Little Artists, Big Decisions: Artkive vs. Mixbook

Parents often find themselves drowning in piles of their children’s drawings, paintings, and craft projects. Turning that treasure trove of creativity into a beautiful art book for kids is a fantastic way to preserve those memories.

Two popular options for making kids art books are Artkive and Mixbook. Both allow you to turn artwork into a book, but they take very different approaches. Artkive is a specialized service that does the work for you (great for a hands-off, high-quality children’s memory book), while Mixbook is a DIY platform that gives you full creative control to design a custom book for kids yourself. 

In this parent-friendly comparison, we’ll take a look at where these two stand on pricing, features and customer impressions – all to help you decide the best way to create an artwork portfolio book of your child’s creations.

Exploring Mixbook: A Fully Customizable Art Book Experience

If you're the creative type who loves full control over every detail, Mixbook could be a perfect fit for preserving your child’s masterpieces. Mixbook offers a highly customizable DIY platform where you can upload, arrange, and design a completely personalized photo book featuring your kid’s artwork.

There’s no need to wait for a kit — simply scan or photograph the artwork at home and start designing with their feature-filled editor and wide range of templates. Mixbook is a great option for parents who want a hands-on, budget-friendly way to turn piles of precious art into a polished keepsake.

What's The Benefit of Using Mixbook?

• A Hands-On, DIY Approach: Mixbook uses a beginner-friendly design interface for those who aren’t super tech-savvy. Features like auto-layout, drag-and-drop, and the ability to switch themes make the task of creating a book more approachable. If you can use basic apps or social media, you can handle Mixbook’s editor.

• Quick Turnaround: Because you’re doing the prep work, the only waiting time is printing/shipping. Typically, once you submit your design, the book can be printed in a few days and arrive within a week or two. It’s great for last-minute gifts or projects that need a fast turn-around.

• A Variety of Books and Products: Since Mixbook originated as a photo book service, they offer a wide range of formats and sizes including softcover, hard-cover and lay-flat options) You can also turn your kid’s artwork files into cards, single prints, or even calendars! 

• Digital Storage: Mixbook does offer digital storage for your uploaded photos through their app. While Mixbook doesn’t specify if there are any storage limitations, they guarantee that customers will have “tons of safe storage” that allows for reprints to be made as needed.  

• Customization: With Mixbook, you can arrange multiple drawings on a page, add captions, mix in photos of your child, choose background themes, and add stickers and text. Mixbook also has a few pre-designed templates specially made to compliment kids’ artwork. The editor also has an auto-create option that will lay out your photos for you. 

Potential Drawbacks With Mixbook:

• More of Your Time & Effort Required: The flip side of DIY is realizing that you have to do all the work. Simple scanning and photography is already time-consuming. But if you want good results, this can mean spending extra time flattening curled papers, finding good lighting, and having to edit your photos afterward. Designing the book, while made easier by the Mixbook editor, still takes time to arrange, especially if you have a lot of images. In short, Mixbook is easy, but not effortless. The cost is your personal time, which can be tough for busy parents.

• At-Home Digitization Can Be Challenging: Not everyone has a scanner at home, and taking photos of artwork can vary in quality. If the lighting is poor or the camera isn’t great, your printed book might not look as vibrant and pristine as it could in the hands of professionals.

• Mixbook Doesn’t Specialize In Kids Art: Mixbook primarily serves as a photo book platform. While they do have kids’ art themes, you won’t get things like sorting by grade or prompts to label the child’s age. You will have to add those captions manually. With Mixbook, you are the designer, which includes being the curator & storyteller for the artwork.

• No Physical Storage Solution: With Mixbook, after you photograph everything, you still have the originals to deal with. Where the Artkive box service inherently helps you declutter by taking the art off your hands, there’s no such service with Mixbook.

• Potential for Tech Issues: As with any online tool, there can be occasional hiccups. One might experience slow uploads due to personal internet speeds, or a lag time from the website being overwhelmed with too many uploads at once. Another minor nuisance users note is having to manually adjust pages when switching templates mid-project. While Mixbook is generally smooth, if you’re not very computer-savvy, have poor internet connection, or you’re doing high volume uploads, the process might feel daunting.[p-====.;;;;;;;;;;;;; l,,,,

Pricing for a Mixbook Photo Book:

Mixbook offers a variety of book sizes, formats, and cover options, each with its own base price. For instance, a 20 page 8.5×8.5 inch softcover photo book starts at $19.99​, while a 20 page 8.5×8.5 inch hardcover starts around $24.99. Any larger sizes (i.e. a 10×10″ or 11×8.5″) or premium lay-flat books cost upwards of $59.99. Mixbook’s standard pricing typically includes 20 pages, and after that you can add pages for about $0.99 per extra page. 

A Summary of Mixbook Reviews:

Many parents who used Mixbook for a kids art book mention how fun and simplified the process was. Mixbook reviewers highlight the intuitive design tools and overall delight with the finished product. Parents also appreciate that the Studio tool will save projects and provide digital backups that allow parents to work on their project little-by-little. The print quality also gets high marks with parents praising the vibrant colors that do justice to their children’s artwork book.

Conversely, some users have reported technical glitches such as occasional website crashes or slow loading when handling a large number of photos. This can be a test of patience if you are uploading hundreds of photos. Other downsides include differences in print color when compared to the uploaded images, or cropping in the printed book being slightly off. 

Overall, Mixbook reviews from parents making photo and art books are largely positive. The key is that you control the outcome – so any “review” of the final art book is as much about your effort as the platform itself. 

Inside Artkive: Effortless, Elegant Kids' Art Books Crafted for You

If you're juggling a busy schedule or simply want the best art books without the legwork, Artkive delivers a premium, done-for-you experience that sets it apart from DIY platforms like Mixbook. Artkive removes the overwhelm, turning stacks of kids’ artwork into stunning, gallery-worthy books.

Here’s how it works: Artkive ships you a prepaid kit to safely pack and send your child’s artwork. From there, the in-house team of professional photographers and editors take over capturing every detail and artfully laying out your book or framed mosaic. Before printing, you’ll get a digital proof to approve, but all the rest is expertly managed on your behalf.

What sets Artkive apart from Mixbook is its white-glove service. You don’t need to scan anything, fight with formatting tools, or try to make a photo of a glitter-glued masterpiece look good under your kitchen lights. Artkive handles every step with precision and care so you can enjoy the end result without the stress.

What Does Artkive Offer?

• Artkive Provides Hands-Off Convenience: Artkive is a turnkey service designed specifically for preserving kids’ art, but its key selling point is convenience. You simply send in the art, and receive an elegant book. Everything in between is handled by Artkive’s concierge team – this includes professional photography, expert editing, and eye-catching layouts. A digital proof of your kids art book will be made available for your review and it allows you to rearrange pages or add captions, if you want to get slightly hands-on. 

• Artkive Helps You Declutter Your Home: Artkive not only gives you a keepsake book, they effectively digitize all the artwork for you. No more guilt about throwing away originals once they’re safely preserved in a book!  Parents with overflowing art piles find this service to be a game-changer for organization. 

• Artkive's Free Digital Storage: Another notable feature of Artkive is the online gallery made available with your book or mosaic purchase, keeping your children's art safe and organized. Artkive provides 3 months FREE access to your custom images with the option to extend digital membership for long-term storage. This digital access effectively creates an accompanying artwork portfolio that allows you to download and share images as well as reorder books you’ve previously created.  

• Artkive’s Books Are Consistent in Quality: Because Artkive uses professional photographers and editors, the images in their books are always distinctive and color-accurate. Projects that are 3D, have glitter or various textures are always captured in the best light. The final product is an expertly curated kids art book, with a refined finish that never fails to impress parents and kids alike. 

• Does Artkive Just Make Books: Artkive provides additional ways to display the work of your growing artist. Framed Mosaics in sizes 26"x 26" (25 pieces) or 14"x 14" (9 pieces) can adorn your walls making your child feel like a mini-Picasso In their own home! Additionally, parents have the option to have all their custom images put on a USB drive for personal use and storage. 

• Kids Are The Heart of Artkive: Artkive’s service was designed with kids in mind. They demonstrate this with inclusions like labeling by age/grade to show how your Jr. Artist has progressed, or ensuring art of any shape or size is featured at its best. Glitter is perfectly pigmented, 3D pieces are expertly lit, medals, trophies and other metallic materials are well-reflected. Because, Artkive thrives by helping your kids' art shine!

How Does Artkive Differ?

• In the area of cost, Artkive does carry a higher price tag than DIY services like Mixbook. That’s because Artkive’s desire is to remove the burden on parents to turn artwork into a book. An investment in Artkive will not only give you an exceptional keepsake, but it also gives you back… TIME!  What you’re investing in is expertise, convenience, consistency and quality. 

• Artkive's design style opts for a clean layout utilizing a a white background to let the child’s art take center-stage. Artkive understands that some parents do like the use of colored backgrounds in their children’s art books - so, for an additional fee, these are available upon request.

• Because Artkive is providing a hands-off experience, the turnaround time to receive a book is longer. The average processing time is 6-9 weeks from the time you order your Artkive Box to the time your book is delivered.  So if you're pressed for time, this may not be the best option for you.

How Much is an Artkive Art Book?

Pricing starts at $75 for a 25-piece 11”x8.5” hardcover book (roughly $3 per piece). Additional pages can be purchased from $2-$3 per piece (the add-on cost decreases after 50 pieces).  Included in the price, Artkive gives you 3 months of free access to an online digital gallery of your images.

Artkive Reviews In Summary:

Most parents who submitted Artkive reviews absolutely love the service and results. They talk about how the Artkive book “preserves and celebrates” their child’s art in a way they couldn’t do on their own, and says it’s “essential” for taming the overflowing art piles in their home. Others, mention that sending their Artkive box in was the best way to ensure the goal of creating their kids artwork book actually got done. For parents who value convenience, many believe Artkive is worth every penny. 

The most moving feedback came from parents who mentioned how special it is to have a professionally made art book of their kid’s creations, and that their kids treat their Artkive book like it’s a real, published children’s art portfolio. They expressed how this led to huge confidence boosts that encouraged their children to create more inspirational art for additional custom art books for kids.

With that said, the biggest drawbacks mentioned by reviewers come down to price and the processing time. Nevertheless, many parents agree that the care and quality of the custom kids book they receive is worth it in the end. 

Whether “DIY” or “Done-for-You” - the Memories Matter Most

In the end, it’s not about which platform is better—it’s about what works best for your family. Artkive and Mixbook each offer meaningful ways to transform your child’s creativity into a treasured keepsake. Whether you prefer the ease of a done-for-you service like Artkive or the hands-on joy of designing a DIY children’s book with Mixbook, both options result in a beautiful children’s memory book that celebrates your child’s growth and imagination. Whichever route you choose, the most important thing is that those precious moments live on, one page at a time.

And, If you find you’re more of a DFY (“Done For You”) type, let Artkive give you the same top-tier, turnkey experience they’ve given so many others. 

Ready to turn your child’s artwork into a kid’s art book with professional polish?!

Click Here to get started with an Artkive Box TODAY!