I love comic books, and wanted to print my own.
But in the US, it was surprisingly hard to find prints shops that also do books. Especially ones that are affordable because holy shit, some local shops quoted me $10 a pop just to make a staple-bound zine.
Amazon KDP offers worldwide print-on-demand services for books, but I wanted control over the paper types and to add bonus miniprints or thank-you cards for my art supporters.
Luckily, a friend recommended Mixam to me and I've been using them for a while.
I found their papers and printing quality to be good, and the prices very fair. For example, my zine origins that would've cost $10/book to print locally, cost me $2/book via Mixam.
I see many other comic creators using Mixam as well, so they're definitely a place to look into if you're planning to print + ship your own stuff.
Mixam has locations in Canada, UK, and Australia as well.
Mixam is fast and convenient.
I hate having to manually contact print shops for quotes. Thankfully Mixam has an instant online calculator so you get to see what options you have and what the book(s) would cost.
They provide PDF templates as well, so it's easy to see where the trim, the bleed, etc. is at for any given book size.
And in my experience, their customer service is quick. If any books arrived damaged or misprinted, I submitted an online report and they've either refunded me or reprinted right away.
USA has limited paper options.
From my time researching US print shops, I've unfortunately come to the realization that there just isn't a variety of paper types here. And can get expensive very quick.
If you have specific paper wants, like the rough cream manga paper, you'd have to look at overseas print shops. My books reverie and In Another Universe were printed in Japan.
Overall, I really like Mixam.
I like their printing quality and services. I've printed my origins zine, 98.6F art books, all sample books, postcards, miniprints, etc. with them, and will continue to use their services for any future projects.
More of my thoughts and opinions below:
