Today with digital technology, our traveler photos often remain trapped on our hard drives, and we only see them on the screens of our computers or our telephones. It’s a shame, because on paper, they take on another dimension. They become objects that you can touch, show, exhibit at home… A great way to immortalize your most beautiful travel memories!
I had the opportunity to test the photo prints, a family business created in 2004 by two cousins who are passionate about photography. Today it is one of the leaders in the photo book market in France. Here is the result of my experience and all my advice for successful photo prints.
Table of Contents
How to choose photos to print
This is the phase that may take the most time! After many years of travelling, I have thousands and thousands of photos on my hard drives. So how to choose? It can be a long tedious job if the files are not well organized, and the best photos already selected. For my part, this year Travels, I took advantage of the long weeks of inactivity of the various confinements to sort through all my traveler photos since 2009 (this is the year I went from film to digital). The ideal is of course to do this classification work after each mother daughter trips, so it’s much easier to choose the photos to be printed.
This time, I wanted to print photos reminding me of my best travel memories: the most beautiful destinations such as Japan, Jordan, Antarctica, Iceland, and the moments shared with friends or travel encounters. For better color and light rendering, do not hesitate to use photo editing software.
Photo prints: how to do it
The first step is to upload the selected photos. Try to have the best definition possible and not to use low quality photos. Then, you will have to choose, photo by photo, the format: classic photo print in 10 or 13cm format, retro print (polaroid type) or enlargement. The advantage Travels is that the site tells you directly if the quality of the photo is not sufficient for the requested format. This avoids being disappointed afterwards!
The last step is to choose a standard (matte) or glossy paper, with or without borders. The very practical side of the interface is that you can directly see the price of the chosen format. No need to wait for the validation of the purchase.
For my part, I tried all types of formats to get an idea. The prices being very reasonable, I have several times chosen to print the same photos in several versions, matte and glossy, with and without a white border, classic and retro format. Depending on the photos, some look better or worse. The ideal I find is therefore to order several versions to be sure of having made the right choice.
Photo prints: review and opinion
First satisfaction: my order arrived very quickly. I passed it on September 18 (a Saturday) and I received everything on Wednesday September 22. Faster than expected Travels because normally it was between September 23 and 27. A good surprise then. Otherwise, the quality of the prints and the paper is excellent, nothing to complain about. The photos are well wrapped in separate pockets according to the requested formats.
For my photos of Japan, I was pleasantly surprised by the matte paper. Until now I was more used to doing orders in glossy paper, but the matte gives a natural and authentic side. The advantage is also that there are less reflections if you want to display them on a wall.
For photos with friends, I really liked the retro Polaroid type format. You can add a text below to further personalize the print. It makes for very beautiful memories that you want to display or offer to your loved ones.
Decoration ideas with photo prints
What to do with his photo prints? The decoration ideas are numerous! To think about my travel memories when I work at my desk Travels, I chose a grid on which you can arrange photos using clips. I like the catch-all side, and it allows you to change the photos as often as you want.
For my retro Polaroid format prints, I found a nice decorative accessory that allows them to be hung on cords with small clothespins. The rendering is very nice! Even without traveling, I can escape home with these beautiful moments immortalized on paper.
