Printing one properly, and a book of them

Get a photograph printed at a size and a quality worth framing, and know what a book of them actually costs.

A photograph that looks perfectly sharp on a phone can come back from the printer soft and grainy, and it is nearly always for one of two reasons that have nothing to do with the printer.

Key points

• Order prints to collect at a store, or posted to somebody else’s address
• Choose a size and read the warning if a picture is too small for it
• Ask for the original rather than printing a copy from a chat
• Turn an album into a hardback book for about twenty dollars

What to remember

• Choose the picture, choose the size, choose where to collect. It is the same in every one of these apps.
• Print originals. Anything that has been through a chat app has already been made smaller.

Try this

Order one 4 by 6 print of a photograph you like. It will cost about fifteen cents. Holding a printed photograph again, after years of only looking at screens, tends to have an effect on people.

Practice: Printing one properly, and a book of them. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.

Related guides

• Make a photo book or a calendar for a present
• Print something — and only page two
• Printing, and when nothing comes out
• Only page three, or two to a sheet
• Sorting a list so the right thing is at the top