Metro Publishing

Inexpensive and quick service for passport photos. High quality and shows you the photos before printing. Gives multiple copies, too!

As per the comments below, it seems the quality of the pictures may be good.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay. I waited for 30 minutes, and then someone who had been in earlier (but left) walks in and gets seated before me. I’m aware that that individual came in a while ago. However, if I’m actually staying inside your business and waiting, I should take precedence.
The owner told me it’d be another 15 minutes after he took the pictures of the other girl.
Saving $ 10 is actually not worth an hour of my time. I should’ve gone to the place on Berkeley square, where they took them in 5 minutes last time.
Not coming back here.

This place has been my go-​to place for years for readers, all my printing needs& I send all my friends here to get their passport photos taken. My friend didn’t like the first picture & he took it again for her, no problem. Really fast, efficient service. The owner, Frank, is very easy-​going and makes the process a breeze. Also love the music they play-​super relaxing!

Fantastic printing shop. I got my passport picture here. I wish I would have come here first as I went to Walgreens, took my passport picture, sent it in and had it sent back because it was rejected. This spot is owner operated. They also have great music

I’ve been here twice: once to just pick up a reader for class — which went as expected, no frills, no problems, in and out.
But i just had to stop in again to get my passport picture taken and to print a couple things, and i left super pissed. I was his first customer in the morning, so maybe he’s just not a morning person or something, but he cut me off when i tried to tell him exactly what i needed with the passport photo (it wasn’t for a passport, but for a study abroad application), but he cut me off and said «it’s all standard». Then I asked if i could take another pic as soon as he took it because my smile was super off and I looked horrible, but he wouldn’t let me and just said that they don’t want you to smile anyway. (BTW my actual passport photo that i got taken at the passport office in SF is of me smiling nice and pretty… just sayin.) And then when he was cutting them and I tried to tell him that I needed them cut a little differently for the application, he wouldn’t do it and said that he wished I had told him in the beginning. Once I said that I did try to tell him (I had to remind him of this a few times) he tried to compensate by being a little friendlier and helpful, and said I could come back if I needed help cutting them myself, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that I tried to tell him what i needed and he cut me off and just rushed me through it, even though no one else was there.
It’s a small shop with just the one guy that owns and works there, which I appreciate and would like to support, and I know that lots of other people had a very different experience than me (my boyfriend went here for his passport photo and had a great experience), and the prices are good, and the place has character… but I am so bummed at how i was treated that I won’t be back.

Friendly and fast service from the one person working there. More of a mom and pop style operation than a slick corporate operation, but that’s a plus. The gentlemen working was able to take the passport photo immediately. He was helpful in making sure that the photo looked as nice as possible and gave me the opportunity to retake it if I didn’t like it. I was stopping in quickly before another appointment, so I came back after a few hours and the passport photos were ready to go. No issues in using the photos to get a new passport.

owner was very friendly and everything went smoothly. great great guy!

i got there just before closing on a saturday. The owner was friendly and efficient, took two tries to get my passport photo right. Conscientious and personable.

I love this place :) I’m an art and cs student at Cal, so I’ve had to print a lot of things, from color prints of art to posters to stickers to business cards. The guy who runs this place has always helped me figure out how to make good and affordable prints. He’s awesome and so are the prints. I really hope I can find a print shop as good as this everywhere I live in the future.

The owner/​guy at the cashier was playing this super cool Transformers soundtrack when I was there. He was also super nice.
Printing was fast and easy. I did a few copies of black and white which just came out a regular looking laser printer.

I really appreciate their services. I called them 10 mins before their closing time and they still took my request. Reached there, got my passport photo shoot, paid and left within 15mins. They are extremely friendly, even though it was already after their closing time, they are not pushy at all. 4 photos for ~$ 8 and the quality is pretty good. Would definitely recommend to people looking to get their passport photo.

This is the best place for passport photos hands down. My visa and application for japan asked for 6 pictures and luckily the RSF referred me here because it was a third of the price that I would have paid to take it there. I’ve come here twice already for various visa needs and the service has always been quick and professional.

Metro Publishing is amongst the shops across the street from Le Cal Berkeley Campus. It is situated amongst the shops there and is virtually next door to University Press Bookstore.
I am currently taking a six-​week documentary film history class this summer with the newly minted film and media professor I mentioned in my review of Zellerbach Hall. (I shall refer to him as «Le Professeur» as he may be mentioned in future Unilocal!reviews.) Le Professeur thinks quite well of Metro Publishing and has gotten readers printed there since his GSI days. When he announced he was going to go to Metro Publishing to check to see if they were ready, I announced I would go there with him. I was a tad bit concerned having read some of the reviews on Metro Publishing.
I was surprised when Le Professeur was not uploading his assigned readings like many of his peers and his professeurs before him on the Cal intrawebs. He had thought about it yet decided to work with what is best for him. And he has a professional rapport with the owner so he likes to give Metro Publishing the business. (Okay, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.)
Well, that was quite easy peasy when we arrived at Metro Publishing. Some of the class members were leaving with readers in hand. And there were a few in front of me purchasing their readers. When I saw the stack of the class readers, wow! They were simple yet very beautiful! And reasonably priced too! One of the class members thanked him for saving her money and paper in printing online documents on her way out the door. One of the associates rang up the cost of my reader which totaled about $ 25 including tax.
I did check-​in on Unilocal!regarding Metro Publishing and whoops, forgot my pack of paper. Must stop by to do so. Five stars because Le Professeur thinks quite well of Metro Publishing. Cool.

I came here to get passport photos done for my visas abroad and they were so cheap! 4 photos for $ 6.99 which is half the price of all the other close by places who do the service. Everywhere else was 2 for $ 8 or more.
The service was very quick and professional. He took the picture on his Mac with a nice webcam and a digital camera and then edited it on photoshop. Very nice photo! Definitely recommend.

Went here to get my passport photos. The staff was really friendly and professional, and I walked out with all my photos in hand within 7 minutes. The price is also reasonable: 4 for around $ 7.50 after tax. Great place! Highly recommended :)

I went here to get my passport pictures. Great deal and waaayy cheaper then so many other places. 4 for ~$ 7.50. Service was fast and easy.

Great place. Went there for SUPER cheap passport photos. 4 for under 8 bucks. Some places charge over 30 for that.
Guy has a good sense of humor.

Fast, cheap, competent.
I went in to fax four pages and it came out to be $ 3. Got my confirmation page printed out and everything. While I was there, he made copies for a guy in 60 seconds (give or take a few). A couple more people were there for internet – one on the many desktops that are set up there, and one using the wireless on his own laptop.
Very calm inside. Call beforehand to check out prices. An alternative to Zee Zee Copy’s busy atmosphere!

To do it right: Depends
I needed to pick up a packet of Japanese HW, they had said packet. I asked for the packet, they asked me to pay for it. I paid, and we were good. Quick trip from campus, exorbitant prices, as expected.
Summary: Fits right into the expectation box.

Metro Publishing is a small internet/​business cards/​copy store located on Telegraph Ave. Telegraph is pretty busy since it’s located right across from UC Berkeley. You’ll have to circle a few times around the block to look for parking, or there’s a parking structure located on Durant Ave. and Telegraph Ave.
The first time I went to Metro Publishing to buy business cards. The guy working there was pretty nice. He showed me the different options and pricing, but I ended up not ordering there because I wanted to shop around first.
I went there a second time to buy a class reader. The person working there only allowed three people in at a time. His explanation for that was that the store is too small.
I told him the class I was taking and and he just rang me up for the reader. He didn’t even let me check to see if it’s the right one. Customer service could have been better.