In Depth: Do We Really Need to Print Our Film Photos?

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With film photos being shared on social media or other image-sharing platforms, it's understandable why many young shutterbugs getting into film photography forgo printing out their pictures.

But this process is actually an important part of shooting film, as it can help us track our growth and improvement, as well as appreciate and evaluate film photos in a more holistic manner. In this In Depth article, we're listing down key reasons why we should print out our film photos.

Credits: orangebird, acabrn, coldwater, steamyandor & jinyaguchi

To Better Analyze a Photo

One of the most important reasons for printing photos is that it can show us details that we don't typically see, or might miss, when looking at images on our screens. Holding a printed photo helps us view color, contrast, highlights, shadows and grain better. This is especially fit for photographers who like more artistic control when it comes to their frames, or even just those who want or are involved in the whole process of doing film, from shooting to printing.

Credits: lomographer_to_be, oliver_merce, onkel-m, crosschannel, primula, octopus_sushi & mafiosa

For Archival Purposes

Relatedly, printing film photos is also a great way to archive our images and prevent them from being lost in the digital space, especially when they truly matter to us. Printing out a few that stand out from a roll, and storing them alongside film negatives and adding some metadata could help us keep track of our work in the long term especially if we've been shooting for a long time.

Credits: algiz, jamesolaris, pixleepics, bittersuesz & gassy

For the Tangible Experience

For many, seeing their photos printed and being able to hold these prints is simply a crucial, satisfying part of shooting on film. Especially for those who prefer to be involved in the whole process, from shooting to developing, scanning, editing and printing film, this profound last step signifies that the job has been done and an image has indeed been created.

With the onset of digital media and the growth of online film circles, it's far easier now to share our work online and forgo the tangible experience of analyzing and collecting printed images, but if we want to grow our relationship with film photography, going this route is surely worthwhile.

To Create or Gift to Others

Prints can also be turned into postcards or used for print exchanges with other shutterbugs, or framed, which in turn can be used as sentimental additions to any household or personal space. Some create intricate and creative LomoWalls, while others simply hang preferred pieces up their walls.

These efforts elevate the role of photography in our personal lives, where it becomes more than a hobby but also little reminders of who we are, and what or who we deeply care about.

Credits: jun1014, bloomchen, robertofiuza, lomographyfrance & systemdevice

Why do you print your film photos? Share your thoughts with the Community below!

written by sylvann on 2025-06-22 #culture #in-depth #print #archiving #in-depth

6 Comments

  1. tracyvmoore
    tracyvmoore ·

    Great article. I agree wholeheartedly. Let's print our photos!

  2. hervinsyah
    hervinsyah ·

    For sure because our film are having an expired date. The color of the photo will never be the same again if we decided to printed our photo from our film archive from 10 or 20 years ago

  3. lomodesbro
    lomodesbro ·

    And so say all of us!

  4. marcelb_lichtet
    marcelb_lichtet ·

    totaly agree . printing is such fun seeing your picture in real life and not just on a screen and feeling it hit different, espacialy when you go up to 30x40 cm thats just awesome

  5. waku131
    waku131 ·

    I believe that by printing a photo, we not only capture the scene but also become consciously aware of owning that moment.

  6. deepfried_goodness
    deepfried_goodness ·

    Every so often, framed prints need to be changed.

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