Photo Review | PostalPix.com
Last week I finally got around to installing the PostalPix app on my iphone and uploading my photos for development.
I still think it's hard to beat opening up en envelope full of just-developed photos.
I'd read about PostalPix online and my sister has been using them to print her Instagram photos. She's doing Project Life this year (I can't tell you how excited I am about that) and she sent me the above image a few weeks back. She put them in a divided page protector from We R Memory Keeper's multi-pack of page protectors (also available at scrapbook.com). Love that size.
Installing the app was easy. Choosing the photos I wanted to upload was easy. The shipping was quick.
I was super excited when I opened the envelope. I ordered about 20 photos and overall they looked great (a couple were dark but I'm pretty sure it had more to do with the Instagram filter I chose).
The only thing I was surprised about was the weight of the photo paper - it's definitely lighter weight than traditional prints. But other than that, they are awesome and I'm excited to include them in some upcoming projects and will be ordering from them again.
A NOTE ABOUT PHOTO DEVELOPING
I was sad to learn that scrapbookpictures.com closed their doors last month. They were a great source of professional quality photo prints and I'll miss their service and attention to detail. These days I print the majority of my photos at home on an Espon Stylus R2000. For the times when I don't print at home I've used and recommend Persnickety Prints (a company that understands scrapbooking) and Color Pro Inc (a blog sponsor and a company that I especially like for printing on canvas or other specialty prints).
I too was sad to see scrapbookpictures close. I have used them faithfully for a few years.
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Nice for a change...but I dont like as much as regular printed photos. Im seeing this on PL blogs everywhere
Definitely won't be doing all my printing that way - just a fun way to change things up.
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I also was sad that scrapbookpictures closed. They were awesome quality. Ali...one thing I am confused about is I thought the Instagram pics just printed right out. Ya know like the old poloraids. I don't currently own one...have been thinking of getting one. I LOVE the little pics its does exspecially for a mini book. Do I have the camera's mixed up?? Oh and your sisters layout for her project life look great:)
shelly, i love picasa too! the collage function is one of my favorite features!
Yep - you are thinking of Instax. Those print right from the camera.
Hi, Picasa just had an upgrade, one of the photo editing options is a Polaroid-ish :) print along with some other new editing options. I am in love with Picasa, free and so easy to use!
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I just posted a comment and my browser died, so sorry if this double posts!
I got my first order from Postal Pix last week too and although I think they are cool and the idea of ordering right from your phone is great, I wasn't super impressed with the quality. It seemed like someone printed them at home on an inkjet. That being said, for the convenience and price I might use it again.
I was so, so sad about scrapbookpictures.com - I ordered everything from them...But I got my first order from Persnickety last week and was really happy with the quality and communication (I asked for an index print and they happily delivered). I also hear they are open to customer feedback in terms of additional sizes, so that's great to hear.
Hope you had a great time at CHA!
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Thanks for the review on PostalPix...I've been debating if I should try them out and I might just do that!
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Love the option Postal Pix affords, however, I print mostly at home and fit two Instagram pics on a 4x6 most of the time. If I have several I print them out on an 8.5 x 11 in PS/PSE.
I agree that Instagram is a nice way to change up the sizes on layouts and when working with Project Life albums. I just saw on Instagram your sister's latest PL life layout. Boy, talent sure does ooze from your family!! One creative crew y'all are! Have a great day! :)
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I've ordered a few times from PostalPix, mainly because of convenience as I don't have PSE, and wasn't blown away by the quality, but the ordering system couldn't be easier. And now that I've got the Frametastic app, I can put 4 pics per print, so they are automatically 2x2 (approx). Maybe something better will come along but for now, PostalPix works for my quick snapshots. :)
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I also have printed from Postal Pics and love them! And if you go to #postalpics on your iphone there are a lot of cute ideas for displaying your photos in your home. But I recently printed some of my instagram pics from home on my printer, and they come out almost identical to the ones I received from Postal Pics. I would like to see how the aluminum ones come out.
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I have placed several orders with Postal Pix, but I just received the Aluminum Plates and they are awesome! I really love the cornered edges. I ordered 4 so I could do a tiled square on the wall. They come with the thick foam adhesive too! The hardest part is picking where I am going to put them!
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I'm just wondering, do the Instagram photos come in the original square size with that app Ali? Are there other apps or sites that do that do you know? I just ordered my first two Instagram pictures last night and I think they are 4x6. I didn't even think about until I saw your post! I prefer square.
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Thanks for sharing this, Ali.
I print mine on my home printer. I use Frametastic (free) to join my Instagrams. It is a good combination for me.
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I am using the 4x4 pocket pages in my Project Life album and just love them!
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I was bummed about scrapbookpictures, too. I loved their fun sizes and I used them as my online photo storage. Which brings me to my question, how's your back up saga going?
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I have tried several times to upload photos to and navigate Persnickety Prints. I'm a professional photographer who scrapbooks too, so I'm very familiar with photo labs and how they operate, but after being recommended to Persnickety Prints, I was extremely disappointed in how their website navigates, ease of use, and how expensive they are!
Now, PostalPix on the other hand is super simple, easy to use and fairly inexpensive!
I'd love to hear who you like to use Jennifer -
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Thanks for all of the wonderful feedback and ideas, ladies! I was JUST thinking about how to print my Instagram photos. I don't have a good printer at home (but I do have PSE) and was wondering what options I had printing in the 4x4 size.
I'll figure out a way so I can print them at Costco.
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I too am missing Scrapbook Pictures. I bounced betweeen them, Persnickity Prints and Scrapping Simply over the last 3 years. All had similar quality, I would just wait until one had a special running! So if you are looking for another quality print shop with excellent pricing (12 x 12=$1.99), give Scrapping Simply a try.
Thanks for the suggestion Julie!
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I just got my Postal Pix's photos and I really liked them too! They look great in my PL album!
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Thanks for the info on iPhone pic printing!
I was wondering if you would care to weigh on the costs of printing at home. I just set up my artisan 837 printer and I love the print quality, but I'm worried about the cost of replacement ink. What have you learned along the way from printing at home?
Thanks!
Hi Vera - for me it's really been about convenience and the cost of the ink feels "okay" as a trade off for the simplicity and control I have over printing at home.
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Ali - Clearly printing at home would be so much more convenient; however, I have two questions: 1) Do you ever worry about the archival quality of the prints you print at home on your home computer? (I keep thinking they are going to fade and/or deteriorate faster than professionally printed ones.) 2) Have you ever researched the cost per print of photos printed at home vs. professional prints?
Hi Amy - thanks for the questions :). I've been printing at home for a quite a few number of years and haven't really had any issues. To be honest, the convenience factor of printing at home for me is pretty important. I haven't researched the cost - I've seen numbers here and there but haven't taken the time to really see what the actual numbers are.
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I use Shutterfly to print my Instagram photos - it's quick and inexpensive and lets me print square-shaped photos on a black background (I love that look). I'm too impatient to wait for my pictures to come in the mail...and too greedy with my ink to print at home!
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Just catching up to your posts and am floored about the ScrapbookPictures.com news. They were such an awesome company. So sad.
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[...] the photos are from PostalPix (posted a review about them earlier in the week) and were filtered through Instagram before [...]
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Hi Ali, just wondering if you have favourite instagrams filters? You said that some of your pictures were too dark, do you recall what filter you used on those? I just discovered Instagram today and shaped a couple of nice pictures with my iPhone so I'd like to add them to my Day in the life project. :) Thanks for the advice.
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I am in love with the square photo series combined with the instagram filter! This gives me a lot of ideas about photojournaling this summer.. thanks!
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