I recently had a friend post a question to her facebook. A new mom, to a beautiful baby boy, her phone was hitting the point where it was too full of all these wonderful pictures she snapped of him. She could see that the images had loaded onto her computer but she was afraid to delete them off her phone for fear of losing them. So what do you do?

Now it might seem old fashioned and outdated – but the first thing I’m always going to suggest is that you print them! Now you may be wondering why… I recently read an article entitled The Most Photographed Generation Will Have No Photos in 10 Years. (It’s a great article – if you have time – please read it!) It was a brilliantly written post highlighting the fact that this current generation takes so many photos. Teens are taking selfies all the time, parents are taking pictures of their new baby’s every waking moment, college kids are photographing their food – whatever it may be – we are taking a lot of pictures. But in spite of the huge numbers of photos being taken less than 1 out of 100,000 of them will actually end up being a printed photograph.

With this digital era, it means that people are taking lots of images and then just keeping them on their phones or computers. Where over time they can become corrupted, damaged or lost and then we will have no way to look back at the memories.

But there’s great news! With the digital age also comes awesome technology to make printing your photos a breeze! There are a slew of apps available to easily take photos straight off your phone or iPad and get them into a printed format! So today I’m going to share a few of the big ones with you!

Shutterfly
I’m pretty sure everyone has heard of Shutterfly. It’s been around for quite awhile and although most people are familiar with the website – Shutterfly also has their own app now too! Unfortunately you cannot order directly in the app. But you can upload your iPhone photos into your shared Shutterfly albums from the phone or using the camera directly, and then log into your account on the computer to order books, prints, and more.

Mpix Tap to Print
Mpix Tap to Print is a great option for printing photos, too. You can edit, crop and rotate photos to get them exactly how you want, then pick from a number of different papers and sizes. Simply tap to add to your cart and check out! This is probably the app I would recommend first when it comes to simple prints because Mpix is actually the consumer branch of a professional lab. So the quality here will be much better than at Walgreens or CVS.

PostalPix
Similar to Mpix, PostalPix will let you print your photos from social media websites and your phone in a variety of sizes and finishes. One of the great things about this app is the ability to print square photos directly from Instagram. PostalPix also lets you print mouse pads and iPhone cases. PostalPix currently offers 4×6 standard prints, 4×4 square prints, 8×10 standard prints, and mouse pads. Pricing for their prints is quite competitive to local drug stores if you are order multiple photos and they ship them right to you. The app is also really easy to use which is a huge perk. It’s a great solution for the busy professional or parent who doesn’t have time to run to the store.

Print Studio
Print Studio is a great app if you’re looking for the whole package. Get your pictures delivered as hard-cover photobooks, ready-to-hang frames or greeting cards. Their products are good quality, fairly priced, and unique from some of the other photo printing apps. The ordering process is quick and simple. Their service gives you the feeling that they actually care about their customers. And orders arrive quickly.

Artifact Uprising
I personally use this company for my personal annual books. I love this company and their products! I also like the fact that their products are eco-friendly and as a photographer – they quality of these books are still pretty good in my book. Like several of these other apps, they also offer instagram-linked products. The app is really easy to use and the products are exceptional.

booksto.me/
One of my favorite ways to share images is through photo books. Each year I compile my favorite photos from the year into a book and I have a stack of them on my buffet. I love it! It provides me with an escape. I can grab one of these books at anytime and flip through the pages remembering days gone by. Now Books To Me is awesome for the avid Instagram user. Instead of letting your photos live forever on your phone, now you can have little books filled with photos of your kids, light, and everyday life without having to take time out of your busy schedule to download, organize, & print them. You simply sign up for the program for either a book once a month or once every three months. Any image you post to Instagram that doesn’t have the tag #noBTM gets added to the book and sent to you. It’s so easy and requires no work for you – which I think is awesome!

Chatbooks
This looks like another great instagram to book method I just discovered today. You can print off a 60 page book for just $6. This is also another handy little app you can plug right into your phone to create your books. It looks relatively new – so I’m not sure about how easy it is to use or the quality. But for $6 it’s definitely worth a try!

There are honestly TONS of apps out there that provide you with ways to get your photos off your devices and into your hands! Someday down the road you’ll be glad you did. When disks are obsolete and your phone doesn’t work anymore – you’ll be able to pull out that album of prints or that photo book you had made and sit with it flipping through your past having the memories wash over you. Don’t let your memories become trapped within technology… Set them free… Print your photos!