MyCanvas Bug when Importing Smugmug Photos
sean000
Registered Users Posts: 21 Big grins
I received a calendar this week from MyCanvas that shows very poor image quality on some of the photos. Despite the fact that I have full size originals on my Smugmug site, it was obvious low resolution versions were printed on the calendar. The problem images are soft and exhibit JPEG compression artifacts. In 2010 I ordered a couple of calendars from MyCanvas that looked much better. This time I ordered from MyCanvas and also a copy from Costco for comparison. The Costco calendar's colors are a little off in some photos, but the images are sharper than they appear on the MyCanvas calendar and none have the softness or JPEG artifacts I see in some of the MyCanvas images.
I wondered if the problem could be that I have restricted some of my Smugmug albums to allow a maximum viewable size of XL. I would not have guessed that to be a problem since I import images into MyCanvas using my Smugmug credentials (which have access to full size originals), but when I contacted MyCanvas support I received this response:
"When we pull a file from SmugMug, we are supposed to be given access to the large file size, so the pictures a crisp and clear. In some cases, we are not able to access that larger file, so the resolution of the smaller files is not as crisp. We are looking into this and trying to resolve this problem. It is difficult, though, because it is only happening sporadically, so it's hard to determine what is causing this. I'm sorry for the frustration this has caused. Please know that we are working with SmugMug to try to resolve this as soon as possible. Until then, you may want to upload your pictures directly from your computer just to be safe."
I followed up by suggesting that they disable the import from Smugmug feature until they are sure all issues are resolved, and I asked for a free replacement calendar after I replace the problem photos with copies directly from my hard drive.
Are any of Smugmug's other third party photo gift vendors having the same problem? I just ordered a photo book from Blurb where I imported photos from Smugmug into Booksmart. Hopefully there is no problem there since the soft-proofing is better in Booksmart than on MyCanvas.
Sean
I wondered if the problem could be that I have restricted some of my Smugmug albums to allow a maximum viewable size of XL. I would not have guessed that to be a problem since I import images into MyCanvas using my Smugmug credentials (which have access to full size originals), but when I contacted MyCanvas support I received this response:
"When we pull a file from SmugMug, we are supposed to be given access to the large file size, so the pictures a crisp and clear. In some cases, we are not able to access that larger file, so the resolution of the smaller files is not as crisp. We are looking into this and trying to resolve this problem. It is difficult, though, because it is only happening sporadically, so it's hard to determine what is causing this. I'm sorry for the frustration this has caused. Please know that we are working with SmugMug to try to resolve this as soon as possible. Until then, you may want to upload your pictures directly from your computer just to be safe."
I followed up by suggesting that they disable the import from Smugmug feature until they are sure all issues are resolved, and I asked for a free replacement calendar after I replace the problem photos with copies directly from my hard drive.
Are any of Smugmug's other third party photo gift vendors having the same problem? I just ordered a photo book from Blurb where I imported photos from Smugmug into Booksmart. Hopefully there is no problem there since the soft-proofing is better in Booksmart than on MyCanvas.
Sean
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Sean
Oh I would be so angry if I was dealing with this on a calendar produced for a client! The replacement calendar arrived and looks great, but only after I replaced all of the images with copies uploaded directly from my hard drive.
I have lost faith in the Smugmug importer for MyCanvas and will only use copies I upload directly from now on. They need to either fix this bug or disable the feature. I often choose to work with Smugmug third-party vendors because of the convenience and because I figure they are probably good and reliable if Smugmug has vetted them. I might take this opportunity to explore other options. Compared to the calendars I have ordered from Costco and Shutterfly, the MyCanvas calendars have the most accurate colors, which is why I'm reluctant to go elsewhere. I also find the design interface to be clunky and slow to load previews at times, but Costco's interface is even worse in some ways.
Good luck! I'd be interested to know how things turn out for you.