(Because Walgreens Isn’t Doing You Any Favors)
Can I make a confession? Nothing breaks my little photographer heart quite like spending hours creating beautiful images for someone—whether it’s a boudoir session, branding photos, maternity portraits, or a cozy Reverie session—only to hear, “They’re still sitting on my computer. I’ll print them eventually.”
The dreaded, eventually. It’s where good intentions go to die. And trust me, I get it. We all have a folder on our desktop that’s labeled something like PRINT THESE, right next to the folder called Taxes and the 47 screenshots we’re definitely going to organize one day. But here’s the thing: your photos weren’t meant to live on a hard drive. They were meant to be flipped through on a Sunday morning, hung above your fireplace, tucked into your baby’s memory box, or framed on your desk where you catch yourself smiling every time you look over. One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “Where should I print my photos?” While I order artwork through professional labs that are only available to photographers, there are some fantastic consumer labs that I recommend over and over again. No, they’re not the cheapest options on the internet. But they’re also not going to turn your carefully edited portraits into orange, blurry disappointments.
My Favorite Places to Print Your Photos
Here’s the quick version if you’re the “just tell me where to click” type.
| If you want… | My Pick | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| The best all-around quality | Mpix | Portraits, wall art, framed prints, canvases |
| Gorgeous albums & gifts | Artifact Uprising | Coffee table books, keepsake albums, gifts |
| Stunning wall art | Nations Photo Lab | Canvas, acrylic, metal, gallery walls |
| A boutique hidden gem | Persnickety Prints | Everyday prints, memory keeping, scrapbookers |
| Fun, creative products | Social Print Studio | Magnets, mini prints, calendars, photo strips |
If you stopped reading here, you’d honestly still have a great list. However, if you want to know why I love each one, keep reading.
1. Mpix: If I Could Only Recommend One…
If you texted me tomorrow and said, “Kenzie, don’t make me research this. Just tell me where to order,” I’d send you to Mpix without hesitating. It’s the consumer side of my most used pro lab, which means you’re getting print quality that’s surprisingly close to what photographers use. The colors are beautiful. Skin tones actually look like skin. The paper feels substantial. And every time I’ve compared Mpix prints to drugstore prints side by side, the difference isn’t subtle. If you’re printing professional portraits—whether that’s your boudoir session, branding photos, maternity gallery, or family portraits—this is probably where I’d start.
2. Artifact Uprising: For the People Who Love Beautiful Things
I’m pretty sure Artifact Uprising could convince me to buy almost anything if they wrapped it in linen and photographed it in soft morning light. They’re based here in Colorado (which earns them a few bonus points in my book), and they make some of the most beautiful photo books and albums you’ll find without going through a professional photographer. Their products feel less like “photo products” and more like something you’d proudly leave sitting on your coffee table. If you’ve been saying you’re going to make a wedding album…or a baby book…or finally do something with that incredible vacation you took three years ago…this is your sign.
3. Nations Photo Lab: For the Photos That Deserve Wall Space
I’m a firm believer that your favorite images shouldn’t be hiding inside your phone. They should be hanging where you walk past them every single day. Nations Photo Lab is one of my favorite recommendations for wall art because they offer beautiful framed prints, canvas wraps, acrylic prints, and metal prints that actually feel like artwork instead of an afterthought. If you’ve ever looked at a blank wall in your house and thought, something’s missing, I have a pretty good guess what it is.
4. Persnickety Prints: The Underrated Favorite
Not every great company has a giant marketing budget. Persnickety Prints has quietly built a loyal following by doing something refreshingly simple: they make beautiful prints and take really good care of their customers. They’re especially popular with scrapbookers and memory keepers, but don’t let that fool you—they’re a fantastic option for everyday photo printing too. Sometimes the smaller companies are the ones that surprise you the most.
5. Social Print Studio: Because Not Every Photo Needs a Frame
Some photos deserve a gallery wall, while others deserve to become magnets on your fridge. That’s exactly why I love Social Print Studio. They’ve taken photo printing and made it fun again with mini prints, photo strips (my fav), calendars, tiny books, magnets, and all kinds of creative keepsakes that make you want to pull your phone out and actually print those random moments that would otherwise disappear into your camera roll forever.
So…Why Not Walgreens?
Listen, if it’s 8:30 at night, you need a print by tomorrow morning, and Walgreens is your only option? Go for it, I’m not the photo police. But if you’re printing images you invested hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars into creating, I’d encourage you to spend the extra few dollars on a lab that’s built around quality instead of convenience. Drugstore labs often struggle with color consistency, paper quality, and skin tones. Sometimes they’ll look fine. Sometimes they’ll make everyone look like they spent a little too much time in a tanning bed. It’s a gamble. The labs above are simply more consistent, and that’s worth a lot when you’re printing memories you can’t recreate.
One Last Thing…
Let me pull up my soapbox. We take more photos today than any generation before us, and somehow we’re printing fewer than ever. Our grandparents had albums sitting on coffee tables. Our parents had framed photos lining the hallway. We have 27,000 pictures on our phones and a vague plan to “make an album someday.” I don’t want that for you. I want your kids to flip through your maternity album someday. I want your branding photos hanging in your office to remind you how far you’ve come. I want your boudoir album tucked away in a drawer for the days you need a reminder that confidence isn’t something you earn—it’s something you already have. And I want the random Tuesday photos, the camping trips, the vacations, the blurry pictures of your dog doing something ridiculous, because those are the ones that somehow become priceless over time. So this is your permission slip to stop waiting for the perfect time. Pick a few favorites, order the prints and gang them on the wall! I promise, you won’t regret it.
Looking for Photos Worth Printing?
If you’re in Colorado and thinking about booking a boudoir, branding, maternity, or Reverie session, I’d love to create images you’ll actually be excited to print. The best photographs aren’t the ones that collect dust in a folder on your computer, they’re the ones that become part of your home.
