There are very few gifts as perfect– as personal, as thoughtful, as unique– as almost ANYTHING with a photograph! As people have begun deciding that this is one of the best ways to use their photos, businesses have sprung up with new ideas and ways of printing them. It is important to note that (as with most things) not all photo gifts are created equal. The quality of the printing is equally important to the quality of the merchandise. So, who is the best of the best when it comes to creating high-quality, highly-personalized gifts? So glad you asked! Here are a few of my favorites (in no particular order):

1. Pinhole Press is simply beautiful: beautiful website, beautiful products, beautiful packaging! They are owned by a lovely company called Mohawk Papers and, therefore, create striking paper products. Pinhole Press is my go to store for a few specific items: journals, scribble pads, calendars, and labels. Each product is created with at least one photograph, and on papers of the highest quality!

2. Tiny Prints creates beautiful cards and invitations. They work with more than 40 designers (Elm and Gray is a personal favorite), so they have an incredible variety of looks and styles. The cards may be customized in a variety of ways (color, font, etc.). Order your holiday cards from them, and getting matching return address labels! (Note: The studio has a relationship with TinyPrints, so clients may order TinyPrints products featuring the images from our session without purchasing the digitals– just let me know if you would like more information!).

3. Minted. Minted is all about the design- they feature a limitless number of designers and ask their clients to vote on the best ones! Not all Minted cards feature photographs, but you can search for products that use photos and go from there. In addition to their cards, one of my favorites from Minted are their custom photo wall prints!

4. Blurb is all about books. Photo books. Instagram books. Art books. Just books. The blurb books feature beautiful prints, elegant customizations and wonderful quality. Very few photo book companies have all three with such consistency! Make an annual photo book, or grab your friend’s instagram pix and make a book for them. The process is painless and the price is reasonable.

Each of these companies have a variety of sales throughout the year– a couple of them are in the ads to the right of this post because I try to let you know about their latest sales. Also, in the name of full disclosure, I am an affiliate of a few of these companies (meaning I get credit if you click through and buy something from them), but I would not be an affiliate if I did not absolutely love their products! Come back and post pix here of your favorite photo gifts this holiday season– I’d love to see what you come up with!!