What to think about when you develop your pictures

To develop pictures is perhaps not as common these days as it was before digital cameras came long. There are, however, still many who choose to print their pictures in order to frame them, put them in a photo album or create nice scrapbooks where they collect all their best memories. The advantage these days is, of course, that you can easily choose to develop just the best pictures.

Nowadays it is very convenient to develop your pictures directly online. You can simply choose which pictures you want to develop, how many copies you want, how big they should be and what kind of surface you want for the paper.

Matt or glossy paper?
Something which many wonder when they are developing their pictures is if they should choose matte or glossy paper. It's not always so easy to know which is most suitable. Many feel that it is mostly a question of taste. Some prefer glossy papers while others think that matte papers are much more aesthetic. But there are, of course, clear differences between matte and glossy paper. In order to know which of them you ought to choose, you begin by answering these questions:

1. What is the photo? The subject?
2. Where do you intend to put the photo? In a photo frame, a photo album or in a scrapbook?
3. Are your pictures in colour or black and white?

The main difference between matte and glossy paper is that glossy paper reflects light very well, while matt paper doesn't. The light reflected from glossy paper can be pretty irritating, but is often possible to avoid with the help of good lighting, in which case, the reflection will only be seen from an angle.

Glossy photo paper is typically used for portraits and colour-rich pictures, where it gives the pictures a much better contrast and colour saturation, which gives a sharp and handsome impression. Matte photo paper, meanwhile, is frequently used for landscape pictures and black and white pictures, which gives a more professional and neat impression.

If you intend to put your pictures in picture frames with glass, then matte photo paper is clearly better. Glossy pictures don't work well when framed because the picture gets stuck on the glass, and the glossy surface reflects too much light. Glossy pictures are, on the other hand, very aesthetically pleasing in scrapbooks, when you glue them directly onto the pages.

Glossy photo paper - advantages / disadvantages

Advantages
Pleasing to the eye
Strong, clear colours
Good contrast
Perfect for portraits

Disadvantages
Highly reflective
Fingerprints and dirt easily visible
Doesn't suit framing since the paper catches on the glass and creates black marks

Matte photo paper - advantages / disadvantages

Advantages
Doesn't reflect light
Gives a professional impression
Perfect for black and white pictures
Doesn't attract fingerprints and dirt

Disadvantages
Doesn't give colours that are as sharp and clear
Doesn't give printouts of as high-quality