Mixtiles offers a modern, incredibly simple way to create wall art with its signature peel-and-stick photo tiles that leave no damage, making it perfect for renters and minimalist decor. In contrast, Shutterfly is a comprehensive online printing service that provides a vast array of customizable products, from traditional framed prints and large canvases to photo books and gifts, catering to a much broader set of needs.
Let's break down everything you need to know to decide which photo printing service is the right choice for your walls.
Mixtiles: The Modern, Damage-Free Photo Tile Solution
Mixtiles specializes in one thing and does it exceptionally well: turning your digital photos into lightweight, self-adhering wall tiles. The brand's main appeal is its simplicity and convenience, offering a damage-free way to create stylish gallery walls. It targets renters, dorm-dwellers, and anyone who wants to avoid the hassle of nails, hammers, and permanent decisions.
- Product mix: The core product is the lightweight photo tile with a peel-and-stick adhesive back. They also offer a few different frame styles and tile edges to add some variety.
- Style/vibe: Minimalist, contemporary, and clean. The frameless tiles create a sleek, uniform look that works well for modern and Scandinavian-inspired interiors to create tidy grid or mosaic photo displays.
- Price point: Straightforward pricing with a focus on bundles. A set of 9 tiles typically costs around $99, which breaks down to about $11 per tile, with free shipping often included.
- Quality: Uses high-quality, glossy photo paper mounted on a durable-yet-lightweight rigid backing. The prints are sharp with vibrant colors, and the tiles are designed to resist warping.
- Installation: The key selling point. You simply peel off the backing and stick the tile to the wall. They are repositionable, allowing you to easily adjust your layout without damaging paint or surfaces.
- Shopping Experience: Extremely user-friendly, with a sleek mobile app and website that makes uploading photos and ordering a seamless process. The entire experience is designed for speed and convenience.
Mixtiles is the perfect choice for anyone seeking a stylish, hassle-free, and non-permanent way to display their favorite memories.
Shop Mixtiles: mixtiles.com
Shutterfly: The All-in-One Photo Personalization Service
Shutterfly is an established leader in the online photo printing world, offering a huge catalog that extends far beyond simple wall art. From custom photo books, calendars, and greeting cards to large-scale canvas art, metal prints, and traditional framed photos, it’s a one-stop-shop for all things personalized. The platform empowers users with extensive customization tools to fine-tune every detail.
- Product mix: Extensive. For wall art, options include canvas prints, framed prints, metal prints, acrylic prints, and posters. They also offer a massive range of photo gifts, cards, and stationery.
- Style/vibe: Classic and highly customizable. Shutterfly's aesthetic can be anything you want it to be. With hundreds of templates, backgrounds, and embellishments, you can create pieces that are traditional, modern, playful, or elegant.
- Price point: Highly variable. Small photo prints can cost as little as $0.09, while a large framed canvas print can exceed $150. Shutterfly is known for its frequent and significant sales, discounts, and coupon codes.
- Quality: Offers a variety of print materials, from archival-quality photo paper to artist-grade canvas and chic metal panels. The framed pieces are professionally assembled and arrive ready to hang with traditional hardware.
- Customization: This is Shutterfly's greatest strength. The online design tool allows you to crop photos, add text, choose layouts, and apply creative embellishments, giving you complete control over the final product.
- Shopping Experience: The website is robust and feature-rich, which can feel overwhelming to some but is powerful for those who want to personalize. It's built for creating complex projects a little at a time.
Shutterfly is ideal for those who want deep customization options, a variety of product types, and traditional framed or canvas art.
Shop Shutterfly: shutterfly.com
Mixtiles vs. Shutterfly Comparison
Price Comparison
Mixtiles uses a simple, all-inclusive pricing model where what you see is what you get, often including free shipping. A bundle of 9 tiles for around $99 is standard, making it predictable for budget planning. It offers great value for a cohesive, ready-to-hang gallery wall.
Shutterfly’s pricing is far more varied and almost always requires hunting for a discount. The list price for a 16x20 canvas print might be over $100, but a 50% off promotion is common. Because of this, Shutterfly's value depends heavily on the currently available deals. If you're patient, you can often get large, high-quality pieces for a very reasonable price.
Quality & Materials
Mixtiles focuses on a single format: a high-quality photo print on a rigid foam backing with an adhesive surface. The construction is lightweight and specifically designed for frequent repositioning. Its durability comes from its flexibility and resistance to warping, not its permanence.
Shutterfly provides a traditional range of materials meant for long-term display. Its canvas prints are wrapped on solid wood frames, its metal prints offer sharp, vibrant colors with a modern finish, and its framed prints use professional-grade paper and sturdy wood or metal frames. These products feel more like classic, permanent home decor pieces.
Style & Aesthetic
The aesthetic of Mixtiles is inherently modern and uniform. The frameless squares (and other simple shapes) create a clean, grid-like appearance that’s perfect for contemporary minimal spaces. The focus is on the photos themselves, presented in an unobtrusive, cohesive gallery arrangement.
Shutterfly enables a much wider spectrum of styles. You can design a gallery wall with an eclectic mix of framed prints, canvases, and metal art in various sizes. A traditional home might favor classic black-framed prints, while a rustic space could accommodate a large wood-framed canvas. The style is entirely defined by the creator's choices within Shutterfly's design tools.
Fit & Sizing
Mixtiles simplifies sizing by offering a few standard options, like 10x10 inches, making it easy to plan layouts. The tiles are ideal for smaller walls, hallways, and apartment-sized gallery walls where uniformity is key and large-scale pieces might overwhelm the space.
Shutterfly excels in size variety. You can get anything from a tiny 4x6 print to a massive 30x40 inch statement canvas. This flexibility makes Shutterfly a better choice for filling large, empty walls over a sofa or in a dining room, where a single large piece can serve as a focal point.
Shopping Experience
Shopping with Mixtiles is designed for mobile-first convenience. The entire process of uploading photos from your phone and placing an order can take just a few minutes, with an extremely intuitive interface. Once they arrive, installation is instantaneous.
The Shutterfly experience is a deeper, more involved creative process. Its platform is powerful, with comprehensive editing tools, templates, and project-saving capabilities. This is great for an afternoon of detailed personalization but less suited for a quick, "buy it now" impulse. Installation for its products involves traditional hardware like nails and picture hangers.
Which One Should You Choose?
Both brands offer great ways to display your memories, but they cater to very different needs and aesthetic preferences.
Choose Mixtiles if:
- You are a renter and cannot put nail holes in your walls.
- You love a clean, modern, and minimalist aesthetic.
- You want the fastest, easiest way to get photos from your phone onto your wall.
- You enjoy changing your gallery wall layout or rotating photos frequently.
Choose Shutterfly if:
- You want to create a large statement piece like a canvas or metal print.
- You prefer the look of traditional framed art.
- You enjoy detailed customization and having control over layouts, text, and embellishments.
- You're looking to order other photo products, like photo books or calendars, at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mixtiles or Shutterfly cheaper?
For a bundle of small, ready-to-hang photo art, Mixtiles' clear, all-in price is often more affordable. However, for a single large print or when leveraging one of their common 40-50% off sales, Shutterfly can provide better value, especially for statement pieces.
Which brand is better for renters?
Mixtiles is the clear winner for renters. Its peel-and-stick, damage-free design allows for beautiful gallery walls without risking your security deposit. Shutterfly's wall art requires traditional hanging methods.
Can you really move Mixtiles around without them losing their stickiness?
Yes, Mixtiles are designed to be repositioned multiple times. The special adhesive stays sticky for numerous applications and removals as long as the adhesive strips are kept clean from dust and debris.
Which service has better print quality?
Both brands offer excellent, high-resolution printing. Mixtiles provides fantastic quality for its specific tile product. Shutterfly has a reputation for great color accuracy across more material types, including premium canvas and archival-quality papers, making its quality options more diverse.
Which platform is easier to use?
Mixtiles is significantly easier and faster to use. Its app is streamlined for one purpose: ordering tiles. Shutterfly is more powerful but has a steeper learning curve due to its extensive customization options and vast product catalog.
Does Shutterfly sell damage-free wall art?
Not directly. While you can purchase unframed prints from Shutterfly and hang them using third-party damage-free strips like Command Strips, it is not an integrated feature of their primary wall decor products like canvas or framed prints.
How long does Mixtiles take to arrive?
Mixtiles usually ships very quickly, often arriving within a week. Shutterfly's production and shipping times can vary more widely depending on the product and current promotions, sometimes taking up to two weeks.
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