The Case for Printing Photos

Being inside our home through renovations, COVID-19, and Florida’s rainy season has given us a lot of time to explore new things to do within our home. I was surprised (though I really shouldn’t be, right?) to find out just how much our four year old loves to look through old photos and hear stories about the lives of his family members before he was born.

“Whoa! Papou (my dad) had big curly hair and a mustache?”

“Wait! Daddy was a kid?!”

“Why didn’t Parra Yiayia (great-grandmother) want this picture in color?”

It’s led to really great conversations and stories- recalling my own childhood memories- that I don’t think would have happened looking at a computer screen.

It helped reaffirm my mission to make sure my clients print these memories on the best inks and papers to ensure 200 years from now some distant relative will pick up the picture and hear a wonderful story about this crazy time we are going through.

If you have explored my product posts a bit, you know that I work with two of the best companies in the world for wall art and albums.

Before I knew better, I printed my personal images with the cheapest or most convenient options I could find. I wasn’t thinking about longevity- I just wanted a small 4×6 to share or put in a frame. Well, less than 20 years later and those images are fading, turning an unflattering bluish green. My black and whites are now a bit purple. At least I still have these digital files (somewhere) that I can reprint eventually, but there in lies the major hurdle, right?

I came across a really great article from the NY Times that goes into all of this in more detail and leaves me repeating it here a bit silly. I hope you click through to read more about different steps you can take now to preserve what images you have printed already and how to best curate those.

Ps. They recommend ordering prints from Nations Photo Lab. I also like to refer my clients to Mpix (owned by a professional lab named Miller’s) for their personal printing. Printing on any photo paper will eventually cause some fading or color change due to the coatings on the paper, but not all papers and inks are created equal. For truly special images, make sure you are using archival papers and premium inks (which are usually only options with a professional lab).