Print Photos Right From Your Phone

With all the summer fun your family has been having, I’d be willing to bet you’ve snapped quite a few photos. And if you’re anything like me, your phone is full of fun pictures that may or may not ever be seen again. This week is dedicated to developing the super power of memory keeping, and to kick things off, today I’m sharing tips for turning your phone’s camera roll into real, life photos!

Did you know you can print photos directly from your smart phone without ever touching a desktop computer? There are several free apps that allow you to upload and order prints on the go.

We’ve used both the Costco and Sams Club apps which have photo features built in. LifePics helps you locate and order prints from participating stores near you — I’ve used it to order from the CVS Pharmacy just around the corner, and my photos were ready to pickup in an hour. There are other photo printing apps (like PostalPix) that allow you to order photos that will be mailed directly to your home. Since I’m not all that patient, I’ve only used the ones that allow me to pick up photos locally.

Tips for ordering photo prints from an iPhone:

:: All of the apps can be a little finicky if you’re uploading too many photos. I found they worked smoothly if I kept order batches to about a dozen photos or less.

:: I decided to set aside a certain time (like every Monday night) to order photos from the past week, which helps me keep my order batches small. Plus it’s nice to sort through photos while the events are fresh in mind.

:: Be aware that uploading photos takes a lot of power so I generally try to do uploads when I can leave the phone on the charger, like right before bed.

:: On an iPhone, if you leave the app your uploads will stop, so you need to stay in the photo app until your order completes. I find this totally annoying, but it’s not the app’s fault — I’m pretty sure that’s just how iPhone works, for now.

Since both Aimée and I have iPhones, that is all we’ve tested, but I know all these apps are also available for other phones, and I’m guessing they’d work pretty much the same way.

If your kids are like mine, they’ll be awe struck to see hard-copy photos — they’re so used to digital things that a photo print is novel and fascinating. I think this means they will cherish a family photo album so much more!

Come back tomorrow to learn the easiest way to create a super-stylish family album — no gluesticks or scissors required!