Almost every soft print starts here, not in the camera. A photograph sent as a normal image through a messaging app is compressed on the way, and the damage is invisible on a phone screen and obvious on paper.
The fix takes one extra tap.
Send them as a Document, not as a Photo
On WhatsApp, use the attachment menu and choose Document rather than Photo or Gallery. Then pick the images from your files.
Same chat, same app, same recipient. The difference is that Document transfers the file untouched, where Photo re-encodes it smaller. A 4 MB original arrives as 4 MB instead of 300 KB.
| How you send it | What arrives | Prints well at |
|---|---|---|
| Photo / Gallery | Compressed, often ~1,000 px | Small placements only |
| Document | The original file | Any size |
| Email attachment | Usually the original | Any size |
| Saved from social media | Already compressed twice | Small placements only |
| Screenshot | Capped at screen resolution | Small placements only |
| Drive or Dropbox link | The original | Any size |
| Shared album | Depends on the service’s settings | Check before relying on it |
WhatsApp’s HD option is better than the default, but it still sends a re-encoded copy. Document is the only route in the app that sends the file itself.
The upload link, for big sets
Your order confirmation — the page you land on after paying, and the email — carries an upload link that saves photographs straight into your order’s private folder. It takes JPG, PNG and HEIC, so photographs from an iPhone go up as they are, up to 10 MB each and twenty at a time.
It is the better route from a laptop, or for a set of eighty that would be tedious to attach one Document at a time. From a phone, with a dozen pictures, WhatsApp as Documents is just as good. Either way, say in the chat when the set is complete.
How to tell whether a file is the original
You can usually check before you send, without any software.
| What you see | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| A few MB per photo | Almost certainly the original |
| A few hundred KB | Probably compressed somewhere along the way |
WA in the file name, like IMG-20240312-WA0014 |
It came through WhatsApp and was saved from a chat |
Screenshot in the name |
A screenshot, capped at your screen’s resolution |
| Dimensions under about 1,600 px on the long side | Fine for a small placement, weak for a full page |
On most phones the size and dimensions sit under the photo’s details or info panel. If a
favourite picture shows the WA pattern, the sharper version is on whoever sent it to you.
Getting originals out of other people
Family projects run on photographs that live on other people’s phones, and the request is where quality is won or lost.
Ask for “the original, sent as a document”, in those words. “Send me the photo” gets you a compressed copy every time.
Shared albums are not always originals. Some shared-album and backup services keep a reduced copy to save space, depending on their settings. If the only copy someone has is in a shared album, ask whether the full file is still on the phone that took it.
One folder, one person collecting. A Google Drive folder that everyone uploads to keeps the originals intact, and it gives you one place to count from.
Where the quality was already lost
Some files are small before you send them and nothing on this page recovers them.
Anything saved from Instagram or a website. What you saved is a compressed copy made for screens. The original sits on the photographer’s phone.
Screenshots of photographs. A screenshot cannot contain more detail than your display does, which is far less than the photograph.
Forwarded pictures. Every hop through a messaging app that compresses can compress again. A photograph forwarded four times is four generations down.
If the original exists somewhere, one message asking for it is worth more than any amount of care afterwards.
Old printed photographs
Photographing a print with a phone beats a cheap scanner, and it is what most family projects end up using.
Lay it flat. Daylight from a window, never flash — flash produces a hotspot in the middle. Hold the phone parallel to the photograph rather than leaning over it, and fill the frame so the print occupies the whole picture. Crop the edges afterwards.
Done that way, a phone photograph of a 1980s print reproduces well at half-page size.
Turning old family photos into a book →
How many to send
About three photographs fill a page, so about 48 for a 16-page magazine — but send 100 to 120 so the layout has choices. Sending too few is a far more common problem than sending too many.
We check before anything prints
Every file gets looked at against the size it is placed at, and anything that will reproduce badly is flagged before design starts and again on the proof you approve. You will not discover a soft image for the first time in a finished book.
Frequently asked
How do I send photos without losing quality on WhatsApp? Attach them as a Document rather than a Photo. Document sends the original file; Photo re-encodes it smaller.
Why do my photos look worse when printed? Almost always compression in transit. It is invisible on a phone and obvious on paper at anything above postcard size.
Can you use a screenshot? Only small. A screenshot is limited to your screen’s resolution, which is well below the original photograph.
How should I photograph an old print? Flat, in daylight, no flash, phone parallel to the print, filling the frame. That beats a cheap scanner.
What if a photo is too small? We flag it before design starts. Usually it can still be used at a smaller placement rather than dropped.
Part of our guide to ordering a personalised gift. See also: photo resolution for printing and how to choose photos.
When your photos are ready: Photo magazines from ₹499 · Polaroid prints from ₹270
Also asked: Can I order without using WhatsApp?