Do You Ever Print your Digital Photos?

[andreferchau]

Back in the film days, I was a printer. I had a fully-equipped color darkroom with a 4x5 Super Chromega enlarger and drum processors. Photos were printed and mounted on card stock.

Those prints take up space! I built a special cabinet to store them. I rarely hung them on the wall because I like to see new ideas, not my own.

With the coming of digital, I abandoned printing because the bin for the prints was full, and digital was an ideal medium for displaying on a monitor.

Sometimes I think I should resume printing. I have a studio where I could hang them. I have a few that would look good there. What is holding me back is the hassles of finding a reliable printer and dealing with mounting, etc. Maybe one day...

There is something to be said for tangible quality. I know that my true love for holding a book in my hands has a lot to do with my environment, the weight of the book, the type of paper, being able to flip between pages. Pages. Very analogous to getting ready to play an LP record. Selecting it, taking it out of the sleeve, checking for dust, putting it on the turntable and so on and so forth. True art is about creating an environment. The Beatles did it with their music and the rooms they were in. I'm sure there's dozens if not hundreds if not thousands if not, millions of examples. Tangible is important as long as we live in a body and live in the world. I enjoy a printed piece. I was just looking up for a friend whitewall which is a printing company that is associated with Leica cameras. I remember going to the Leica camera store in Beverly hills and going upstairs to the gallery and absolutely enjoying the printed images on the walls in the same location in the same room if they had had computer monitors.? No absolutely not

 

[andreferchau]

Ours are all over our house. We tend to print 2 or 3 a year, but some years none at all.. We also have some work from local artists on display. Some images are just too good to leave on the hard drive, where they will be ignored and forgotten.

We often run a slide show of our recent images on our 4k TV. After a period of time, some just stand out. Some one will say something like “I look forward to seeing that one.” or even “we should really print that one.” Some you get tired of seeing some of them. (Don’t print those.)

Starting with say 15,000 images some years, that gets narrowed down to between 80 and 200 for the year. Those go on TV display, and of those, as many as 3 might get printed.

The factors are, the more images I’ve taken that year, the more likely to have one I want on the wall. The more interesting the destinations I’ve gone to and the amount of time we spend there is also a factor. But bottom line, it takes time. I find it takes putting some time between when I took the image, and when I’m evaluating it is beneficial. It helps with objectivity. I need to decide, is it producing a slight endorphin rush because of the quality of the image, or is it doing so because of memory of the experience.

But in our world, if it doesn’t do anything, it’s not getting printed. It has to stand out and get our attention, and maybe the attention of the people who visit us. If people who weren’t there with us like it, that’s a sign it stands on it’s own, because they don’t have memories of the place to inspire them.

It's great to hear your opinions about this. I think it's important to have physical things in a physical world. I'm new to the forum so I'm looking forward to coming and going.

 

[greybeard39 12]

Once in a great while, mostly just keep them on my computer and post to tpf etc.

 

[KJ_North]

I noticed a few comments on here regarding DPI etc. Reminder the farther away your image is viewed the less DPI you require.

For high-quality printing, you generally need 300 PPI (pixels per inch) at the final print size to ensure crisp, sharp details when viewed up close. While 300 is the standard, lower resolutions are acceptable depending on viewing distance—200-240 PPI is often fine, and large posters (viewed from afar) can look great at 100-150 PPI.

Here is a breakdown of what you need based on the use case:

• 300-360 PPI: Ideal for high-quality photos, art prints, coffee table books, and small text.
• 200-250 PPI: Acceptable for magazines, posters, and general high-quality printing where the viewer is not looking at it under a magnifying glass.
• 100-150 PPI: Suitable for large-format prints (e.g., 24x36") viewed from several feet away.
• 72 PPI: Typically too low for quality physical print; this is the standard for screen/web viewing.

Key Takeaways for Print:

• Viewing Distance is Key: If it's a large poster across a room, you need fewer pixels. If it's a brochure held in the hand, you need more.

Think about how few DPI a billboard has yet it looks great viewed from the road.

 

[Dikkie1]

By occasion I create a digital album to print on A4 size, with tons of photos from a specific theme, a vacation, .... It happens once in a couple of years....
But not separate photos to glue manually in an empty album. That's something I did 20 years ago.

Each year I also create a christmas card, I print it on photo to send to some people.
But otherwise I seldom print a picture.

What I plan to do in the near future is print a couple of photo frames to hang on the wall. But it will be difficult to choose just a couple out of thousands of photos on my drive...

 

[Dikkie1]

If I can retrieve it from a hard drive, it exists.
If it’s film and I still have the negative, it exists.

They just exist in different forms.

If they aren't generated yet, but can be done by an AI prompt, it already exists before it's there.

 

[rf03]

I have a travel wall where I hang my best shot from each trip in 8x10. I have been doing that for years. It is a great way to relive the adventures.

 

[petrochemist123 148]

I used to have 50-100 printed every year for exhibitions, but have only printed a few since covid stopped our clubs regular exhibitions.
Yes images still exist if I don't print them, they can be shared digitally either on-line or in person. On-line images have in some cases generated more comments than the number of people who have even viewed some of those I've printed but then not displayed.

 

[fish3233]

In my work they charge £5 for an A2. Unfortunately, it has to be done on their roll photo paper you can't supply your own.

 

[Hardus Nameous122 70]

When I have one I want on the wall I have it printed.

 

[AliDee]

Sometimes I do but that's mostly to make a gift out of them, like I can make a printed photo collage or just frame a couple of photos for people I love, but I don't do that for myself.

 

[Peeb78 6]

Well I took a big upgrade today in printing and ordered a Canon Prograf-1100 printer to replace my Canon Pro-200. I decided I wanted the ability to print up to A2 size. Sure expensive for my own personal use but I am invested in the hobby so for me it is worth it.

One year in- how are you getting along with the 1100? Thinking of getting one myself.

 

[KJ_North]

One year in- how are you getting along with the 1100? Thinking of getting one myself.

Fantastic printer, quality of the prints is absolutely stunning. No issues so far it has worked flawlessly.

 

[Peeb78 6]

Fantastic printer, quality of the prints is absolutely stunning. No issues so far it has worked flawlessly.

That is terrible news (to my wallet). I'm going to dive in before the year is out.

Looking forward to teaching myself about paper types, ICC profiles, cutting mats, framing. The whole thing!

 

[DrLogik5]

It's been mentioned in this thread and I agree, there's not much tangible about a digital photo on an electronic screen. Yes, there are large-format digital picture frames that even look like a printed print but it's not the same.

It's analogous to ripping an album and converting it to mp4 for an iPhone. Or before that, hooking the album output to the cassette recorder input and press Record. I did that with many of my old albums.

I like printing some of my more favorite photos and hang them on the wall. I have a decent photo printer that does a remarkably good job with black & white.

I'm no award winning photographer I just love photography ever since I got into it back in 1975 when I took a photography class. The teacher talked me into photographing for my high school year book. Load of fun for sure. Hooked me for life.