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Last updated on May 5th, 2023 at 02:56 am
A photo organizing project is a major project in my book. I took a break but dove back in when an email dropped into my inbox that prints were on sale for the weekend. Since the next part of my project is to print my digital photos, the timing was perfect.
But the big question is should you print your digital photos?
Before, I didn’t think I really needed to print any photos. After all, I create family yearbooks with our favorite pictures, so why bother?
After my grandfather passed, my dad brought home an old scrapbook filled with photos of my grandfather’s childhood. There’s something irreplaceable about having pictures printed on glossy photo paper that makes the past come to life in a way printed photobooks don’t.
Besides, there’s a difference between a set of printed photos and a family yearbook. Printed photos are for specific moments and memories. A family yearbook tells the story of the year. Yes, it does include specific stories, but some photos don’t fit into the story the yearbook is telling.
I choose to print photos that are in my family yearbook and other favorites that weren’t included. These are the photos I want to come across with my grandchildren to tell them the story of what happened.
In previous posts, I went over creating a single photo hub and how to declutter and organize photo and video files.
In this post, I’ll cover how to print digital photos, a comparison of print providers, and a plan for printing in the future.
Where to print
There are many places to have photos printed. But if you’re planning to print an entire year’s worth —or several years’ worth of photos —you have to get strategic.
In the past, I always used Costco Photo for my prints. However, now that Costco shut down its in-store photo centers, it doesn’t matter where I print since it has to be shipped no matter where I go (if I want to save money).
Since I like to use Shutterfly for my photobooks, it makes sense to order prints from them. Shutterfly is always having some kind of promotion, so I wait until there’s a deal to print. (At the time when I printed my first batch of yearly photos, 4×6 prints were $0.09 each.)
Here’s a comparison of pricing for 4×6 prints:
| Costco | Walmart | Target | Shutterfly | CVS | |
| $0.11 | $0.09 | $0.39 | $0.18 | $0.25 | $0.25 |
I can’t speak to the quality of the prints for all except Costco and Shutterfly, since those are the only places I’ve ordered from before. If I do decide to speed up my photo project, I’ll test a batch from Walmart since the pricing is competitive.
It’s worth noting that Shutterfly offers print plans (if you choose to do this, order during a promo period). They also offer free “unlimited” photos when you download their app. You must order within a couple of days of downloading the app and you get 250 prints. I don’t think it’s a bad deal to take advantage of if you plan on doing a lot of printing.
Choosing photos to print
Part 2 of this project was about decluttering and organizing all the files. Once they’re organized, it’s easier to sort through and decide which photos I like best and want to print.
Here’s how to do it:
01. Within the monthly folder (i.e. “2020-01”), create a new folder titled “2020-01 Prints.”
02. Change the file view to “Extra Large Icons” so you can see your photos better. Drag and drop (or cut and paste) your favorite photos to your new Prints folder.
03. If you have events folders within your monthly folder, you can cut and paste photos from those events folders into your “2020-01 Prints.” Or if the event has enough photos, create a new Print folder for that event (i.e. “2020-01 Birthday Party Prints”).
04. Repeat these steps for every monthly folder.
Uploading photos for printing
As I finished choosing photos to print within each monthly folder, I uploaded them to my print provider.
Rather than creating a separate album per month, I created a single album titled “Best of 2020.” I know I’m going to print all the photos going into the album. All I have to do is select “Print All.”
Plan to print digital photos
Once I’m caught up on printing, my plan is to upload and print photos quarterly or bi-annually, to keep costs down.
Since I create my photobooks at Shutterfly, it saves time to print with them too. The reason why is that I won’t have to spend time uploading photos to several different providers. My photos are already curated into a “Best Of” album. I can choose photos from this album for my family yearbook.
Storing prints
Now that I’m printing these photos, I need to decide how and where to store them.
One summer, my mom bought several packs of photo albums to replace the many shoeboxes worth of photos. I know I don’t want to use shoeboxes (because let’s face it …I’m already using all my shoeboxes for other organizing projects). I also don’t know that I want to use photo albums because they take up so much space.
I’ve decided to invest in archival photo storage since my goal is to keep these photos for future generations. These specific boxes are acid-free so the photos will keep. They’re not the most beautiful boxes, but since I’m already investing in printing, I want something that’s going to keep their quality.
There are other highly-rated photo organizing products on Amazon, however, most are plastic. Plastics contain oils that will eventually damage the photos.
I plan to store the photos in my home office for now. Eventually, when we build built-ins in our living room, I’d like to move our photos in there. They’ll be within easy access for us to look at every once in a while.
When you’re determining where to store your prints, think about the purpose of having them printed. Are they only for archiving away for the future? Or do you want to be able to enjoy them throughout the years?
Organizing Printed Photos
I plan to organize my printed photos similar to how I organized my digital files —by year, then by month. These archival envelopes are supposed to come with the box I’ve chosen, which will be the perfect way to sort my photos by month.
Once I’ve completed this process, I’ll update this post.
Additional backup
If you’re not interested in printing your photos, I’ll cover backing up your digital photos and videos in next week’s post. Although it’s possible to recover files from a hard drive, it’s good to have a fail-safe.
Read other parts of this series:
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