Every pet photography package I offer includes digital files with the option to purchase additional images after you’ve had a chance to look through your proofing gallery. Each file comes with personal printing rights allowing you to create endless prints and products for yourself. I really encourage you to get your images off the screen and into your home.

So what are your options when you don’t want to leave them languishing on your hard drive forever, but also might not want your home covered with a million framed 4x6s of your pet? (Although if you do, believe me, I get it! 😁) In this post I’ll share how you can bring every single digital file to life and get continued joy from your images long after your shoot is over.

Six ideas for printing digital photos:

1. Wall Art - The Statement Piece

Perhaps the most obvious and most straightforward option: The One Big Photo. The general rule of thumb is that your art should take up between 50%-75% of the available wall space, whether that’s a blank wall in the hallway or hanging above a piece of furniture like a couch or bed. Most people tend to err on the side of too small, so my advice would be: when in doubt go big. I also find images that show off the landscape tend to work really well as large pieces.

Ideal number of images: 1

2. Wall Art - Multiple Photos

If you don’t want to select one image for a big piece, grouping multiple photos in a single frame or creating a gallery wall can be equally as stunning as one large statement piece. For multiple photos in a single frame my recommendation would be to use no more than four because the more images you have, the smaller they’ll have to be in order to fit into the frame. For multiple photos, groupings of 3-9 frames generally look best.

Ideal number of images: 3-9 (but really is situation dependent)

3. Glass Photo Box

This is an elegant way to corral all those 4x6 or 5x7 prints and would look right at home on a coffee table or nightstand. While I’ve seen these boxes constructed out of wood, paperboard, fabric, etc. I love glass as it allows you to get a glimpse your photos without having to open it. You can find some really beautiful glass boxes on Etsy.

Ideal number of images: 10+ (looks best with a good stack of photos)

4. Calendar

You can always go with a classic wall calendar, but if you’re looking for a more modern option I love the walnut clipboard photo calendar and modern wall calendars available from Artifact Uprising.

Ideal number of images: 12+ (Depending on your calendar layout you could place multiple images on a single page.)

5. Photo Album

If you decide to upgrade your package to include all the digital images in your proofing gallery this is the perfect way to showcase them all! When looking for a photo album vendor I recommend looking for books that feature layflat pages and lustre photo paper.

Ideal number of images: 20+

6. Cards

Pick your favorite image from your session and use it as your holiday card, thank you card, engagement announcement, save the date, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Ideal number of images: 1 (depending on card layout you may be able to include more)

What Can I Do With My Digital Photos?