Picture Printing Ideas

Updated on January 15, 2009
M.O. asks from Phoenix, AZ
22 answers

Hello,
I am looking for some ideas on how and what to do with all my digital photos I have of my son. I have a four year that I started a photo album when he was little. I began printing out little 3x3's of the cutest pictures from birth up to three months old. I ran out of ink and just stopped. I haven't picked up printing since then. Now, I have over 2,000 digital photos on my computer and backed up onto CD's. I'm also eight months pregnant and REALLY want to get that printing at least half way done and on it's way while I still have a couple of months. The only issue is that I am looking for something cost-efficient and time-efficient. Ink, after a while, can become expensive. Photo paper is not so bad if I purchase it at Costco. I've looked into those printing sites, but I don't see anything smaller than 4x6's and I don't need the pictures that big. So, I'm wondering what do you all do with your digital photos? Now, I wish I had those 35mm film from back in the day. Just click, develop, put into photo album! Now, with those digital cameras, it's click, click, click, record, click, upload, view, email, backup, then never look at for a few months again! It's funny how technology changes our way of life sometime!

So, please give me some cost and time-efficient ideas or tell me what you do with all your photos. I want a physical photo album, because DVD's aren't as convenient as a physical book with pictures.

Thanks so much and I'm curious as to hear your ideas! (I've tried scrapbooking, but the same thing happens, I start on it, realize how much time it takes to do a few pages and set it down and never finish it... so that's not for me.)

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D.H.

answers from Santa Fe on

Try using either snapfish (a little cheaper) or shutterfly and put together photo books for certain timelines. I try to do one every year. The sites are very easy to use, just upload photos, pick out layouts and go from there. It does take time, but in the end you get a beautifully bound book. You can even order extra copies for family! Good luck and have fun!

More Answers

G.M.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi There!
I too have thousands of photos of my son! When he was first born, I just had a regular 35mm camera and took my pictures in to CVS to have them printed out. Now, with my new digital camera that I've had for the past two years, I've saved my pictures on CDs.
I also just bought this new program software called, SCRAPBOOK FACTORY DELUXE version 4.0. In this, has SEVERAL ways to create albums. Even a Scrapbook on DVD/CD. I'm going to start doing this. I've begun my project, but I have lots to learn about this software, that it will take lots of practice and being nosey inside of all the links and tools that I can use to build my projects. Hope this helps. It would be ideal for you since you have so many photos, unless you have photo albums that you want to use up first.
Each payday, just print out 30 or so, and save up to buy ink. I wish ink lasted longer, in my opinion. Just not enough to do a whole lot. :-)
Congrats ahead of time on your Nursing Bach.Degree!!!

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J.J.

answers from Phoenix on

if you are set on printing photos then go throught them and just keep the extra special ones. i keep mine on an external hard drie that way i can share wherever i go and they can print their own. i also pick the best ones out of each album and copy them onto cd's andgive them to the person that is in them or whoever would treasure them. most of my pictures are on cds and we just pop them into the dvd player to look at on tve or into the computer. my youngest jsut left for colege and came back or theholidays. it was like a calss reunion at our house for 2 weeks. all of his classmates except 2 were here. i was very involved with hsi school as an athletic trainer volunteer and team mom so the kids are very comofrtable here. i also gtook millions of pictures of everyone at all the sports events and graduation. i had them all put on separated discs for christmas and we sat and watched them over and over and everyone got to take one home when they left. lots of laughs nd memories. jsut popcorn and soft drinks and the kids have somuch fun. i just came back form oklahoma went o see my inlaws. i tok my hard drive and they picked whatever pictures they wanted and transfered them to their computer. and it was a great conversation peice because we got to share our whole year with them in a couple of nights. if you must print some then chose the very best or your favoirtes and then put them in an album. i also have some refrigerator magnes/ photo holders and i change the picture at least once w aweek on that. ihave the curset grandboys and i put their pictures in ther frames then i send them totheir parents so they can enjoy their baby's happy times at grandmas. myduaghter in law has taken to putting an inexpensive small phot album in the babys bag when he comes to stay over and i jsut put the pictures int here. i keep on grandson 4 or 5 days a week most of the time and the other one is with me almoste every weekend or at least part of the weekend so i do see them a lot and mom and dad get to see all the new things. i also send videos occasionall via disc. for example when my granson charlie first started walking, mom and dad were at work and i took a video and they were able to save it.

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M.S.

answers from Phoenix on

My hobby is photography and have a complete station in my home for it. I too have over 5k photos. first, I put them on an external drive and I set them up by albums. I download and then sort into albums. After that I can print index sheets 8x11 or create a collage (poster) using photoshop to mix photos together on one 8x11. clean up photos too-get rid of ones that are not your favorites. I have created a 3-ring for each child and marked it photos. I purchased sheet protectors to place them in. I print only the best and usually large 8x11. If you want to see all the others. click on the album and run slide show.

One very important tip. Do not buy ink cartridges with photo paper. The ink cartridges have only enough ink for 100 photos. I realized that after talking to sale associate and I have tons of paper but not ink. Recycle them and get credit for new purchases.

Another tip is look at the photo in black and white. some photos look better in b&w. Set properties to black only.
I hope this encourages you. Any tips for me are appreciated. I have not made time for scrap booking and probably will not. I would rather focus on selling photos on stock or entering photo contests.

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Y.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I know you mentioned that you've tried scrapbooking before, but have you tried digital scrapbooking? You can create your own custom hard bound books using your own photos and document your stories so that you can pass them on through generations. Heritage Makers is an online storybooking company and our software allows you to create your own custom hardbound storybooks, cards, calendars, posters, deck of cards and more using over 30,000 pieces of art. Our mission is to help others preserve their family legacies and heritage through the power of story. Most of us just keep our photos hidden in the closet or saved on our computer and don't ever share them. If we don't tell our stories, who will? We were recently listed as one of Oprah's favorite things and were also spotlighted on Good Morning America so there are some really exciting things happening. Please check out my website if you have a chance at www.DesignAStorybook.com. If you would like more information, please feel free to email me at ____@____.com. Thanks!

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H.A.

answers from Phoenix on

You should look at Walmart.com. They develop prints for $.09 each (this is the cheapest in town.) They also have really cute, hard cover books that you can add your own pictures, layouts, color schemes, and background starting at $17.99. I did a couple of these for the grandparents at xmas and they loved them! Just remember, this is coming from a scrapbooker and a mom of two, you don't have to print out every picture! You can keep the best ones and then put the rest on a cd or something. If you try and print out every photo, you'll be so overwhelmed and never get caught up. Good luck!

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W.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Close To My Heart has these cute pages called Simply Snapshots and they're designed so you just put 2 4x6 photos on (or more or less depending on size of photo) and then, depending on orientation of photos, across the top or down the side there is a bar to put down the info you wish (title, date, who/what/where ... we think we'll never forget BUT WE DO.) I have a website if you want to see it - wenonah.myctmh.com and this product is called Simply Snapshots (under speciality paper I think - just email me if you cant find it - or under the products link, it is on page 50 of the Idea Book)

I love love this and highly recommend this for little hands, for my mom (or anyone) who likes the idea of scrapbooking but is daunted by putting a page, let alone a book, together, or for busy new moms like my sister (who never even put photos into the slip in kind of albums before)

I print my photos at snapfish or walgreen or costco... wherever it's cheapest. Some of the lower cost prints aren't really because you then have to pay to ship it to your home, so I go for the slightly higher cost and pick up at the store. Or better yet, since I am also a procrastinator, I print a lot all at once (more than 50) as there often are deals on free shipping for more than 50 or a lower price on more than 50 prints.

I got a printer though as I want to print smaller or larger sizes sometimes if I am scrapbooking and decide I want this photo in that size. Bulk of my printing is uploaded though.

Just before I got bitten by the 'scrapbooking bug' I researched and looked for, then bought a lot (like 500 pages) of a 8 1/2 x 11 pocket photo page (holds 3 4x6's on each page, 6 front and back) so that I could do a mix of slip in photos and then the occasional special event I could scrapbook to tell a story and/or put large photos on. Well, I became a consultant and went to the 12x12 page format so those nearly 500 pages are sitting unused. If you would like to buy some from me please feel free to contact me! They fit in regular 3 ring binders and are archival safe, etc. The same size as regular full page protectors (like the regular 8.5x11 sheet protectors, but they are the archival safe type - got at office supply store). Perfect solution. Except that I'm using 12x12 now.

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A.E.

answers from Phoenix on

lol I think it's funny that you think digital is more difficult because I see it the other way around (not to mention that in the long run it's more expensive to use film).
That's not really what you asked though. Costco has the cheapest printing (that I know of) at 19 cents each (I think it's 19 cents). There is no way you could print cheaper than that yourself. Printing yourself takes a lot of time: you have to buy the paper, ink, reinstall ink after you run out (since you have so many to be printing). Plus printing them elsewhere will probably last longer as well.
I have an 18 month old and am pregnant with boy #2 in May. I haven't done ANY of my first sons scrapbooking and just recently had all mine printed too. I printed over 200 photos which felt like so many but then I had to remind myself that I was so far behind that I would have printed that many any way, except I chose to put it off and pay for the prints all at once instead of in segments.
Good luck! Don't make it too difficult on yourself! Costco's lab (online) is REALLY easy to use!

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C.H.

answers from Flagstaff on

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say you can't print smaller than 4X6. I can get wallet size prints 2x3. I use walmart.com, samsclub.com. Flikr is good, so is snapfish. The price may seem steep, but those photo books are really good. I recently put together a mini book for my sister's son who she gave away and wanted to meet his mother. I also have several mini book projects going for a grandma's brag book. It is like scrapbooking online and the finished product is soo worth the money. And the mini books are not that expensive.

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C.T.

answers from Albuquerque on

Try picturewaon.com. I have found this to be he cheapest website for getting prints delivered right to your door. You will have to upload your photos and then choose which ones you want. I sugges uploading them in groups of 250 or less. I had over 900 photos one time and i had to reak them down into smaller orders. it took forever one they were uploaded in such a huge group. Only upload the ones you want and then choose the whole photo album. You can choose the size and stuff. I think the prints are like 5 cents plus shipping and handling. It comes out to about 8-10 cents per photo which is cheaper than anything I have found so far. Snapfish n shutterfly are good with specials so check them out too.

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M.I.

answers from Albuquerque on

Are you planning on printing all 2000 pictures? That's a lot. Anyway, we usually print our photos at Smiths, we go to the photo kiosk at the beginning of our shopping and by the time we're done our pictures are done too. It's a lot easier and cheaper than printing them at home. Good luck and congratulations on your new addition!

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J.R.

answers from Phoenix on

Have you looked into a digital photo frame? That might ease some of your anxiety in the meantime and give you a chance to pick your favorites to print. We upload ALL of our digital pics onto a computer and then use that file as our screen saver, so we are contantly getting a slide show! Good luck!

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W.B.

answers from Phoenix on

I know you said you don't like scrapbooking but here is a very simplified version that my friend does. She sounds a lot like you. She geta her prints at the cheapest place she can find for that week - costco, snapfish.com etc. Usually 4x6 is cheapest but sometimes 3 1/2 x 5. Then she glues 2 or 3 per side to an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of colored cardstock (office supply kind, puts the sheets in page protecors and puts the pages in a 3 ring binder. When it's full she starts a new binder. She gets all of her supplies at Officemax, not specialty scrapbook stores. She sometimes writes a location or date on the sheet, but nothing fancy. She doesn't mat or crop pictures or anything that takes too much time. We "scrapbook" together and she gets 30 pages done in the time it takes me to do 1 or 2. This allows her pictures to be seen easily, but protected from little sticky fingers. Might be worth a try.

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D.S.

answers from Albuquerque on

Hi....I am a consultant for Creative Memories (scrapbooking and memory albums)and we have a software called Memory Manager. It is a digital photo organizing software and it will let you print photos at all different sizes on your own printer. YOu can also upload photos to the Creative Memories Photo Center for printing or you can upload to another site you use like Kodak, Snapfish, Costco, etc. In addition, we have a software called Storybook Plus where you can create digital photo books, cards, invitations, etc. If you go to www.creativememories.com, you can search for a consultant in your area who can help you with organizing and getting your photos into a photo safe album. I am in Rio Rancho, NM. Good luck.

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D.S.

answers from Phoenix on

Mystyque,

Looks like you got a lot of options (didn't get to read them all).

I have been creating photo books (1 per year) using Costco MyPublisherPhotobooks. I wait until they are 50% or 2 for 1 before printing then grandma gets one too.

I use my favorite shots and am learning to delete out of focus pictures. I'll keep the extras on cds for her.

I print many through Costco since I'm okay with 4x6.

Good luck

D

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K.P.

answers from Tucson on

What I've done with my two-year old is that I created an account (at no charge) at walmart.com. You can upload and share you photos with everyone you know. The best part is that you and anyone else you share your digital photo albums with can print pictures for pennies. I think it's like 19 cents per print for the standard 4x6. Its great because you can just chose to print what you want in any size that you want. They also have wallet size photos you can print 2X3.
My husband is in the Military so we live away from home. It was a great way to share photos and the grandparents could print any picture they wanted.
What I've also found convenient is if you are away on vacation and you find yourself out of space on your memory card, you can go to a walmart where they have those photo kiosk and stick your memory card in the slot and order prints right there or what we've done is order a CD for less than $2 and you get it back within the hour. I like Walmart because there is a walmart everywhere. I believe Walgreens has the same services.

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K.

answers from Phoenix on

Check out Walgreens.com., walmart.com and cvs.com.I used to print all of my own and it is now cheaper to go to one of these sites than to buy the paper and ink. I'm sure either Walgreens or Walmart prints smaller than 4X6 as they have wallet size. Good luck!

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K.H.

answers from Phoenix on

Hi,
I think the most cost efficient way is to get the 4x6 prints at Costco, or Kokak does a good job and you can pick them up at Target. Don't print out all 2000, just the main photos. Creative Memories has an album called the "Pic Folio" album and it is archival safe AND you just slip in the photos, no need for tape. You can put in journaling cards also. If you need a consultant to order from, let me know and I will give you her name. Some of the albums at the store are not archival safe, so beware. I also set aside time every month for 5 hours and either go to a workshop with my consultant to get out of the house and just scrapbook, or I do it at home and my husband watches the kids.

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J.S.

answers from Las Cruces on

I upload my pictures to Kodakgallery.com, there are many printing options. If I don't print right away, it saves the album on their computer, not mine, so it frees up space. I date my albums so I know when the pic's were taken for labeling the pic's later. They have great deals, and specials, sign up for the e-mail to get them. I have used them to print a wide range of things from pillowcases, to poster sized prints, to the regular 4 x 6's. You can also share your albums you upload with friends, and family. Enjoy!

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J.M.

answers from Phoenix on

I use snapfish.com. When you sign up with them, you get 20 free prints. They are regularly 9 cents each. Right now through midnight on January 15th, there is free shipping on your prints if you enter the promo code: FREESHIP50. I am going to do that. When you check out, it asks if you want 4x6 or a bit smaller. I guess you would want to do the smaller size. 4x6 are great though, because most photo albums fit that size picture. I would say that rather than printing all those pictures, then being overwhelmed with them, pick out the ones you really like. If they are blurry, or just overall not great shots, don't bother with them.

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T.S.

answers from Phoenix on

I have all of my pictures printed through Walmart.com. It is fairly easy. Just click to download. You can edit the pictures (crop, red eye, change colors, etc.) I think it is really easy. My mom even did it. That says how easy it is. My mom is very computer challenged. LOL! There are different printing options. You can choose to have them ready in 1 hour (a little more expensive), or pick up at the store in a couple of days. I have had no problems with them. I have even ordered things like picture magnets and mouse pads for gifts. Hope this helps. I know how it is. I am trying to get all of mine caught up, too.

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A.D.

answers from Phoenix on

You can print wallets at Walgreens, but I think that they have to be the same pic on each sheet....what about a photo collage? Most of the online places and maybe even Walgreens/CVS have them...I loathe scrapbooking so I'm in the same situation :)

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