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We’re all taking more photos than ever, but squinting to see them on a phone or hoarding them on your digital camera is not the optimal viewing experience. Here are a few reasons you should take it old school and print photos online, in either standard prints, an album, or a framed print on the wall.
Photo printing: Why is it so important? “Ask anyone who had the T-Mobile Sidekick in 2009 when their server crashed and everyone’s data—and pictures—were digitally lost to the ages,” says Chip Cordelli, an interior design consultant and prop stylist. “Even Paris Hilton, who was the chief promoter for the Sidekick, lost hers. History is a lesson in why we should print out pictures.”
“The permanence of digital records is a concern,” says Roch Craford, a photographer based in Brooklyn and Portland, Oregon. “You’ll appreciate this if you’ve ever lost all the data on your phone. I have. A print or a book, especially if printed on archival materials, is a more or less a permanent document.”
“I heard a talk some time ago that future generations won’t know what we physically looked like or the fashions we wore because printed images of us won’t exist,” adds Cordelli. “Because instead of printing pictures, we count on the digital versions to satisfy our need to archive our lives. And often those remain on phones, hard drives that become obsolete, or on social media. Printing images on quality paper solves that problem.”
“Phone cameras are limited as viewing devices due to the size limitations dictated by the need for a phone to be handheld,” says Craford. And while reviews for Adorama show there’s a full range of fantastic digital cameras on the market to capture your best moments, you should do something with those shots eventually. “A digital camera display doesn’t show all of the rich color and detail contained in a digital image file.”
“A print is tactile—it can be smooth, rough, delicate or durable, and can even have a certain smell,” Craford notes. “Your choice of material [for printing] can help create a variety of impressions, e.g., solemn, nostalgic, celebratory, comic, etc. There’s just something about holding paper in your hand.”
“Sending photos to friends via snail mail is a quaint custom that has timeless appeal,” says Cordelli. Before his parents passed away, “they spent months printing pics and sending them to friends, which translated in phone calls back and forth from their old friends, who were delighted to receive them.”
In short, photographs equal connection. Stay close to the ones you love by printing yours out (and sharing!) today.
Wondering where to get pictures printed from your iPhone? Learn more about our professional online photo printing.
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