Compelling reasons to print your photos

Are you eager to take your photography to the next level? We have an incredible resource to share with you today that will revolutionize the way you appreciate and showcase your images.

I’d like to introduce you to the Fujifilm X Learning Centre, which is a wealth of information and ideas for photographers like you. Check it out on this page of the Fujifilm X Learning Centre; it was created by our colleagues in the UK.

In a world dominated by online photo sharing, the art of printing has taken a back seat for many photographers. But trust us, you’re missing out if you only share your images digitally. A physical print offers a unique experience and establishes a stronger connection with the viewer. Whether you’re visiting a gallery or displaying images at home or in the office, you’ll find that printed photographs captivate attention in a way that website galleries or Instagram posts simply can’t match.

To enjoy your pictures in total satisfaction, there are really many (I’ll choose three) ideas what to do with your photos.

Decorate Your Home

Using a cherished photo as personal decor is the most obvious reason to print. Whether in a small frame or as a large wall art piece, surrounding yourself with art and memories of loved ones brings warmth and interest to your home.

When selecting images such as portraits, landscapes, or similar subjects, it’s a good idea to print low-quality copies of your potential choices. Hang them up to observe how they feel in your space over days or even weeks. Assess which images resonate with you the most, and then create permanent high-resolution prints of those. This doesn’t mean the other images are bad; it’s simply that some subjects and styles work better as wall art than others.

Make a Personalized Gift

There’s nothing more heartwarming than a truly personal gift, and your photos can be just that—but only if you print them! Whether you’ve captured portraits of loved ones, pets, or favorite places, you can use these images to brighten someone’s day. Consider the print format and how it will fit into the recipient’s home. Most people appreciate a simple print that they can easily frame according to their taste.

You can transfer images to your phone or directly connect your X-Series camera to a FUJIFILM INSTAX printer to instantly produce prints. This is especially useful for events, street photography, and interactions where offering a physical print can make a genuine difference, even with initially skeptical individuals.

Create a Photo Book

Another fabulous way to showcase your images in print is by creating a photo book. This format allows you to curate your photos based on themes or stories, which is why it has long been a favorite among photojournalists and travel enthusiasts. You can also add descriptive text, but many photographers prefer to let the images speak for themselves.

Photo books come in various sizes and formats, but the key is selecting the images you want to include and arranging them in a compelling order. Whenever possible, try to maintain consistency in theme and aspect ratio. For example, a book featuring monochromatic images in a square format tends to be aesthetically pleasing and guides viewers through the story naturally.

Remember that, similar to creating a photo book, the selection and arrangement of images are crucial. Thus, follow the same principles of consistency whenever possible. Carefully choose the images to exhibit, select a print size appropriate for the space, and arrange them in a way that complements one another—whether through color, composition, or the relationships between the subjects.

If you were inspired by my blog post – and live in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain or the United Kingdom you can go straight to myFUJIFILM and get started. Create an account, upload a few images, and discover the fantastic selection of creative print options. From standard prints and poster enlargements to collages, canvases, photo books, calendars, and more.

Make your photos come to life in print and embrace the lasting impact they can have on both yourself and those who view them. Start printing with myFUJIFILM today!

Never Stop Printing

Printing never stops but unusual times require extraordinary approaches. FUJIFILM supports its partners in the local onsite printing business. Spread the news, let your customer know you are still open to receive orders. Engage on social platforms. Be creative. Join the community. #letthemknow #neverstopprinting

In these difficult times, many of us are looking for ways to help out our friends and neighbors who own and work in small businesses. We can’t forget the local photo retailers whom we’ve relied on to print our most cherished memories over the years. A lot of these shops are closed to customers during lockdown, their printers sitting idle. It doesn’t have to be this way.

We still need our photos printed, now more than ever. What better way to cope with the isolation that lockdown can bring than to share our lives with the people we care about?

We want to send postcards to friends to tell them how we’re doing. We want to make scrapbooks to relive our old memories, and hold onto the new ones that we’re making in these times. We want to break out of our boredom and have fun with prints on social media, sharing laughs and camaraderie with friends around the world because we’re all in this together. And please, give us something nice to hang on our walls, because we’re staring at them more than ever now.

These unusual times require extraordinary approaches. As a photo retailer, you can’t just wait for people to walk through your door. You must go to them. But how can you do this when the entire landscape has shifted so radically?

People can still send their images to you so that they can be printed. You don’t need a dedicated system to make things work in this new, thankfully temporary age. You can use email, SMS, or WhatsApp to transfer photos. Just figure out the payment option that works best for you and your customers, whether it’s bank transfers, PayPal, or something else. Then you can mail prints back to your friends and neighbors at home. Let them hold their memories and support you as a local business.

Your friends at Fujifilm want to help you, too. Let’s all work together as a community to remind the world that photo printing is both needed and available. Hundreds of thousands of people are already showing their support for their local businesses through social media and hashtags. Join them.

For information on how to join the global community of local photo retailers,
contact your local FUJIFILM partner.

#supportlocalphoto #letthemknow #weareopen #neverstopprinting

POP BOOK – the cutest photobook ever?

POP BOOKs are a cute, easy-to-order and very affordable way to bring some of your images to life. And they make fantastic gifts as Mrs Dale will testify!

My fellow Fuji Guy Dale recently got married. I went to the wedding and took my trusty “pocket-rocket” X30 and took some shots from the pews where I was sat. I was hardly shooting the wedding, but it still made for a fairly interesting series of shots as the story of the traditional British Christian wedding ceremony unfolded in front of me.

Like most of the images I take for personal use, they ended up in a gallery on my Facebook wall for friends to see. But I wanted to do something a little bit more. This is where Pop Book came in…

Now I know this sounds like your usual sales pitch but it really isn’t. I heard about Pop Books from my colleagues in our printing team. For the small fee of £4.99, I was able to take 21 of my favourite images and compile them into this little cute photobook to give to Dale and his new wife as a little gift and token of my gratitude for being invited to share their day.

How does it work?

I’m pretty sure that Pop Books are mostly aimed at smartphone photographers (nothing wrong with that!) because you can only create a Pop Book by using an App for Android or Apple devices.

Once you’ve installed the App you get started by tapping “Create your POP BOOK”. You then need to choose where to get your images from. You can either browse your device, or choose either Facebook or Instagram.

I chose Facebook, logged in as me, and then selected the images from my Facebook gallery. Once you have selected 21 images you can click “Create your POP BOOK” button again and this takes you to the final stage.

You can now double tap on any picture to Edit it. You can Crop, add an instagram-style filter and add text. You can also select either a white border of black border for each of your images

Finally you can change the order that the images will appear in.

And that’s it. Just create an account and go through the basket process, and “between 10-14 days” your Pop Book should be with you. In my case it was actually 4 days.

You even get a pretty cool viewer that allows you to see the book how it will appear. You can see my book for Dale here.

And here’s the final result

…and with a shiny English pound for scale:

Tips

If you know you’re shooting for a Pop Book, set your camera to 1 : 1 ratio to help compose your shots and save any post process cropping.

You need exactly 21 images to make a Pop Book. No more. No less. Make sure you have your 21 images ready to go before you start the process as it makes it smoother. In my case, it turned out that I didn’t actually take 21 different images that I was happy with so I had to get creative with the crops to make a few very similar shots have very different final looks. It really helps to go into this thing knowing you need 21 images to start with!

Learn more about POP BOOK

Click here to visit the official POP BOOK website