The quality of a photo depends on many factors such as the camera, lighting, composition, exposure, focus and more. Your smartphone camera takes much of the guesswork out by making all these settings automatic. A more proactive photographer can tweak these settings to their liking.
Aside from the camera itself, the subject affects how others react to a photograph. When it comes to selfies, you are your own worse critic. Whether it’s a selfie or group photo, you want to look your best, don’t you? Tap or click here for Kim’s tips on taking better pictures of yourself.
We recently answered a couple of questions from one of Kim’s listeners regarding photo storage and sharing videos. Now we’ll get to her other question and show you some easy ways to print pictures.
You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers
Carolyn told Kim she had 21,000 photos in her phone and needed a storage solution. We gave her some options, including backing up her phone, using Amazon’s services or going the physical route with an external hard drive.
For her next question, Carolyn asked about combining the videos on her phone into movie clips to share with her family. We recommended some first and third-party apps. Tap or click here for the story.
Carolyn’s third question was as follows:
“With so many photos, it becomes an issue to easily print my pictures. The online sites for local printing stores require me to upload all my photos and select from those which ones to print. I have resorted to emailing myself the photos I wish to print or use for a project. Then I transfer them to our PC. Then I can select and upload them for printing. There must be an easier, less frustrating, and less time-consuming way. Please help!”
Print is not dead
Digital photos are easy to take and even easier to share, but we still enjoy the feeling of holding one in our hands or leafing through a photo album. You have a few options to get the photos off your phone and onto paper.
You can invest in a quality photo printer like our sponsor’s Epson EcoTank. Unlike other printers that use expensive ink cartridges, EcoTank printers employ refillable tanks.
You can print up to 11,000 black-and-white pages or 8,500 color pages per full tank. You’ll also save around 80% on replacement ink with ink bottles vs. traditional ink or toner cartridges.
Fill ‘er up
Choose from the EcoTank Photo ET-8500 or the EcoTank Photo ET-8550. According to Epson, they both print 4″ x 6″ borderless images in as little as 15 seconds. You’ll only spend about 4 cents per print compared to an average of 40 cents if you go with an ink cartridge printer. The ET-8500 can print up to 8.5″ x 11,” and the ET-8550 can go up to 13″ x 19.”
Epson’s EcoTank photo printers are easy to load and come with a high-resolution flatbed scanner and wireless printing capabilities so that you can print directly from your phone.
Both printers are compatible with Epson Print Layout software, which simplifies the printing process. It’s a photo printing interface that offers photo templates, borders, frames, color options and more. You can even print gallery-wrapped images to mount to a canvas. Tap or click here for more information on these printers, including two pro models.
If you don’t want to print photos yourself, you can let someone else do it.
FreePrints
FreePrints is a free app for iOS and Android that lets you order up to 85 free 4″ x 6″ prints per month (limit one print per photo), though you do pay for shipping, which ranges from $1.99 to $9.99.
Open the app, select your photos from your camera roll, Dropbox, Google Drive or social media, choose your quantities, and that’s it. Your prints will arrive in a few days.
For an additional cost, you can enlarge your photos up to 20″ x 30.” You can also pay for more pictures if the limit isn’t enough for you.
It sounds pretty good, but remember that you get what you pay for, even if it’s free. Reviewers cite inconsistent photo quality or damaged prints and delays in receiving their orders.
Print Studio
Print Studio is an app available for iOS devices that offers printing services for photos, photo books, home decor (wood prints, framed prints), stationary (stickers, greeting cards) and gifts (calendars, holiday ornaments).
Choose the print product you want, select a photo for printing from your phone, check out and wait for your order to arrive in the mail.
The app is free, but you pay for your photo products, ranging from under $10 up to $100.
Keep reading
Turn your used printer cartridges into cash
How to capture images in 3D and bring new life to your old 2D photos