Basil_O Loc: Minneapolis, MN

I print shots from our trips and put them in photo albums by year. Although I also have them stored digitally, sometimes it's nice to just pull out an album and look at my travels for a given year. I also work in a long term care facility. Some of the people's most prized possessions are those types of photo albums. They love to just sit and flip through them like my wife and I do. While many also have computers and digital frames, technology can sometimes be confusing as we age...especially if dementia starts to set. It doesn't take much effort to pull out an album and flip through it with people.

I also have a gallery on display in a tunnel that connects two of our buildings. It gives staff who are walking through it something to take their minds of the hectic pace of the day.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Congratulations on your new grandbaby!

alfaman

We (wife) used to put together a photo book of our major trips (about 300 pictures out of 2k) but Costco printed them up for us. Prohibitive expense to do it on home printer. We have not done the last two trips yet. Have a Canon pro-100 that works really well and an HP which does not. Usually print 8x10 size and keep them in a folder. Next step is a digital frame. Last two scheduled trips to Europe were cancelled; rescheduled for 2022. Turning 91 in June so time is of the essence.

katu41

Back in the day when I had my HP 13x19 printer, I probably did 1-2%. Around 2010 I realized I had about 500 processed photos with no chance of their ever being seen by anyone other than me. After giving some thought to how best to preserve my photos, I researched book publishers and settled on Blurb. I do a 12x12 coffee table type book with the best quality paper Blurb provides. I have a display stand set up on a table in our foyer for my most recent book. I now have about 25 books and they are all kept in the open storage area of the table. If guests have any interest, they can help themselves to whatever subject might interest them.

My library of processed photos is now up to about 2,500 so I have been able to print books around several themes. B&W, HDR with most oriented toward an individual foreign trips. However, the books end up being quite expensive and large with 200+ pages of very heavy paper stock. No one is going to pay $200-300 for someone else's travel books so I set up my books on Blurb so anyone can view the entire book. I then send out an email to friends and family with instructions on how to find and view my book. While there are obvious size limitations with the images in the books, this allows me to get the maximum use out of the many photos I really like. I only have 4 canvas printed photos hanging in the house plus a few from my HP printing days.

I feel like this procedure has given me the maximum pleasure from my years of photography. Every photo has it's own story which I am happy to share with anyone who shows the least bit of interest. (Not all appreciate the wonderful stories that I associate with each photo so I sometimes abbreviate my presentations.) I am always interested in how others handle their photos and enjoy hearing creative ideas for enjoying and sharing our photos.

unlucky2 Loc: Hemet Ca.

I print a lot, maybe as high as 10% of my favorites. Photo books, yard art, quirky greetings and display (matted and framed) are just some of the uses for my prints. As an example of fun yard "art" printed on pro 100 and mounted on a palm flower pod, is the "Palm" (hooded) Oriole below. I have found that images displayed in this manner last about 3 years, when you are tired of looking at them they are more than ready for replacement.

(Download)

DRam11 Loc: Polson, MT

Very few since my printer died. Right now Walmart is the only place to get prints made without a 60 mile drive. Those that are printed are hung on either my den, or if the better half likes one, on a living room wall.

Norm11 Loc: San Rafael, CA

I am a pro, which has little or no bearing on what I print. When I do, they're usually 12x18s and framed. So they better be damn good!

I've been making large photo books (with Zno.com) of important events for my family. Trips to Europe, New Zealand, a compilation of several summer camping trips. Yes, these take considerable time and expense, but well worth it. What are lifetime memories worth after all?

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

The majority (before Covid) of my photos were of country music performers. Of those I only printed what I wanted for my scrapbook. I tried to get those autographed. Of the rest of my photography, I don't print them at all. I used to back when I was working with film before PCs, but that was long ago. Now my place for my work is online (see signature).

Norm11 Loc: San Rafael, CA

Similar practice here. Many fewer books though. (time/money!)

Printing a book is the best way to archive one's memories in my opinion. Paper and ink will never become obsolete by changing storage technologies.

Floppy disks>hard disks>CD>DVD>hard drives>flash drives>cloud storage>???

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Since 2005, I have printed a tiny fraction (<1%) of my work for family and friends. The rest is digitally displayed.

It is 2021... The Herff Jones portrait company (lab) I worked for got sold to Lifetouch NSS in 2011, and LT closed the Charlotte lab in 2015. That should tell you the effect of the paradigm shift in imaging. In 1996, we had four portrait labs in our corporate division. In 2007, we had one. The Herff Jones Yearbooks plant on the same lot was closed at the end of 2012. The yearbook market had shrunk, too.

The perfect technology convergence storm began brewing in the 1990s:

Print scanning
Digital film scanning
Digital camera image capture
Internet bulletin boards
The World Wide Web
Internet photo sharing sites
Social media sharing sites
Desktop Computers
Smartphones
Tablets

The net result is that Kodak went bankrupt and sold to Alaris, our school portrait market dried up, and the vast majority of folks abandoned atoms for bits (film, paper, and chemistry were replaced by digital sensors, screens, and software). The Photo Marketing Association International, and most of its subsidiary organizations, more or less evaporated between 2010 and 2016.

Am I bitter about the change? No. I embraced it. I was part of the management team that led the switch from film to digital at my employer, back between 1995 and 2005. We knew it might lead to extinction. But it was too good to pass up when it came along, and those who didn't jump in early were bought out when they could not compete. Then the market began to implode in the mid-to-late 2000s.

So printing? Only the really good stuff, as needed!

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Almost zero. I only print when I sell prints. Ink and paper are too expensive and I don't print enough to bother with a printer that has large tanks. I used to have an Epson 4880 and an HP z3200. The HP self-destructed due to poor materials and workmanship, and the Epson got mortally constipated and died.

Norm11 Loc: San Rafael, CA

Good to know how you managed during the digital revolution.

You realize, of course, that any technology that quickly appears, can just as quickly be supplanted by the Next Big Thing.

However "atoms" (paper/ink) will always be around. Prints and books will outlast anything digital. When you go to a museum, what's on the walls? Paintings and drawings made hundreds of years ago.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yep!

Owning a photo inkjet printer is like owning a race horse. It requires running it hard, frequently, and putting it away wet! It's less costly in the long run to use a conventional silver halide lab, or a high end giclee (inkjet) service bureau. And with an Internet that goes back and forth...

CamB Loc: Juneau, Alaska

No idea about percent but, for the gallery my work is in and other uses, I am printing all the time. I like big prints and with my Epson P800 I print 16x20s, 16x24s and 17x25s routinely. I don't sell much at the gallery, but move a big print here and there, and when the tourists come (Remember tourists? Showed up in big ships, wandered around, spent money.) I sell about a thousand note cards a summer, (Red River card stock) That keeps me printing every few days to keep up. About the cost of home printing: When I had a studio and shot film I sent my film to and had prints made at a professional lab, Burrell Photo in Indiana. I hated not being able to print myself. I was never completely happy with how others printed my work and didn't like all the back and forth shipping times. Now I print everything myself and love it. When I have to order paper or ink or frames, I just check the boxes online (Red River, Epson, Frame4yourself) then close my eyes and OK my credit card. The costs are not insignificant but printing what I want, when I want, is a priority I have made in my life.
No idea of percent but the printer prints something almost everyday.
...Cam