Best Ways to Print Photos at Home
With the advent of smartphone technology, the future of photo printing has been questioned. Some people believe that the market for print photography will never rival what it was years before the digital revolution, but it is actually premature to state that the industry is shrinking. In fact, people are still searching for the best way to print photos at home.
Given the advancements in digitalization, the Internet, and laser printing, the photo printing business is actually doing better than it ever has. Print-on-demand services have now allowed for mass personalization initiated with the touch of an app or a click of the mouse. So, what photography trends will we see in 2017? Read on for a few of the most popular ideas and some of the newest emerging technologies.
Photo Printing Apps
There are apps for everything these days, and the photo printing industry is no different. There are apps that allow you to take better photos, apps for editing photos, and even apps for printing. Apps may even come into play this coming year as one of the best way to print photos at home.
There are many apps that work as a mediator to send photos taken on other devices, such as iPhones, Androids, and tablets, to your desktop for printing. Other apps may send photos via Bluetooth to wireless printers where they are immediately printed. Some printing companies even offer apps for uploading photos to produce personalized collages, flip books, or calendars using the photo collection from your own phone.
Photo Collages
Any time you have multiple photos depicting an event, and you’re not sure which ones you should highlight or frame, a printed photo collage makes for a great option. Collages are one of 2017’s most interesting photography trends and symbolize a new spin on the old cut-and-paste photo spread.
Collages may actually be one of the best ways to print photos at home, since you can arrange these all-encompassing prints by a theme, such as “Baby’s First Year” or “Summer Vacation.” Even if you have a plethora of unrelated photos, you can mix them seamlessly by printing them all in black-and-white to produce a cohesive collage. These photo collages are decorative and unique. Plus, they work well in scrapbooks, as decor, or in holiday cards.
Photo Flip Books
People today are falling in love with bringing the digital world back into the real one. While it was once more exciting to receive an email than a physical letter, today, the opposite holds true. Since printing digital media has become such a huge trend, personalized flip books have made a reappearance as well.
Many people go so far as to create monthly or yearly photo flip books to memorialize important moments that are currently only recorded on their phone. There are many apps that allow you to create a flip book on your own, as well as a number of companies that will complete this service for you.
This latest photography trend is a retro method for preserving snapshots of your life, so they can be treasured for years to come.
Personalized Calendar
Personalized calendars make heartfelt Christmas gifts for relatives, especially when the New Year is right around the corner from the holidays. Many people are creating calendars with mementos from their favorite moments together throughout the year.
There are many ways to create a calendar with sentimental meaning. You can mark the birth dates of family and friends, anniversaries, or any other other day that is important to the recipient. With an artistic eye for detail and fascinating subjects to photograph—from your children to outdoor scenery—designing these types of calendars can become a real labor of love.
Promotional Calendars
Though less sentimental, calendars printed to promote your business are just as important. Many companies give these calendars away as a promotional material. There are no set calendar designs, so this is a totally creative endeavor, although some printing companies do offer templates for ease of design. The best way to save money when printing calendars is to print photos at home.
Canvas Prints
These beautiful prints make lovely pseudo-paintings of your treasured pictures. Give them as gifts or hang them around your home for instant ambiance. They are an affordable alternative to fine art for creatively dressing up your walls. People love creating a family wall, whether it’s with wedding picture canvases, front and center, or canvases of each child. For the office, you could try a canvas of a still life photo or a scenic backdrop.
Many of these canvases are self-hanging and don't even require a frame. They are light and easy to maneuver. If you have children at home, you should take note that these pictures are lighter and safer than framed prints in case of an accidental fall. There is no glass, so there is no mess or dangerous clean-up.
Photo Merchandise for Families with Children
From coffee cups and cell phone covers to mouse pads, photo print merchandise is more popular than ever. Using prints in this way is an innovative way for amateur photographers to display their talents to others around the office and while traveling. It's also a great way to keep your family's images by your workspace without depending on cliche framed photographs.
If you have a baby or young children, you can even order printed photo merchandise as personalized gifts for aunts, uncles, and grandparents to cherish for years to come. There is no limit to the various items that can personalized, so, with a healthy imagination, there are endless possibilities for decor and gifts.
Photo Cards
Photo cards are no longer limited to Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s wishes. Since printing-on-demand is now more common, photo cards are more affordable than ever, allowing them to slowly creep into the overall greeting card market.
These custom cards are now sent to commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, and given as personal love notes between loved ones. With high-quality glossy paper and a laserjet printer, creating personalized cards can be one of the best ways to utilize home-printed photos. Whether you opt for a small collage or an endearing print, these cards are more likely to appreciated by the recipient than those with generic graphics found at the drugstore.
Coffee Table Books
Lay-flat books are gorgeous coffee table-style books that feature your images across a two-page spread. The special binding allows the book to lay flat in a manner that ensures the pages connect and form the full picture without any part getting lost in the spine. Sometimes, these books may be bound with a coil or wire to guarantee they remain flat; however, most of the lay-flat albums are simply manufactured to allow for a continuous photo.
These picturesque books have been recently known to take the place of traditional wedding albums, as well as albums of other special events, such as christenings and vacations. If they are put on display, then they also offer a wonderful conversation piece for visitors to your home. The best way to make these books is to print the photos at home and create them yourself.
Printed Apparel and Furnishings
Printing on fabric is so common that clothing can be affordably adorned with personal photos as well. Fathers proudly display their children on custom ties, while soccer moms cheer on their kids while displaying family snapshots on t-shirts. One of the best ways to print photo shirts at home is to print your photos on iron-on paper, then simply steam press the decal where you want it. These also work well on handbags, pocketbooks, and backpacks.
Youcan also personalize sheets, blankets, throw pillows, and pillow cases with your personal photo prints. Whether you want to honor a beloved pet or you want to personalize your duvet with your photos of the desert or seashore, printing on fabric is a creative way to decorate your home or office. When done tastefully, these printed accents can bring any room to life, reflecting the personality of the person that occupies the space.
Amazon Enters the Photo Printing Market
Late in 2016, Amazon released its very own photo printing service, hoping to compete with the likes of Shutterfly, Snapfish, and other giants in the market. Like those competitor sites, Amazon is offering a variety of photo products, such as custom prints in several sizes, photo books, and photo merchandise. They offer competitive pricing on these products and may emerge as one of the best companies for printing photos at home.
The Best Ways to Print Photos at Home
These new and exciting ways to use photos bring the excitement back to taking snapshots. Amateur photographers are still building scrapbooks and putting together albums, but not in the antiquated manners that most people are accustomed to. As 2017 dawns, the business of taking photos remains in full swing. Between social media and the booming print-on-demand industries, it is safe to say that people are sure to be shooting personal photos for years to come.
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