DIY vs done for you
Making a photo gift yourself or having it made — free design tools, the real hours, printing at home, what to hand over, and what to do when time runs out.
- DIY Gift Ideas That Actually WorkNine DIY gifts that people keep, with the honest time each takes and what makes it go wrong — plus the handmade ideas that usually end up in a cupboard.6 min read
- Free Software for Designing a Photo BookThe free tools that can design a photo book, compared by the file they export: page size, full-resolution photos, embedded fonts, bleed and Indian scripts.7 min read
- Half-DIY: What to Make Yourself and What to Hand OverA photo gift is seven jobs, not one. Which to keep so it still feels like yours, which to hand over so it looks finished, and what each hand-over really costs.8 min read
- Printing Photos at Home: When It Is Worth It and When It Is NotA home printer is the fastest photo lab you will use and rarely the cheapest. What it does well, where it lets a gift down, and how to work out the real cost.7 min read
- When a DIY Gift Will Not Be Ready in TimeHalf-finished handmade gift and the date is close? Count the days, keep the part only you could do, and pick one of five ways to finish it well, not badly.7 min read
- When Handmade Looks Cheap, and How to Avoid ItImperfection is not what makes a handmade gift look cheap. Seven signals that do — craft-aisle decoration, home prints, borrowed words — and how to avoid each.6 min read
- Why DIY Photo Books Take Longer Than You ExpectA first DIY photo book takes far longer than a weekend, and the design is rarely what overruns. Where the hours really go, and how to budget them from the date.6 min read