Everything else we make goes through a design stage where a photograph is placed, sized and checked. A print pack does not — which is why it is ₹9 a print, and why the choosing is entirely yours.
Three inches across is small, and small changes which photographs work.
What works at three inches
Faces, close. The single rule that decides most of it. A face filling a third of the frame reads clearly at this size; a face that is one of eleven in a group shot does not.
High contrast. Small prints lose subtlety before they lose anything else. A photograph that depends on delicate tonal differences flattens; one with a clear light and dark reads fine.
One subject. Anything with three things happening in it becomes a busy little square.
What does not
| Avoid | Why |
|---|---|
| Wide landscapes | The mountain is now the size of a fingernail |
| Large groups | Nobody is recognisable |
| Anything relying on fine detail | Lost at this size |
| Very dark photographs | Print darker than they look on a lit screen |
| Screenshots | Text does not survive the crop or the size |
⚠️ Dark photographs are the commonest disappointment. A screen is backlit and paper is not, so a moody photograph that looks rich on a phone can arrive close to black. If a photograph is dark, brighten it before sending rather than after seeing it printed.
The file itself
Send originals, not forwards. Anything that has been through WhatsApp has been compressed, and at print size that shows as softness and blocky edges.
The person who took it still has the full file. Asking is a two-minute job that changes the result. Photo resolution for printing →
Screenshots of photographs are not photographs. A screenshot of an Instagram post is a small, compressed copy of a compressed copy.
The crop
Every photograph is cropped to the size you chose. A square takes a bit off both orientations; 2x3 and 3x2 take a lot off one.
Check the edges before sending. Anything important near the border — a person at the far left, a hand, a sign — is what gets cut. Polaroid print sizes compared →
Choosing thirty
Do it in two passes. First pass: pull everything you might want, without judging. Second pass, the next day: cut it to thirty.
The gap between the passes is what stops the set being thirty photographs of the same trip, which is what one sitting always produces.
And vary the distance. Thirty close-up faces is monotonous on a wall; a mix of faces, places and objects reads far better even though every individual print is worse.
The photographs people forget to include
Everyone reaches for the same categories — holidays, birthdays, the good ones from a wedding. Four that almost never get chosen and consistently turn out to be the best prints on a wall:
- The room. Wherever you were living. Nobody photographs their own flat and everybody wants it later.
- The middle of something. Not the posed shot afterwards — the one taken while it was still happening.
- Somebody working. Cooking, fixing something, at a desk. People are recognisable in motion in a way they are not when facing a camera.
- The completely unremarkable. A Tuesday. These are the ones people stop at, because everything else on the wall is an occasion.
Frequently asked
What photos work best as small prints? Close faces, high contrast, one subject. Wide landscapes and large groups do not survive three inches.
Why did my prints come out dark? Screens are backlit and paper is not. Brighten dark photographs before sending them.
Can I use WhatsApp photos? You can, but they have been compressed and it shows. Ask whoever took it for the original.
Do you check my photos before printing? Not the way a designed book is checked. A print pack prints what you send.
How do I pick thirty? Two passes on different days. One sitting always produces thirty photographs of the same weekend.
Part of our guide to polaroid prints. See also: what goes wrong with prints and polaroid print sizes compared.
Thirty prints, ₹270: Polaroid Pack · Custom polaroid prints