Printing
Since the arrival of digital photography the number of images taken has skyrocketed and the number of images printed has fallen. We no longer have to wait avidly for that little envelope of 36 exposures that is probably destined to spend the rest of its life in that envelope in a box or drawer.
Why Print?
The act of selecting photographs for printing has a beneficial effect on our photography; we are only likely to select the best of our images for printing so we may strive for better images if we intend to print them. We might even return to have a second go. At the very least, the selection process leads to self criticism of our images.
The range of print products has increased since those days of the 36 6x4 s. You can produce photobooks (printed albums), mousemat, mugs, and teeshirts to name just a few.
You can leave a photobook on your coffee table for guests to flick through; more intimate than handing them your phone or tablet.
You can create album pages or montages to combine several images, as I am doing in my project:
Home Printing
Home photo printers have fallen in price and improved in quality of output, though the cost of specialist photo paper and printer inks remains high. Though they are smaller than they were they are still relatively bulky and are normally associated with a PC rather than phone or tablet, though you can print to a printer from your phone or tablet. There are a few specialist printers designed for use with mobile phones but I doubt if this would be viable option for any of our members due to the high cost of consumables. Probably more use for professionals who need an instant image to leave with their clients; a modern equivalent of the Polaroid cameras of old!
I got rid of my photo printer before moving to WG as I found I was not printing enough images to justify the cost of a new printer and was wasting a lot of expensive ink as it was drying up from lack of use.
Online Printing
There are many online Printing companies, most of which offer apps for phones and tablets that connect straight to your photo libraries. For example:
Photobox has been my company of choice for many years
Snapfish is a market leader in the UK, used to be TruPrint in the days of film.
Many others on Google or search on your App Store to download their apps.
Blurb is more high end, specialises in publications and prints overseas (in Europe). I have used them once, very high quality, but more expensive
Print Panoramics is a specialist company I have just used to print a panoramic image. Small company excellent service, consider them if you want large exhibition, presentation images.
High Street/Supermarket
Many supermarkets and high street shops, e.g. Timpsons, offer machine printing from memory cards. I have not used any of these services so cannot comment on them.
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