Christmas Photo Gifts

Why photo gifts work when other gifts do not

A photo gift is the only present that cannot be bought by anyone else for anyone else. The picture is the gift; the printing and framing are just how it gets onto a wall. That is also why the failure mode is different from other presents — a photo gift rarely goes unloved, but it does go wrong when the wrong photo, the wrong size or a compressed file gets used.

Choosing the photo

• Pick people over places. A landscape they loved is nice; the people they were with is the gift.
• Recent is better for children, older is better for couples — nostalgia does the work.
• Check the background. Framing enlarges everything, including the washing on the radiator.
• If the photo is slightly blurred, print it smaller rather than sharper. Small hides softness; large exposes it.

Which format suits which photo

One strong photograph deserves to stand on its own, framed with a mat so it has room to breathe. A set of photos from the same event or the same year works better as a collage, where the whole is the point rather than any single frame. And a photo that needs context — a date, a place, a name — is better as a caption print, where the words are set below the image rather than written on the back.

Sizes

For a gift, 12" x 16" or 30cm x 40cm is the size that reads as considered without dominating a wall you have not seen. Go bigger only if you know where it is going. Smaller than 8" x 10" tends to get put on a shelf and forgotten rather than hung.

Order in time

Frames are cut, joined and assembled by hand once you order. Early December is the comfortable window; the banner at the top of this page calculates the real last-order date for your country, including the postal holidays.

For the framing side of it in more detail, see Christmas picture frames.