Do Something With Your Pictures.
THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO GET THEM OFF YOUR SCREEN AND OUT IN THE WORLD
December is payback time for all those moments you took to tap the shutter button this year. Photos crave attention and just a little bit goes a long way.
The irony of digital photographs is that they make it possible for all the new wonderful ways we have to print and publish. Now anyone with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac can create wall and desk art, books and magazines, calendars, cards, acrylic blocks, and more. It is really, really easy, and you can delight your friends and family with the results. As a holiday gift or just because.
And I will show you how.
What makes this year especially fun are some great new ways that online printers have found to showcase and deliver your photos. Back when Apple launched their printing service in iPhoto, your choices were 3 sizes of photo books, a wall calendar, and folded greeting cards. Today you can create many sizes of books in different formats and materials, wall art as large or small as you want in styles like framed, metal, or acrylic, calendars in daily, monthly, or full year layouts, magnets, ornaments, wearables and more. Someone, somewhere can take your pictures and make something for you. All from the comfort of your desk or easy chair.
In simple terms, the process works like this, with variations for the kind of product you choose.
You decide on the project. What are you going to make?
You gather the pictures into a new Album for the project.
You find a vendor that can make the product. If they have an extension that plugs into Apple Photos, you install that. If they have a standalone App (especially on mobile) you download that. If their builder is on their website, you can use the ‘Save to Dock’ in Safari to get to it easily during the project.
You add the photos from your Album to the project builder.
You follow the layout prompts to build the product.
You place your order.
For some projects, like cards or prints, this process is very quick and can be completed in minutes. Calendars and photo books are more complex, but don’t have to be. Choosing 12 photos for a pack of 12 different postcards is the same work as 1 picture for each month of a year long calendar.
On photo books, it comes down to how many photos complete the ‘story’ and how many pictures you want to fit on a page. Don’t feel like you have to fill every square inch of the pages with pictures, either. Professional book designers use ‘white space’ to frame photos and help the reader focus on an image without distraction. Or the reverse - letting the photo take up the whole page.
. . . a photo book is something you want to go back to, over and over.
Remember that a photo book is something you want to go back to, over and over. A clean, creative layout with just the most important photos is usually more engaging than one where multiple images are jammed onto every page. If you feel like your pages are getting crowded and cluttered, consider adding more pages to spread things out. It does add cost to the book but it will also make your book more engaging over the many years you’ll enjoy looking at it.
If you are excited about making your own print projects, let me share some vendors I’ve used and liked. I base these suggestions on the general service and product quality I’ve seen, but may not have used all these particular products.
Mimeo Photos and Motif - These are two print services that offer extensions in Apple Photos. They were also print partners with Apple back when Apple branded their own print products, so they deliver the quality you expect from Apple. Mimeo actually owns and prints Motif books now, but I find the book builder for Motif a little better for my design taste. Mimeo, however offers books, calendars, prints, and cards whereas ordering with Motif is just a book/calendar play.
Presto Photo - This is another printer that offers a Photos extension, apps for iPhone & iPad, and online building. You can even create books in Pages or other layout app and upload files into their system. Very flexible. What I love about Presto is the many different styles of books. They offer mini books in packs that make great handouts or stocking stuffers. They also do cards, calendars, and photo prints. So many options and very Apple friendly.
WhiteWall - This is my favorite source for high quality wall art. You can order virtually any format, size, or style print from your own photos. A popular resource for the pro photography crowd, White Wall offers top notch service and an online builder that lets you visualize your finished print on a wall. Worth checking out just for inspiration if not ordering. They also have some gift and desktop sized products. WhiteWall’s lab is in Germany and products ship worldwide.
Social Print Studio - I love this California company for their clever products and earth-friendly branding. They offer easy to create photo products I don’t see elsewhere. Ultra-mini photo books, grid-of-photos wall prints, do-it-yourself sticker photo journals, and more. Innovative stands for desktop prints and even a 365 picture daily calendar. I get my favorite photos printed as postcards and mail them to my friends and family.
Parabo Press - Another supplier of photo gift products and prints. When you want to make a statement and not break the bank, Parabo’s 3’x 4’ Engineer Prints are awesome. Nicely printed on lightweight architectural plan stock, these prints can bring an empty wall or dorm room to life. Very cool. I also like the 20 piece square print packs to display on their photo rope or a string of fairy lights.
Milk Books - I consider Milk (Moments of Inspiration, Love, and Kinship) to be the gold standard of on-demand photo books. The direct-to-consumer arm of a world renowned publisher of award-winning tabletop books, the quality creates a stand-out presence on any table or bookshelf. Perfect for that special milestone book. The high-quality stitched binding is a unique feature that allows for near lay flat spreads without the stiff laminated boards used in layflat binding. Much more elegant. Their premium photo books also use archival materials for long life. You can also get Moleskine branded binding for something really unique. The company is based in New Zealand and prints in Hong Kong so you might have to allow a little extra time when ordering.
Blurb - If you want a quantity of photo books, Blurb is a good place to look. We’ve used them for family cook books and retirement/milestone books with combinations of supplied photos, hand written notes, and text. You can also make a custom soft cover trade journal with your own mix of photos and lined/grid/dotted pages throughout, and classy perfect bound magazines. Order direct or make your books for sale through their bookstore.
Felt - I can’t leave without mentioning cards from Felt. This is a mobile app that lets to build custom direct-to-recipient cards with up to 4 panels (8 sides) that you can create with photos, text, or both. You send your signature and handwritten notes and it gets printed on the card. It gets stamped and mailed direct. The panels are perforated so a favorite can be detached and added to a bulletin board or refrigerator.
This list just scratches the surface. I see new print providers show up online practically every day with clever new products and quality that was once out of reach for the average user.
How do you decide? The very best way is to try them. Your perception of quality may be very different than mine. Or you may want a range to choose from - budget to premium. The best bet is to find a couple printers that offer the products you want and use them on a small job. Even just a desk print or a small softbound book will give you an idea of their product quality and service.
One important factor is the color - or black and white - printing itself. Does it look good? Pretty much like what you see on your phone/monitor. If it doesn’t, what’s the problem? Is your display set correctly? Is the paper of sufficient quality? Is it just poorly printed? There’s always going to be a difference between your display and the printed page, but it should ‘feel’ like the same photo. Usually a conversation with the provider’s support desk can pin that down.
You’ll also get a feel for their layout app. Is it easy to use? I’ve left some otherwise great printers because their design process was a pain. For me that’s a dealbreaker. When you are rushing to make a gift book last minute on a Sunday evening you want things to work right and have access to a support desk if it doesn’t. That’s one reason I like the providers who have extensions for Apple Photos. They tend to follow the Apple-ease-of-use and support protocols. Plus, you can jump right into the Photos app if you need to adjust some color, a crop, or quickly find another picture.
What have you printed from your photos this year? Do you plan to create something for a gift or personal treat this holiday season? And if not, why not? Please let me know in the comments. I’d love to know.
We have amazing options to put our own art out in the world. Now.
If you are thinking about a photo book or other print project and want some guidance, sign up on my waitlist. I’ll be hosting a live intro to photo book and print creation very soon.
If you have a book project in mind and want it done for you, I can do that too. There’s still time to get your pictures off your screen and print something for the holidays.
You’ll love it.
We have used several services in Canada over the years. It is always a trade-off between using “simple” and “complicated” layouts, but “complicated” always looks a lot better. We have found Photobooks Canada a great provider with fast service and great quality.