Was curious about how many of you actually print your shots out.
Obviously with film it was a prerequisite, but now its all digital i find i don't print any actual prints out.
I was chatting with someone about this a while ago, and it got onto the wider discussion of the effect digital tech will have on recording history. Future historians will not have the same amount of photos and letters (now we have email) to use in their studies and research if everything is 1's and 0's on someones computer.
I printed some of my shots out a few weeks ago to send to my Gran, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the results. I guess I shouldn't have expected too much, going to Jessops, but I had a gift card to use. I had a lovely shot of the cherry blossom in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow and it had a horrible yellowy-brown cast to it when printed that definitely wasn't there onscreen. Some people have recommended Shutterfly for digital prints so I may consider using that. I was looking at getting a photobook made of my project but it's quite expensive so I might just get the prints done and do a scrapbook instead.
Nope, a few years back we printed about 200 shots from various holidays because according to Rachel "it's nice to have real photos" but do we ever look at them? no! they're in a drawer and we just use the laptop to look at / show people the photos, you get a nice slideshow and accompanying music with the laptop too :-)
I doubt there is going to be any shortage of photos for historians, think how many shots are shared here daily. Far more than would have been taken in the past. I very much doubt the internet is going to permanently disappear, short of a nuclear war, asteroid or alien attack (it's possible!)
I understand what you are saying about things not being "real" and just being digital, there are projects going to keep documentation of JPEG codec etc so in the future, long after JPEG's have gone that we will still be able to decode them, it's not perfect but i think the benefits today outweigh the problems we *might* come up against in the future, besides, i'm sure they'll work it out.
I want to know what historians in 500 years will have to say about i can haz cheeseburger.
i've printed a few shots of my studio stuff out... some of the people i've talked to at the club suggest that when you print them out, the colours may not come out as expected.
Their point was that you should print a few pictures out to get an understanding of the difference. I havent actually checked this versus what I see on the PC but that actually touches on a whole other issue which encompases your montior settings etc.
Because I am a learner at Photog * see * I used to take them to my local phot shop, got a bit costly. Then I was told that your better to do it yourself it will be cheaper. Not if you are on Dell cause their cartridges are a very costly item. I am now doing Scrapbooking - have over 10 Books not all fitted together yet but pages done, and now my husband says do the printing for yourself.
Besides everyone, when the big bang comes we won't be here to care about Photos or Albums, Prices or freebie, we will be in another form or spirit. So I am just keeping those sort of thoughts out of my head, cause I think I would stop doing all the Picture taking. Wouldn't you?
I print out a few.... sometimes to give to people... but most of them stay on the PC. A dozen or so are included in the Parish magazine so I guess they get "printed"....!
I print mine out from time to time, mainly for gifting as normal photos and also in calendars. I use snapfish and I've been really happy with the photos/colour quality and the customer service (they once sent the wrong size prints and replaced them within a couple of days from my email!)
I love having prints, but find that unless I'm framing them for display, they do tend to end up in a box somewhere and some point you start to run out of walls and surfaces huh? :-)
I keep a folder on my computer labeled "to print". If I have a photo I really like I can add it to the folder and when the folder has enough, I send them out for printing.
Someone mentioned that their colors were wrong when they printed. That is because your monitor is not calibrated properly. There is software you can buy to do this, but it's expensive. I bought a calibration kit from MPix ($3), it comes with an image CD and matching print. You load the CD and adjust your monitor settings until it matches the print. It worked pretty well. My pictures come out mostly like I see them on my screen. You can also find instructions on the web to do it free. If I was a professional, I would invest in the calibration software.
I don't print all of mine (why print a suck shot?!), but when I manage to take a photograph I really love, I print it, frame it, and hang it. I love being able to decorate my home with art I created -- it's fun!
I also sometimes print and frame as gifts, if I have photos that I think someone else would appreciate.
I never print anything unless I intend to frame it though.
yes i do especially those but only those which I like or I want to be easily accessible. same with ashley, i actually plan on turning one room of our house into some sort of studio where i can also put up my favorite shots, printed and framed.
i print some out if i did a shoot for some friends , but recently i got a couple blown up and framed for my mum on mothers day .. Its cheap enough to print ur photos and they are something ppl always enjoy to look at .
I disagree; historians will actually be deluged with visual information. Prints degrade; digital doesn't. Especially with photos being posted online all the time, your photos take on a life of their own throughout the electronic ether.
I print some out, my 5 year old LOVES to see pics of himself and I put them into an album for him and he just takes it off his book shelf and will browse! Plus, I make some albums for me, especially of my son! I have printed some of shots and have them in frames, in my office and at home.
I print out quite a few of mine, mostly to share with photography class and pass out to the people who model for us. I like having a hard copy if they turn out good.
I usually just go when they are having a special on prints. Most of the time I don't pay more than 10 cents per picture.
My teacher gave us a tip on taking your photos somewhere. He said if you edit them at home and take them in, or upload them to a site for printing, ask them to turn off the automatic adjustment when they print them. That way the will come out just as you send them in.
I do, but usually of important things like my recent graduation, a buck and doe, vacations, things like that. I also have some of my own printed, but they're just 4 by 6's so not really a great size to display. I do want to get some of them blown up and displayed properly eventually.
If I have a photo I am especially proud of, I print it and put it on my Post-it Bulletin Board above my desk at work. I have one colleague who stops by to see what's up and likes my pics. I leave each one up about a week then change it out.
Had a few printed out on canvas for friends and family (lame gifts) but requested lame gifts might I add. Agree on that not many people print out now what with re-writable cd/dvds, USBs to store such shots etc
Although historian thing, I reckon they have too much too cope with and will find ways to access it...millions of servers out there being backed up by another million servers, in turn backed up by another millions servers and then all compressed on 7 tapes. Which are stored in my loft. So they're safe...
I never print my photos unless I'm doing an art project or making a gift. I never really look at all my film photo prints, but I look at my digital ones often, mainly because I can access them so fast. I agree with Vikdaddy's remark that historians will be deluged with visual information from now on. I only hope that we'll have no reason to regret posting photos on the Internet.
Most stay on the computer. In the past, I would print out a few if we needed to share or they were asked for, but now I wait until a print place has a deal going and print a few. I also decided that my photos would work as notecards and birthday cards. The colors are not quite the same and the effects are a bit different; I don't get quite the same glow that I get on the computer screen which is a bit disappointing sometimes. I had some cool water drop shots that really lost something when I had them printed for notecards.
I print almost all of my mine. I keep them on an external hard drive as well, but if I were to ever lose them from a computer glitch or malfunction, I'd be DEVASTATED!!!!
I have family celebrations, vacations and other most important things printed. It is nice to make a kind of scrapbook of my travels: travel & entrance tickets, maps, postcards go to my folder too.
I think it's wise to print out your photos. I used to print out all my camera originals but that became stupid as I take so many shots to edit down. Now I just print a finalised "set". There are two good reasons to print stuff out - first, shots always look different on paper than they do on a computer monitor and it can help you with your Photoshop (or whatever) processing. Secondly, it's an analogue backup of your most important photos - just in case the worst happened to your digital masters and digital backups. Remember - have identical copies in three different places to be completely safe.
The Gadget Show did a test run of the best print services on the highstreet and web. Jessops came out as being very poor - which I agree with. Snapfish came out as being best for all-round quality and price. If you have Picasa, you can send bunches of files directly to online printing services with something like a three-day turnaround. Snapfish is one of them, thankfully.
I was printing them out, and making photobooks, but that is massively expensive at some point. Especially the books.
Now I have a nifty Album-life digital photoframe which has a battery, so I can easily take it along to family if I want to show off some photos or holiday shots. Much better investment, no more printing for me :-)
About the only things I print are pictures of my son to send to grandparents and aunts and uncles. Other than that it's rare that I will print out anything on a regular basis. I will print some shots that will go in a scrapbook type thing but usually I just make a photobook at MyPublisher.com of my favorites and I try to do one for each year of my sons life to chronicle his childhood. That's the plan for this project too. I also plan to print out some of my favorites of this project to use in my office if I can find the frames I'm thinking of in my head.
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I doubt there is going to be any shortage of photos for historians, think how many shots are shared here daily. Far more than would have been taken in the past. I very much doubt the internet is going to permanently disappear, short of a nuclear war, asteroid or alien attack (it's possible!)
I understand what you are saying about things not being "real" and just being digital, there are projects going to keep documentation of JPEG codec etc so in the future, long after JPEG's have gone that we will still be able to decode them, it's not perfect but i think the benefits today outweigh the problems we *might* come up against in the future, besides, i'm sure they'll work it out.
I want to know what historians in 500 years will have to say about i can haz cheeseburger.
Their point was that you should print a few pictures out to get an understanding of the difference. I havent actually checked this versus what I see on the PC but that actually touches on a whole other issue which encompases your montior settings etc.
Besides everyone, when the big bang comes we won't be here to care about Photos or Albums, Prices or freebie, we will be in another form or spirit. So I am just keeping those sort of thoughts out of my head, cause I think I would stop doing all the Picture taking. Wouldn't you?
I love having prints, but find that unless I'm framing them for display, they do tend to end up in a box somewhere and some point you start to run out of walls and surfaces huh? :-)
Someone mentioned that their colors were wrong when they printed. That is because your monitor is not calibrated properly. There is software you can buy to do this, but it's expensive. I bought a calibration kit from MPix ($3), it comes with an image CD and matching print. You load the CD and adjust your monitor settings until it matches the print. It worked pretty well. My pictures come out mostly like I see them on my screen. You can also find instructions on the web to do it free. If I was a professional, I would invest in the calibration software.
I also sometimes print and frame as gifts, if I have photos that I think someone else would appreciate.
I never print anything unless I intend to frame it though.
I usually just go when they are having a special on prints. Most of the time I don't pay more than 10 cents per picture.
My teacher gave us a tip on taking your photos somewhere. He said if you edit them at home and take them in, or upload them to a site for printing, ask them to turn off the automatic adjustment when they print them. That way the will come out just as you send them in.
Although historian thing, I reckon they have too much too cope with and will find ways to access it...millions of servers out there being backed up by another million servers, in turn backed up by another millions servers and then all compressed on 7 tapes. Which are stored in my loft. So they're safe...
The Gadget Show did a test run of the best print services on the highstreet and web. Jessops came out as being very poor - which I agree with. Snapfish came out as being best for all-round quality and price. If you have Picasa, you can send bunches of files directly to online printing services with something like a three-day turnaround. Snapfish is one of them, thankfully.
Now I have a nifty Album-life digital photoframe which has a battery, so I can easily take it along to family if I want to show off some photos or holiday shots. Much better investment, no more printing for me :-)
Happycat shall be worshipped as a god.