So here's the deal. You probably don't always need custom framing. You may not need it for years…read moreand years. But one day, there'll be one special something. It could be a piece of art, a limited edition comic book, a quilt or a special piece of clothing from a passed loved one, a bunch of pressed flowers...whatever. Whatever that something is, you're going to want it framed a little better than what you can buy off the shelf at Target or Michael's. Maybe a lot better. Whatever. There's only one place to take it. Period. Grapheteria is a small shop with a small team. And they are hands-down the best framers you're going to find. Not in Portland. Not in Southern Maine. Not in New England. The best framers, period. Now, full disclosure, the folks at Grapheteria used to be a client of mine (lots of years ago). And they're definitely friends. And for all that, I write with full confidence that their work is worth every single penny, half penny, sickle, copper, coin, and/or cent you invest in a job with them. Because that's what it is - an investment. Every piece of custom-framed art we have in our home has been handled by the folks at Grapheteria and our home is better for it. Their process is conversational and intuitive while bearing in mind cost sensitivities and design preferences. They will guide young artists to lower cost options to make their work POP for a first show and still stay affordable and can help serious collectors with archival and museum-quality glass to preserve high-end artwork. I cannot recommend Lisa and Jim and their team highly enough. And the fact that Nat Geo photographers, nationally renowned painters and emerging artists all trust work to them should say volumes.

I am from out of town and needed an embroidery piece framed. I saw the other Yelp reviews and…read moredecided to give Grapheteria a try. Well, they could not have been more helpful, instructive and courteous! They said my piece would be ready in 2 weeks, and they were exactly right. When I saw it, I realized that they are very thorough and experts at what they do as the piece came out beautifully. My thanks to everyone for their help in getting my piece framed. It now hangs proudly in my dining room!

I've been in here a few times over the years when I've needed something printed and got a…read morereasonable price and the people working there were friendly. This time I was charged just under $8 for 7 pages of text (black and white, nothing fancy). I will not be back again. I prefer to support small businesses but why do so when I could pay $0.15-20 a page at the local library or at a big chain like Staples.

I am not at all sure what that last review was about, so ignore it. My company uses Bayside for…read moreall of our printing. We are rather demanding and often need things done quickly. They are professional, helpful and go the extra mile. I recommend them highly.

I had a last minute need for a large quantity of multipage brochures. Adding to the excitement; the…read moredocument files were being created and edited in the UK.....that's a 5 hour time difference and a weekend mixed in. The Curry team bridged the time zones and even provided printing expertise that improved the look of the final product! They really mean impossible deadlines met...

These Guys are great! I came in looking for some help printing some personal art for our home. They…read morehelped me pick out paper and even recommended a size. (Do I print first or buy a frame?) I came in mostly concerned about my non tech skills. I had to download a file and somehow print art from it. Chris quickly put me at ease. I was able to email it to him and he took care of the rest. So great. Jim helped me reprint later and cut to size. He was also wonderful. Any sort of printing projects. This is the place!

A great local alternative to inexpensive big box options like Vistaprint. The team at MMP is…read moreawesome. They are always competitively priced, and a great product. They have a great staff who's willing to talk about your project and the best way to go about it, making recommendations. I've used them probably 30 times over the course of my few businesses' lives!

Helped in a pinch! Very solution oriented and great customer service. No one is faster at turning…read morearound orders. Thank you so much!!

My favorite place to get things printed in Portland. These guys are old school and know their…read moretrade. They do offset printing and also do digital jobs. I trust their pre-pressman Phil absolutely with any print job I send. The pressmen are highly skilled and genuinely care about printing. Great service, great results, always.

From the owner: Offset printing digital printingread more

Incredibly attentive and knowledgeable shop; gave my small project their full care and attention,…read morerunning paper stocks and options by me to ensure the highest-quality outcome, and even came in under budget with a quick turnaround. I appreciate that they're a local, union, family-run shop with excellent service; I'd recommend them highly and look forward to giving them my business in the future.

Dale Rand has one of the friendliest, welcoming, and skillful printing & graphics designer…read morecompanies I have ever used, and I have been a small business owner for over 30 years! Walking into Dale's shop is like visiting old friends! Thank you, Dale and Michael Rand, and staff. Stay strong and well! See you when the tide comes in again :)

This UPS is in a highly trafficked area of Portland and parking is DIFFICULT. Hopefully you'll be…read moreable to score a free 15 minute spot on Marginal Way (though, I've been known to use the Trader Joe's lot and dash across the street in desperate times). It's a smaller UPS compared to many others, so it can get congested with customers quickly; like just three or four people and it feels claustrophobic. The store is usually very clean. And when there's no one else in line, you can get in and out very quickly. It's easy to drop off prepaid boxes (though there's not a lot of counter space; one big box and you'll have to start stacking), it's easy to have them scan/process QR codes for Amazon returns, it's easy to email the store for prints (and they're super patient helping with that). The biggest issue is their staffing. Sometimes there's only one person working (it's infrequent that there's anyone within sight when I first enter the store; sometimes the person in the back will shout-out a greeting though)!. Picture this - because it happens often here -: three customers (one who needs thirty prints in color, one who doesn't really have their box taped or even the address they were sending their cookies to, one who needs to just drop off a return) all walk in at the same time vs one employee. Let's be patient and appreciative out there, folks. Open 7:30am to 6pm Monday through Friday; open at 10am to 4pm on Saturdays. Closed on Sundays.

If you ship from this store, and your package is lost, you have to wait for the owner to go to…read morework, in order to file a claim with UPS. The owner is the only person who can file a claim. UPS will not allow recipients to file a claim if their package is lost. Only this one person, at the store where you shipped your package. In my case, my medication was lost in the system, somewhere in Massachusetts. I called Friday morning, and was told the owner won't be in until Tuesday. By the time my claim is filed, my reserve medication will be gone. I wish I'd used Fedex.