Tech Talk: Photo Gifts

WAITSBURG—According to my phone there are 6,056 photos and 872 videos lurking in its depths. And that’s nothing compared to the five terabyte hard drive that houses our family archives.

In it there are birthdays, holidays, and precious memories—some of which family members may not even remember. Those are the photos that make the best gifts: the candids.

In a perfect world, our photos would be categorized and labeled electronically. They would be searchable by faces, by location, by season, and date. Both fortunately and unfortunately, the world is not perfect. As cool as it might be to quickly search for faces or location, I’ve also seen every movie in the Terminator franchise. I’m not handing Skynet the keys to facial recognition.

For those unfamiliar, Skynet is the seemingly innocuous company that comes along and connects everyone in a novel way, not unlike today’s social media, but also paves the way for the robot wars.

I also refrain from those ten year Facebook challenges for the same reason: Skynet.

That said, all the media is at least sorted by date.

For some, photos living inside of devices reside happily ever after in Instagram feeds, but that’s only half the battle. How does one bring a digital image to physical life?

Make a list, check it twice

Even if you’re too old to believe in Santa, you can learn from his wisdom. List-making is a great way to keep track of it all. Who’s getting what photo? Who’s in that photo they’re getting? You can use an everyday text app such as Notes, or for the more advanced, opt for a spreadsheet. That will come in especially handy if there are photos with more than one person in them. Keeping these lists year to year ensures that gift ideas aren’t repeated on the same recipients.

Layouts, spreads, and products, oh my!

First thing to figure out is if you want the photo to be a printed reproduction or can the image live as something more useful. Pair a front facing portrait with a profile shot, then have those “mugshots” printed on a mug. Pun intended.

Besides mugs, there are companies that can print images on just about anything. Holiday ornaments, fleece blankets, throw pillows, magnets, phone cases and calendars are other options that will give photos a place in the light of day and not buried in some old album.

Ideally, each printed photo would be cut, pasted and given a border or caption in a process known as scrapbooking. But if you know a scrapbooker or have ever tried it, you might’ve gleaned how expensive and time consuming that hobby can be. We’re so far behind on it that I’m not sure we’ll ever catch up.

If you’re digitally capable, using Photoshop or inDesign to create a layout can be a quick and easy option, but even without investing time and money in learning software, you can design a photobook using the printers’ website. Walgreens, Shutterfly, Mpix, and Vistaprint are all similar options. Whichever you choose, do not pay full price. There are always discounts or coupon codes out there. My advice is to never work on a photo book when you’re hungry. Bad decisions happen when blood sugar is low.

Formatting is important to consider when printing photos. If the images are pulled from Instagram where the inherent shape is square, certain printers may compensate for that differently. Rather than falling victim to unusual cropping, try Snapfish. Their photos are printed on square archival photographic paper, which means they’re guaranteed not to fade.

Another, fancier, option is to have photos printed on canvas. This can increase the depth of the image and elevate a gallery wall to museum quality.

Turn around time

Act fast. The sooner the better to ensure your gifts will make it on time for the holidays. Even with a whole year to prepare, it seems as though the gift giving season sneaks up.

It’s never too soon to start planning for next year.