Sure, you can download your pictures as given to you by the photographer who took your family’s photos or your wedding or whatever and, print your own. There are advantages to this. You can make your decisions later when you have the time – if you ever get to it! And if you’re not picky about the quality, then who cares? But there are good reasons for having your photographer print them for you.

Here’s why –

I have a lovely, Epson photo printer dedicated to only printing pictures. This kind of printer is superior to most home printers. It has an array of fade resistant inks and produces high quality photos that I print using Epson photographic papers. This process gives the best results which will last many years.

Additionally, cameras generally photograph in a 2 x 3 ratio, i.e. a rectangle. (mine does). Although this ratio produces correctly sized 4″x 6″ prints it does not directly accommodate either 5″x 7″ or 8″x 10″, two of the common frame sizes that families often want for display purposes. If a 2 x 3 ratio picture is simply enlarged to fit one of those other sizes by you, or your local pharmacy or discount dept. store, often you are left with either part of the printed picture being cut-off, or an annoying white border left on the edges to fill it out so that it fits into the desired frame. What to do? The photographer (i.e. “me”) can correctly do the necessary, artistic cropping and enlarging. If the picture can’t be cropped to fit a 5”x 7” or an 8” x 10” frame, then I can create a ‘faux’ border around the sides. What is a ‘faux’ border like? This provides a colored mat that is added to the edges of the original picture. It has a visual texture, added in photoshop, with a color or colors that match key elements in the picture, and thus eliminates the white border already mentioned above. The result is a more professional, finished look that fits neatly into your frame.

I hope that answers some questions you might have had about printing or maybe didn’t even know you had!