Print photos from Apple Photos

January 28, 2019 8:29 PM

Apple discontinued the ability to order prints directly from Apple, choosing instead to direct me to third party apps. None of them do what I want, or those that do have terrible reviews. How do I go about printing the high resolution portraits from Apple Photos?

My dog, Charlie, passed away on December 20, 2018. I am trying to print a few of my favorite photos of her to frame along with her collar so I can say hello to her, etc..

My frustration is this: Apple used to make beautiful prints, and now they don't. I've printed things from a thumb drive or file upload at grocery stores/fedex-kinkos before and they are NOT high quality. Apple recommends: Fujifilm (1.5 stars), WhiteWall (1.5 stars), Mimeo (2.5 stars), and Motif (3 stars.)

The complaints about WhiteWall and FujiFilm are the most frustrating because those are the only two services that will let me order prints, not just phonebooks or calendars or cards.

I would really like to have high quality prints made of Apple Portrait Mode photos but I don't know how.

Thank you.

posted by apex_ to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Best answer: I've used the service from nations photo lab based on wire cutter's recommendation and was very happy with the results. Their customer service was extremely helpful and I'd definitely order prints from them again.
posted by viramamunivar at 9:55 PM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]

Do you have a Costco membership? They make prints and I've been very happy with them.
posted by marfa, texas at 3:23 AM on January 29, 2019

Best answer: I've always been happy with the prints I've had from Snapfish.
posted by flabdablet at 3:45 AM on January 29, 2019

Best answer: Have you looked at MPix (mpix.com)? Lots of sizes/finishes, really nice quality. We got our wedding photos printed there; I think I originally saw them recommended here on the green.
posted by okayokayigive at 3:47 AM on January 29, 2019

Best answer: Whitewall in Germany (where they come from I believe) is an extremely high quality shop - maybe that’s different for their US subsidiary - but maybe the reviews are just plain wrong/skewed.. from my experience in Germany I’d give them a chance.
posted by mathiu at 4:18 AM on January 29, 2019

Nations (recommended above) uses Roes, which is a desktop ordering system; if you're just doing a few prints I would skip the Roes step and just use their online ordering.

They do not have an integration directly from Apple Photos, though, so you'll have to figure out some what to get the photos from Apple Photos to their online ordering system (export from Apple Photos to your desktop?). Depending on your level of technical expertise and how much Apple has obfuscated the options for exporting, this may be challenging, or may be no big deal.

Just wanted to note this in case you are looking for something that will integrate directly with Apple Photos.
posted by kellygrape at 5:50 AM on January 29, 2019

Best answer: I used Mpix recently because of the same issue with Apple discontinuing prints. The MPix photos looked good. However, I just noticed that the Wirecutter is recommending Nations and has some negative stuff about MPix print quality (which I did not notice/experience).

If someone has something that integrates directly with Apple Photos, that would be great to hear about.
posted by Mid at 10:08 AM on January 29, 2019

Response by poster: Thank you! I will look into all of these, including Whitewall again.
posted by apex_ at 10:36 AM on January 29, 2019