Many years ago, I used a program called iPhoto on my little iMac to keep track of my nascent collection of digital photographs. One of the best features of iPhoto was its ability to create high quality printed matter from my picture.
For about a decade I could be counted on to return from a vacation, disappear into my office for a few hours, and emerge with a new dent in my credit card. I would regularly use them as Christmas gifts or thank you gifts for people who’d traveled with me. One of my favorites from the pre-iPhone era was a collection of selfies from a single trip to paradise taken the old fashioned way, by turning the camera around and guessing what the picture would look like. Another book was just a collection of construction photos for my new house, detailing materials and methods photographically. That book ended up being a bonus for the new owners over a decade later as it documented where every hose and outlet was behind the walls. The books were sometimes hard cover masterpieces and sometime whimsical paperbacks. I could bring them out to remember a wonderful snowy Christmas or embarrass a teenager.
What made the iPhotos printed products so good was the attention to detail. They used high quality ink or high quality paper. They made enlargements and other materials like calendars. For a decade, I painstakingly went through a years’ worth of pictures to find 12 that represented the previous year. I generally went for a single picture per month, trying to evoke a memory from that month the previous year. Sometimes they were of a picturesque location or sometimes it was just a sunset. Each year I would hang my creation in my office.
And then Apple updated iPhotos to be come just Photos modeled after the iPad app and cut out critical features like printing. I had to find a new print publisher for my calendar. I have tried several and none has been able to come near the quality. A couple years I experimented with desktop calendars and even a calendar for my office coworkers as a gift. The resulting print quality was embarrassing and I have not returned to that printer.
For the last decade I have been relegated to use CVS and later, Walgreens for my printing needs. Their products are inconsistent by location but more times than not, the result is adequate. They make up for print quality with a relatively easy to use GUI and an every abundant 60% off coupons to bring their pricing down to reasonable. They can print books but I have lost the passion. I used to have “make book” as a to-do item on my vacation task list. I finally crossed off that task from a 2010 trip when it was clear, I was never going to do it.
So for the last few years I have been printing my photo calendars for myself and one gift using Walgreens with adequate results. The paper curls so I bough bamboo holders to keep them hanging straight year round. This year I’m trying out a new printer, Lulu.com. I made the same calendar at Walgreens and Lulu. The Lulu one costs half as much even with the coupons. I should know in a week how it stacks up.
I also decided to make it available for purchase in case there’s anyone out there that likes my pictures enough to look at them for a month.
