Artifact Uprising Review: Does the Quality Justify the Cost?

We don't always start with such a spoiler alert, but we can't help it in this instance with our Artifact Uprising review: we LOVE their products. They're high-quality, luxury printing that isn't just for pro photographers with businesses. It's available to the public, so photo enthusiasts and hobby photographers can also purchase their products online.

If you're ready to buy after that, say no more. ➜ Here's a link to purchase their products.

But if you need more background or have questions about the quality and cost, we will tell you about the company in our thorough Artifact Uprising review.

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post, which means we may earn a small commission if you click the link and proceed with a purchase, at no cost to you. We truly only recommend hotels, products, and services we personally use. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Photography Products available from Artifact Uprising

They have five main product categories, which we've discussed in detail here, in our Artifact Uprising review.

They are:

1. Photo Books
2. Prints
3. Frames
4. Calendars
5. Cards

We love their photo books and photo prints, in particular, because they have some really special features and printing you can't find elsewhere. So that's what we'll dive deep into below but we'll also mention the other three categories.

Artifact Uprising Photo Books

Artifact books are beautiful. They create truly gorgeous, upscale products and have found a niche in the digital printing world no one else fulfills for the public with their matte-finish printed pages.

There are many albums to choose from, so before it gets overwhelming, we've only listed the books we recommend for travel photo memories. There are more options, like board books for babies, but it's unnecessary to go into details about such products for the purpose of travel prints (unless you want to open your baby's eyes to travel early on, which we support).

We elaborate on the following books below:

• Everyday Photo Book
• Photo-Wrapped Hardcover
• Hardcover Travel Photo Book
• Instagram-Friendly Book

Everyday Photo Book

Standout features: It's a hardcover book with a beautiful fabric cover. It's only offered in one size and has limited cover options, so your books will match nicely on a shelf, and the decision-making process will be faster.

This is our favorite album product Artifact Uprising offers and the only one we buy for high-quality photo travel books.

The benefit of choosing this book is that it is one size only, so you don't have to waste time deciding what size to get or trying to remember what size you previously purchased if you're not home and designing the book online. There's just one size: 7 x 7″

Additionally, we love how consistent our books look over time. They all have one of six fabric colors (some repeat colors after six trips!) and metallic imprinting in the same font. They consistently look classy!

We cannot stress how much we LOVE these books. They're the only books we buy for our travel memories.

Photo-Wrapped Hardcover

Standout feature: These books have an image printed around the cover in a coated canvas fashion.

If you like the idea of a picture that's imprinted on a cover and wraps around from the front cover to the spine to the back cover, and you're okay with soft pages, this is for you. (The reason we prefer the Everyday Photo Book is that it has thick, inflexible pages.)

A note on any book with soft, thin pages: If you have young kids who will be looking through your travel photo book memories, you do not want to get this because they can easily rip the pages. If you don't – then the decision is up to your preference!

Hardcover Travel Photo Book

Standout features: It is available in many colors, can be printed in vertical or horizontal sizes, and can hold up to 210 pages.

This is an excellent option for a hardcover with a photo-printed jacket and soft, flexible pages. The nice thing about this book is that it can fit 210 pages. So, if you have a lot of standout photos from your vacation, this is a solid option. We also love that Artifact Uprising can print your book title in gold foil on the dust jacket.

If you go to Italy and want “Italy” in gold letters on the front, they can do that! It's a really classy touch that elevates the book.

This book is very similar to the Hardcover Photo Book.

Check out a behind-the-scenes look at Artifact Uprising at their production facility and the resulting hardcover book that is created there:

Instagram-Friendly Book

Standout feature: You could theoretically have this book designed and printed within thirty minutes. However, you need the Instagram photos to already be uploaded to your IG account and you need to be okay with limited customization options. We don't recommend this book for the book for your travel memories. Rather, it's a good option to supplement one of the other books mentioned above.

This in no way, shape, or form would ever replace our Everyday Photo Books from Artifact. But if we want to quickly print a little square softcover book to send to our parents from our adventures, it's a super simple way to do that. You can even do it at the airport on your way home from vacation on the app on your phone if you have 30 images you want to use already on your Instagram feed.

Photo Prints from Artifact Uprising

If you ask for our Artifact Uprising review for the prints they offer, we love them! We particularly love their Square Print Set. We get the 5 x 5″ size with a white border in packs of 50 (though you can get various numbers in a set, like 10, 20, 25, etc.).

Their large format prints are gorgeous, too. You can print one as small as 8 x 10″ or as large as a 40 x 60″ size. They are giclée inkjet prints on heavyweight 230 gsm (6 pt.) paper.

Once they arrive, you'll have to frame them or have another method for hanging them on your wall. Good thing that Artifact Uprising sells frames!

Artifact Uprising Print Holders

What are you going to do with small loose prints? You need a holder or a frame for them, of course.

Here are a few options:

• The best thing to do with a print set is to buy a photo holder. This way, you can safely store the prints in the box and change out the front image whenever you want a different picture to show. It's genius!

• It's fun to put a clip around a stack of square prints printed on hard cardstock and change the “cover” photo periodically to keep things fresh. (The clips we use are copper binder clips. We recommend 1.25″ width or larger.)

• Artifact Uprising also sells other assorted print holders. We love the easels they offer in a 5×7″ size. When the prints are simply sitting on a holder and not between glass, it's easy to change the photo daily. And you still have the nostalgia and tangible quality of prints, unlike a digital frame.

Artifact Uprising Frames

All of the frames on the Artifact Uprising website are modern and come in a handful of colors. They keep things classy and the decision-making to a minimum in the best way possible. Most of the frames require you to upload a picture, so when they ship it the photo is already in the frame. That way, when the shipment arrives at your doorstep, it's ready to hang.

If you are a minimalist and like an illusion, you're going to LOVE their float frames, which use acrylic to make it look like your photo is floating on the wall.

Calendars from Artifact Uprising

Their calendars are on the smaller side. Most are 5 x 7″, but they have one option that measures 19.5 x 9.5″, which is their calendar sheets. (The nice thing is that they offer a refill pack for their sheets.)

The Artifact Uprising calendar options are – you guessed it – all modern, clean, and minimal.

Cards from Artifact Uprising

Artifact Uprising card options are divine and minimal (of course). Sometimes, the card has an option for metallic embossing based on your selected design.

They have cool envelopes, too, many of which will stand out in your friend's mail. Since Artifact Uprising is a photography products company, the designs of their cards are photo-focused, though they do have an “upload your own design” option.

Here are some tips for you if you're going to order cards:

• The more you buy, the more you save. So, for example, if you look at the card options and see a card is $1.85 a card on the product grid, you will realize it's actually something like $2.40 per card if you only buy 50 of them, and the lowest price is attached to the highest volume option.
• Some of the cards are flat notecards, not tented cards. In other words, you would have a photo image on the front of the card and turn it over to write a message instead of a tented card that you would open, like a book.

Keep their cards in mind for thank you cards, wedding notes, holiday cards, and personal stationery.

Artifact Uprising Pricing

Pricing for this brand is a little above their photo printing “competitors.” (Although, it's hard to call them competitors because as our Artifact Uprising review reveals, they are really in a class all their own.)

Expect to invest a little more money in their products but realize you're paying for some things a cut above the rest, including:

• Products made in the USA
• Recyclable, acid-free papers (acid-free means the colors will last over time)
• Archival inks
• Superior customer service, based in the United States
• Classy, elegant designs

Artifact Uprising Gifts and Gift Cards

The Artifact Uprising website has a “gift” tab on the top navigation bar. There, they organize gifts by occasion or recipient, like a Mother's Day gift or a grandparent gift. We love that they have so smartly organized their website headings and make it easy for consumers to navigate.

However, if you can't decide what to buy a friend or family member in terms of photo products on their site, or you simply want to let the gift-receiver decide, consider an Artifact Uprising gift card. It's a wonderful option and if your friend or loved one is a lover of photos or travel – or both – they will be ELATED to get a gift card. I know I would be!

Artifact Uprising Print Quality: Type and Finish

Artifact Uprising Print Quality

Print quality is superb at Artifact Uprising. It's a little different than the pages you may be used to seeing in a glossy book (which is closer to a magazine finish), but for the price point, we love the printing.

If you wanted any better you'd have to go for an album that costs thousands of dollars that only a professional photographer, perhaps, could offer you.

Type of Finish on Artifact Uprising Products

Artifact Uprising's finish isn't like a typical photo print. It's considered a matte finish. You may be most used to a glossy finish on photos but Artifact Uprising doesn't use any glossy finishes.

You can choose between two photo paper finishes for their Hardcover Photo Books and Everyday Prints: lustre (with a subtle sheen) or a Mohawk Superfine paper in eggshell finish (a matte finish option).

Other products we discussed here are printed on matte-finish paper.

Designing with Artifact Uprising Software

You can design your photo books online when you log into your account on their website. You will upload photos directly from your computer and design, then save, from there.

You'll see all your projects saved under My Account > My Projects.

The first time you log into the program to start a design, you'll be given a little digital tour of the program with pop-ups to show you around.

The Artifact Rising iPhone App

So many people use their iPhone as their camera. This means that it would be ideal for these types of photographers and travelers to simply upload their photos from their phones directly through an app. Well, Artifact Uprising has an iPhone app!

Look for an app of the same name in the app store with an “AU” as their app icon. You can easily link your Instagram account through My Account > Image Sources > Instagram in the Artifact Uprising application.

They currently only have an iPhone app, not an Android option.

Artifact Uprising Discounts

Free Shipping with Artifact Uprising

Contrary to what we've seen on some blogs that say Artifact Uprising offers free shipping, this is false. We contacted the company for the official word about free shipping for Artifact Uprising products. Here is what we were told by Artifact Uprising's customer service:

We do not offer free shipping at this time. We know our shipping prices are not the cheapest but they are also not something we take lightly… To give you some insight into our prices, we are a small company and do not get the same shipping rates as some bigger companies (Shutterfly, Amazon, Target).

Discount Codes with AU

The biggest incentivized discounts we see with Artifact Uprising are typically just once a year, during the time of Black Friday sales.

Usually, it's a discount that rewards you for spending more money. So, for example, if you spend $100 you get 10% off, if you spend $200 you get 20% off. That kind of thing.

Customer Service at Artifact Uprising

One of the things we love about Artifact Uprising is its wonderful customer service. They employ people in the United States, and they're based in Colorado.

Whenever we've reached out to their customer service – whether it was for a concern with an album or design question – they've replied in a timely manner with a thoughtful response. Once we received an album we ordered with what looked like a glue smudge on a page and they replaced it immediately, no questions asked. That's the kind of customer service we want from a luxury photo printing company.

Artifact Uprising Compared to Competitors

It's hard to compare the products Artifact Uprising creates to any other brand for our Artifact Uprising (AU) review. That's because AU's products really are unique. Other companies don't hold a candle to their quality and customer service.

However, here are some brands we printed through in the past, before finding Artifact Uprising. But once we found AU we never looked back:

Shutterfly and Snapfish: We printed through both previously before AU even existed. I remember making a huge 85+ page book for my best friend and me back when we took a Disney Cruise as adults in 2011. And the truth is, that book cost me close to over $150 and took days for me to design. I wish I had an Artifact Uprising option back then so I could keep the design classier and book more high-end. Alas, when Artifact Uprising came along I knew better!

Minted: Of the three competitor sites listed here, Minted is perhaps the most upscale. However, Artifact Uprising still offers a unique product with beautiful finishes. While Minted has expanded into art and homeware, Artifact Uprising remains strictly dedicated to photography.

Again, to reiterate, the customer service that Artifact Uprising provides surpasses them all.

Why You Should Buy from Artifact Uprising

Here are additional reasons we love buying photography print products from Artifact Uprising:

• It was started by a couple, who are professional photographers.
• It's a “Made in America” brand with customer service in the United States.
• They have a “Quality Guarantee.” As they say on their website: If you are not wholeheartedly satisfied with your order each and every time, drop us a note — human to human — so we can make things right. (And they mean it.)
• They're eco-conscious. For example, they use reclaimed wood in the wood blocks created for their calendars and use recycled paper. (We wholeheartedly believe supporting a company like this is a small but significant way you can help save the Earth.)

Who is Artifact Uprising for?

We absolutely love their products. We know their customer because we are their customer.

It's ideal for people who appreciate superior papers, American brands, who want great customer service, and who appreciate minimal design options. (We feel the fewer options the better as long as the options are fabulous. And with Artifact Uprising, they are.)

Who is Artifact Uprising not Good for?

Artifact Uprising is a premium product for people who truly appreciate quality photo print products. It's not ideal for people who are on a tight budget, for people who don't appreciate good paper quality, and for those who want a glossy product since the products are matte finish (or lustre in only a few cases).

Artifact Uprising Review Conclusion

If you appreciate fine papers, customer service, products made in the United States, modern and minimal designs, and you have the budget to spend on high-end photography products, Artifact Uprising is for you.

At the very least, it's worth printing your products through them to try it out. You pretty much have nothing to lose because even if they don't become your favorite brand, you'll have a beautiful keepsake after your order arrives.

And at the very best, they'll become your go-to resource for printing your travel memories (or family memories) as they have for us. Try them out!

Interested in photography? Read this next:

• Ways to Improve Travel Photography Using Our Guides and Tips
• Our Maximum and Minimal Travel Photography Gear Lists
• Most Asked Travel Photography Questions and Answers