Before cameras and other image capturing devices became almost totally digital in nature, the actual act of photo processing was something long, difficult and expensive. Photo printing was something which could only be handled by specialized laboratories, with the final results being more or less taken out of your hands.
Just think how simple it is, for example, to bring together a large collection of images from a sporting event you’ve just attended. Having spent the afternoon pointing and clicking your camera (or other hand held digital device) in an effort to capture all of the excitement, safe in the knowledge that the automatic settings will ensure an excellent set of photographs, you can then quickly and easily go through all the images captured and choose the ones which you feel genuinely capture the flavor of the day.
Once you’ve made these choices, you’ll doubtless be keen to turn the most spectacular, impressive and dynamic shots into actual physical photographs. No matter how far the technology advances, or how many different photo gifts it is possible to produce, there will always be something uniquely special about a simple photograph which you can look at and enjoy as a trip down memory lane. When photographs used to be captured on celluloid rolls of film, this would have meant sending the actual roll of film away to a specialized laboratory. On most occasions, this would mean there was then a hiatus of at least several days, unless you paid an extra premium and got your film developed a little bit more quickly.
The laboratory would turn the roll of film into a roll of negatives, and these would be used to print the photographs from. One of the chief drawbacks of having to use specialized staff to develop your pictures was that you had little say in the process as it went along. Perhaps some of your pictures were slightly badly framed, or had a color balance which you weren’t happy with. The first thing you would know about these faults would be when you got your hands on the finished prints, by which time it would really be too late to do anything about them.
Printing your own digital photographs, on the other hand, is a process which remains firmly in your hands each and every step of the day. Having selected the best of the images, you can then alter such things as the framing and cropping and perhaps even the balance of colors. The prints won’t actually be run off until you’re completely happy. Actually turning the images into prints is also simplicity itself, and throughout you’ll be given free choice of matters such as the size and shape of the print, and the type of paper used – glossy or Matt, the choice is entirely yours.
Creating prints, of course, is far from being the end of the matter. The flexibility of digital technology means that it is possible to turn your individual photographs into a huge range of objects and gifts. These run the entire spectrum, from smaller novelty gifts to more expensive luxury item, all the way up to and including a facility which allows you to have your own favorite images reproduced as full sized, gallery quality canvas prints.
The lengths you had to go to when photo processing a celluloid roll of film were a world away from the ease and convenience of digital photo printing.