been looking for a real photo lab for a while. It seems, that what once was standard, has slipped away. Photos nowadays tend to look like jokes (even when loaded up in full resolution or tiff formats), fuzzy, blurry, low pixel count. Customers get to hear the fairy tale, that computers are "backlit". Therefore images would look better on screen than printed out. Hogwash! If anything, print-outs, any printouts, should look better than an image on a screen. Went photo lab hunting and tested several around the country - remote upload. Bay Photo Lab came out my winner by far! Crisp prints, range of nuances, in-depth-details, natural colors, wonderful gradients, nice array of available photo papers. I am using them for all high quality photo needs now. "Like!"

Horrible they never printed my work. A week after it was supposed to ship I chatted them and they told me the prints still hadn't been printed so I canceled the order and then they said they were printed. Will never use them again. Found another lab quicker and at half the price.

I can't believe Bay Photo has no google reviews. Well they are a 5 star PRO lab... You can only use them if you are a professional photographer.

I believe the metal photo prints are well done but the turn around time is surprisingly long. They give you an estimated ship date and don't end up shipping for awhile after that. I was surprised with how long, once I emailed them and asked what was going on, they sent out immediately, and were responsive. I recommend, but just know that it won't be delivered all that fast.

What a top notch photo company! Impressive building and the work they do...WOW!! Reasonable pricing, great turn around time, and super friendly service! Very pleased!! Thanks for helping us pull off a graduation gift last minute with ease!! Much love!!

Best photo lab there is. I've tried most of them and always come back to Bay Photo.

I made the order on Christmas day and I waited two weeks and didn't hear anything from them and they didn't ship my print until I contacted them. The end product was satisfying but the lack of communication and action was very disappointing.

Spectacular customer service. I needed to place a rush order and they were incredibly helpful in doing so, even while I had questions about the status of my order along the way. They even honored a discount code that I couldn't apply within the software to my invoice. The piece we ordered even arrived a day early and looks amazing.

I recently attempted to have a photo enlarged. When I received the photo it was blurry. I was told the resolution was too low; however, I was only told about the quality of the image after I paid $120 for the photo. Their remedy was for me to pay $60 for a new photo and said it is the customers responsibility to submit a quality file. I guess I will stick with Costco.

Been using Bay Photo for several years now. A couple of hiccups here and there, but no complaints. You guys are awesome. Great prices and customer service. My lil business is great because of you guys. Thanks. #miami

Fast. Dependable. Responsive. PRINTS are amazingly packaged. On-line and phone help is terrific. Great service....

There was a mix up where my photo was printed rather dark and I called Bay Photo Lab and spoke with Byron and he was absolutely amazing. He communicated how that could ve happened with my order specs and their lab editing and had absolutely no issue sending me another print free of charge with the corrections. He was so awesome to talk to and ever sparked conversation about the photo (it was of a candid photo of my partner proposing to me). He congratulated me and was absolutely a pleasure to talk to about everything.

For every print in my future, I will be working with bay photo lab. I was so happy with the final product and although my order was a bit altered at first (primarily due to me), they corrected it free of charge without blame. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

Really loved my experience order with them. Very fast turn around time. Great customer service. Would highly recommend and will reorder with them for future projects

I found Bay Photo Lab after running into a supply issue with my usual print shop. I ordered two medium / large size metallic prints, matte finish.

The quality and appearance of the prints far exceeds what I expected. The contrast and tones really pop when under lighting, but also exhibit a mysterious quality when viewed indirectly. They are very "lively" prints.

My ONLY complaint is that one print was wired upside down using the exhibition mounts. In their defense, however, most of my work is abstract and it would be easy to hang them at a different orientation. This would not have been a big issue, except for the fact that one of the set screws were very badly damaged, making it impossible to reposition the existing hanging wire. The other print had two minor surface flaws (pictured) .

The shipping material and packaging was extremely secure and well put together, so much so that it would probably take a major incident to damage the artwork in shipment.

Turnaround time was less than a week, and the art actually arrived two days ahead of the estimated arrival date.

Overall, I'm very pleased, and will be printing with this company in the future.

Print and frame are both good quality. Had a hiccup with delayed delivery but the customer service was good in handling it and they rushed the order.

Customer service is AMAZING. I spoke with Angel about an issue that wasn't even their fault and they fixed it immediately. Angel was kind, helpful and resolved the issue even though it had to do with FedEx and not them! I adore this company and love using them for my client orders. They really help my business run at an entirely higher level.

I was referred to them by a friend who is a professional photographer. I can so see why he uses them! They are fast, professional, easy to use, and great quality/price! Good work, Bay Photo!

Amazing customer service. Had an issue with a print and they made a new one and shipped it out next day.

I will always use them

Great prices, really happy with the quality! I spent more on photo prints at target and these were higher quality, quick shipping. Only wish is that they would add some more affordable book options.

Expert processing, great price and truly excellent service. Highly recommended.

Bay is the best lab in the country. I've been using them for over 10 years. The quality of their print products are superb and their customer service is as good as it gets. Bay is the first and only lab I recommend to professionals that need speed, quality and consistently.

Every metal print that I have ordered has been garbage. Sadly, honestly costco seems to do a better job. Also, when you pay for shipping, you shouldn't have to wait a week before they fulfill the order. Production time doesn't take a week and if a company is behind -- they should just state that up front and give realistic delivery dates.

BEST LAB EVER. Been Using Bay photo lab since they opened in 1976. Terrific people, terrific lab.

I have been using Bay for the past year plus.... My customers have raved about their work and quality!!!! Great Stuff !!!!!

I am so grateful that my college told me about this printing lab company. I recently did a huge art show called the Nyack Art Walk near NYC. This company Bay Photo I don't know what I would have done without them? The owner Darren personally called me that was amazing that he truly wants his customers completely satisfied. My order was taken on by specifically by Matthew the expert printer who was able to navigate the files and figure out a solution. Even though these guy are in Santa Cruz I felt like I met the entire team. Everyone was working with me for my success & finally Angel the last person that I spoke to took care of all delivery & issues so my work arrived on the opening day of the show. I don't know how they made this work but they showed me the true value of what a successful team is. This is my business of choice now for metal prints & more. They did honor the 25% off as first customer order even though my order was huge! Every single person at Bay Photo made a difference. These are amazing people to work with & I can't thank them enough for all their support.

Quality photography prints. Everything I have ever had printed by them has turned out wonderfully

They did a wonderful job on a photo we bought and had printed on metal!

Bay Photo Lab is the BEST print lab for professional photographers. Their service, quality and efficiency are amazing! I've been using them for 9 years - quality cannot be beat!

Excellent quality and customer care! I wouldn't look at another photo lab. They compete with Amazon for customer service!

Turned a one star to a five star! Shortly after posting the below review, I was contacted by Customer Service Supervisor Jennifer. She immediately, and without any hassle, rectified the situation. My current order was cancelled to allow me to upload the correct image in a new order, which I have done. I was very happy with the quality of the first order I placed, and am looking forward to receiving my second.

Incredibly disappointed in the customer service I received. My first order with them was great, so I placed another. There was a mix up with the file upload, and I contacted them to see if I could upload the correct image, and was told no, there's no way to change, correct, or cancel the order at this time. It has not left their facility and isn't scheduled to ship until 6 days from now, but Angel R was incredibly dismissive and not helpful at all. I am out hundreds of dollars for my order, and will never use this company again.

Always a beautiful product and often ahead of schedule, Thanks!

Unfortunately this company uses bad digital spam practices. They have been sending spam emails for years although I do not have an account with them, I have never had a business relationship with them and I have never asked for information about their products.

In addition, the links in your emails carry tokens to track user clicks without their knowledge or consent.

I love Bay Photo. I have worked with many pro labs around the country and while none of them are perfect, Bay is hands down the best when it comes to customer service. They will fix an issue pronto. I find the quality of their work to also be the best of all the labs I've tried. I sell photography, so I'm a business depending on another business for the quality of my brand. Bay is the one I choose.

Poor quality for the price. Poor framing. Ordered a triptych and the variance in sizing between the three is astounding (see photo). It is more noticeable in person. Not only is the gap in the float frame different, but the entire frame size is different.

If you are working under a deadline or serious about your art do not choose Bay Photo. I ordered canvas prints of my photographs for a show... The piece arrived with a crooked horizon line (stretched incorrectly- you could tell from the border line on the sides that it was the production rather than my image) and without the float frame that I had ordered. They re-made it and then charged me incorrectly for the entire price of the canvas, rather than the price of the frame.

Such a great find! If you want professional looking prints this is the place. Warm, encouraging staff that makes sure that you get what you need, quickly. I have used them a few times for different art installations for clients, and they always exceed my expectations.

Bay photo has been in business for years and there is a reason why. Quality photos.

Unprofessional. They started to send spam messages even though I have no account or any relations with them. Upon reaching out repeatetely, they openly refused to remove me off their list. That is very unprofessional and that also breaks Canadian anti-spam laws. Overall, this experience was extremely bad so whether they do good or bad job, their behavior paints them as some kind of spam illegal shack. Not nice....

Very disappointed in the service I received from Bay Photo. Was promised 2 days in a row the my order would ship out and was even flagged to ship out with next day air in order to arrive on time. Stick with Nations Photo Lab, at least they are honest enough to tell you they cant meet your deadline. Will no longer be using Bay Photo for my Personal Photography Business nor will I recommend them in the future.