Like most people, I love to have my images on my phone to use for my screen saver, social media, or to quickly show my family/friends but it’s just not quite the same as a tangible image.
Tangible images have the ability to be passed to one another or observed within our homes to share with our family and friends.
There are so many benefits to printing your images but the biggest one I believe is the emotional impact. When you are able to physically hold or look at a printed image, you have a deeper emotional connection and memory with that image.
I have this image of my daughter printed & hung in our living room & it makes me smile each time I see it.
I’ll discuss four of my favorite ways to turn those images (both professional ones and phone images) into tangible items!
#1 Traditional Prints
Old-school, yes maybe, but they are timeless. Each year my extended family comes to visit, we dig out the boxes of printed images placed in shoe boxes and connect over them. So even if you never make that scrapbook you keep telling yourself you’re going to make, still print the images!!
My GREATEST tip on printing standard prints:
PLEASE try avoid going to commercial labs (kiosks) in drug stores or department stores. These labs oftentimes print the color or exposure incorrectly.
- Use higher quality labs to do the job!
- If you have received a gallery from me then you have the option to order prints/artwork directly through a professional lab.
- Another great & user-friendly professional printing service is Nations Photo Lab.
- For phone images or smaller prints, I suggest using Mpix & Artifact Uprising. You can also get awesome photo books and keepsakes made from these companies as well.
Wanting to get a large framed print that’s ready to go? Here are the top two companies who I would suggest for online framing services: Framebridge & FrameItEasy
Or do you love the look of canvas more? I have both in my house depending on the images & where I want to place them. The two companies I would suggest for canvas are: Canvas on Demand & Canvas Pop
#2 Chatbooks
Chatbooks is an easy way to stay on top of getting your images into tangible items. These little books are not very time consuming & they’re affordable. You simply download the app & select which images from your phone you would like to include in your monthly book. We get one delivered to us every month & my daughter absolutely loves them!
For people who are in my phase of life (with small children) they even have a toddler guarantee which I thought was pretty awesome and a testament to how much children enjoy looking through images of their families & their lives.
#3 Mixtiles
Mixtiles are framed images that are designed to stick to any surface without leaving behind damage. The same concept as the command strips. We have a collage of mixtiles that I ordered from our wedding and they are still holding on strong. Highly recommend these!!
#4 Digital Picture Frame
At the very least, if you don’t have one already, consider purchasing a digital picture frame. You can display it in one of your living spaces & everyone in the family can enjoy it. I first purchased one of these for my grandmother several years ago and she loves it so much that I had to have one for myself as well. One of the best purchases I’ve ever made. We have the Aura brand but there are a lot of different makes/models out there to choose from!
Hopefully this will inspire you to make your images tangible in one way or another!
“Photography is the art of making memories tangible”
Destin Sparks
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