Loxley Colour

£52.80 www.loxleycolour.com

Where most of the printers here cater to the mass market, Loxley is a high-end outfit catering to enthusiasts and professional photographers. Consequently, you’ll need to download the Loxley Designer Pro software to compile your book. Compared to online creators, this is fiddly and frustrating, with an archaic interface design.

Thankfully, the finished book is far more impressive. Its 3:2 aspect ratio is ideal for DSLR images, while the Fujicolor Professional DP II Lustre paper has an identical finish to Bob’s paper, but is even thicker: it’s stunning. Print quality is equally gorgeous, with sumptuous colour and contrast, the best skin tones on test, and excellent monochrome quality. There’s no ink droplet patterning visible under close scrutiny, and even our challenging test pattern image printed totally flawlessly.

But Loxley can’t take top honours due to a matte cover image that lacks punch (gloss is available, though), while images aren’t as sharp as the Bob book.

VERDICT

Pros: Gorgeous paper quality; high-end cover; quick delivery Cons: Underwhelming matte cover; awkward software; pricey We say: Comparable quality to our winning book, but less value