Scrapbooking tips: Printing photos via Shutterfly, Snapfish

Of course, besides the materials in the last post, one of the things you have to have to make a scrapbook is actual photos to put in it.

With the advent of digital cameras, the way we get printed copies of photos has vastly changed. And while I miss being able to bring a disposable camera to CVS and the surprise of what I'd find when I got the prints back, the new way offers a lot more choices.

I tried the print-them-yourself way on various printers we've had at home over the years, but for some reason they just never seemed to come out right. Plus, when you get down to it, buying the ink and photo paper and maintaining the printer is more cost and hassle then ordering them online.

Many people also may go to places like CVS or Walmart to get theirs printed, at both places you can do it in store, which would be time consuming for me because I order dozens at a time. But for Walmart you can also download them onto the site and go pick them up from the store.

However, I choose to rely on websites where you can upload them, order them online and have them shipped straight to your door.

It can be costly to do this depending how many prints you get and how fast you want them, but I've always been pleased with what I got.

There are two sites I've tried out, Snapfish and Shutterfly.


Snapfish isn't bad at all, and may be cheaper, but I was not pleased with the size the photos came out nor the quality of the paper used to print them. Though the last time I used the site was 4 or so years ago, so quality may have greatly improved.

But since around sophomore year of high school (about 7 years ago) I have relied on Shutterfly. It's excellent. So as not to ramble too much, which is far too easy to do when it comes to this stuff, here's a list of what I like about the site:

• Reliable delivery. I've never received bent or damaged photos. (Though this is in part thanks to UPS I assume, and if something did happen can't really be placed on Shutterfly.)
• Custom options for photos. You can add borders and backgrounds and details to photos. This might be unnecessary if you're making a scrapbook, but even then it can add a nice little touch. Plus, adding the decals is at no extra cost.
• Sizes. You can order prints as small as wallet sized or as big as a poster. I love this feature to get bigger sizes of photos that I want on the first page of an album or when I want a page devoted to a single picture.
• Warnings. When picking sizes and photos, the site will let you know if the quality of the picture will allow a good print, and what size the photo will print best at. This is great in making sure you don't get grainy or blurry images.
• Editing. You can crop and adjust the settings of your pictures right on the site. Even making them black and white or sepia with a click of the button. 

You don't have to take my word for it and can experiment with different printing sites, I'm sure there are dozens out there, but I have found Shutterfly to be easy to use and highly reliable.