I've been scrapping for almost 12 years now. Only 2 of those have been digital scrapbooking so I still love to print my pages out and show them off in a "traditional" way. People are always amazed at my pages when they see them printed (believe me, it's not because they are great pages). They are amazed by the realism you can still get with digital scrapbooking. I think some people are still skeptical about this whole digital scrapbooking thing....and I want to prove them wrong. I want to show them how incredibly awesome it is! Wouldn't you agree?
This is a page I made over a year ago. This is just the .jpg image.
Here is a close up of it printed out. I'm not a great photographer but you can see the detail in this page. I'm still amazed that digital stuff can turn out this nice.....I mean look at that shadow it pretty much looks real (at least I think so). Now the pages I print do have a white border on them. So you can see that here. I do it this way because it's cheaper! But of course you don't have to print it with the white border. Or you can do like some people and cut the border off.
Here is a photo of my printed pages in a "traditional" scrapbooking album. I just slipped covers on them and put them in this book. So you can see you can do double layouts or single layouts. Now I can take the book anywhere I like and show it off to anyone I please.....or anyone who would bother looking at it.
And here's just a pic of the finished book. It's my 2008 album. I haven't quite finished 2009 yet. I like to wait until I have a whole year done before I print. I know for some of you that probably would be hundreds of pages to print but I only make a few pages for each month so it's not too bad.
There are 3 ways you can print your pages.
1. Buy your own 12x12 printer. I can't really give you any advice in this area......although some of my facebook followers have suggested Epson stylus photo 1400 and Epson R800. This is a more expensive way to begin but if you know you are going to be printing a lot it might be the way to go. But remember you still have to purchase your own paper and ink.
2. Upload your pages to an on-line print store and print your pages individually.
Here are some top recommendations from my facebook followers:
Costco (most recommended-although you do have to be a costco member-they do have a shipping option)
Go to my facebook fan page to see the other recommendations.
I personally have only used scrapbooksplease and I have been very pleased with their service. I usually get the value matte print. This value does have the white border. I usually wait until I have a whole bunch to print that way I get my money's worth when it comes to shipping. It usually takes about a week to get the pages.
3. Upload your photos to an on-line print store and have them print them in a bound book. Although I haven't done this before I think this would be great for a gift album. For my regular pages I tend to like to print individual pages and then slip them into an album.
I hope this answers some of your questions. I realize I'm not an expert when it comes to this and I've only tried one store so I can't really compare it with other stores but I hope this still helps a little. Please check out my facebook fan page so you can see the recommendations from others. There are a few other places mentioned on there. And if you have a place you like to print at go ahead and leave a comment so we can all see all the options out there.
Another thing to remember about digital scrapooking pages is that even if you print your pages out you still want to keep a copy of the .jpg somewhere....either on your computer, external hardrive, CD, etc...
Oh and I used randomizer.org to randomly choose a winner for a $5 GC to my store and the winner tonight is a blog follower named Btrflywmn. On the 1st of every month I choose a winner from my blog followers and facebook fans. So don't miss out! Just join me on facebook and/or become a follower. I also do other giveaways and specials.
Added Note: Don't forget to check and make sure that you are printing on Acid Free-Archival Paper.
After Blogging about this I came across some of my favorite digi sites that have gone over this same subject. You may want to check them out:
Simple Scrapper: Your Best Options for Digital Photobooks
The Daily Digi: Layout Printing Previews
9 comments:
Liz, you have never printed on photo paper? When there is a white border, it typically means you are using inkjet. If you have questions about the difference, I would love to answer any of them! Photo paper is full bleed (which means no white borders), it is also water proof, archival, and scratch resistant. I would be happy to send you some free prints to try it out first hand.
Persnickety Prints.
P.S. Costco does't optimize their printers, they are set up to print at a 4x6 setting, when a 12x12 comes through, it's not being optimized properly & usually prints dark.
Hi! Thanks for the info. I have had individual pages printed from www.ScrapbookPictures.com. They did a great job, no white borders, and the prices were pretty cheap. I have only done 8x8s and 5x7s so far from them, but they do 12x12s and photo books also. One great thing about their prints (regardless of the size), is that you control the cropping, and they will print with no cropping at all, if you want (which I do). :)
Chari-That's good to know. I have gotten prints on photo paper with the full-bleed.....a long time ago. I guess I was just going for the cheaper option. I think I might take you up on your offer since I've gotten some good reviews of your store.
GREAT review LIZ!
If you haven't tried scrapping simply, do so right away! I used scrapbook please one time and was sooo disappointed in the quality. They also didn't follow through on their "customer service" and didn't respond to any emails. Theirs are printouts, it's not even as good as what comes out of my computer, and was very grainy.
The prints at scrapping simply are TRUE ARCHIVAL PHOTOS for the same price! They are gorgeous, like what you'd get at a studio. Their customer service is also phenomenal. At Christmas, they had a lot going on and I had some prints done and a couple ran slightly off the page, they didn't even have me mail them back, just reprinted them for me right away!
I have used both Persnickety Prints and Scrapping Simply. They both did a wonderful job and both had same pricing structure. Which will I use in the future? Which ever has a good sale and/or free shipping offer when I have pages to print.
Wow, that close up photo you took of a printed page is awesome. Are your LOs printed on photo paper or cardstock?
I use WWHC and love it. I've been curious about other places but I'm not really motivated to try anyone else b/c I'm so happy w/WHCC, kwim? I use their basic 8x10 matte and trim off the extra 2 inches. I only scrap 8x8 so I don't know if their 12x12 prices are comparable to other services. There is a minimum order but it's only like $12 so that's only 6 LOs. When I started with them it was $2 a page but now I think it's upto $2.20. That price includes 2-day shipping and they do a great job of packaging the prints too.
AND... I didn't like this comment of yours, "believe me, it's not because they are great pages". You shouldn't lessen your work! You do scrap great pages! You know what...we all do! :) You are probably comparing yourself to some scrappers out there who put out those breathtaking LOs. I bet most of us do, but no matter our skill level or style just the fact that we are recording these memories and (hopefully) enjoying ourselves at the same time is GREAT! SO you go girl!!! :)
Liz, I love your site, and love your templates, as my children were so small I never had ability to scrap and wished, when I have time, to buy your template, these sets 1-100, but no I cannot find them anymore.
is there no chance to buy them?
mara.didi @ gmx. de
Thanks for your inspiration and freebies! I wanted to add my 2 cents about Costco: You DON'T have to be a member, necessarily. At the one by me, you can just walk in with your thumbdrive or other media storage and use the photo center without going through the store. All purchases are made at the photo center, so you don't go through the normal checkout line. And I love their prints! They have never been dark for me (though I don't upload them online to the photo center -- I walk in personally) and they look identical to what I see on my iMac's screen in PSE7. **Hint, hint: format your 12 x 12 pages to include three on a 12 x 36 document. They will print the 12 x 36 for $5 with a premium matte finish and you just cut them apart when you get home!
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