Kaelyn Malkoski
 
Just when you thought your life couldn’t look cooler through an Amaro lens on Instagram — scaled and cropped and enhanced to perfection, of course — think again.
 
2.11.TW
 
Instagram, which has arguably been one of the most popular mobile phone apps for women since, well, the invention of the mobile phone, has risen to the top of social media sharing. Now linked to email, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr and Twitter, it takes just seconds to transform your everyday, mundane photos into professional-looking, National Geographic-worthy snapshots and share them with all of your friends.
 
Anything and everything looks freakin’ awesome through the free app’s diverse selection of filters. (Lo-Fi and Walden are my favorites, depending on whether I’m going for bright ‘n’ bold or vintage, respectively.)
 
The only downfall to Instagram is that, until recently, once you uploaded a picture to Instagram, it was stuck there. It was tedious and difficult to share a photo to Facebook, then download that photo to your computer, then transfer it to a flash drive, then print it. Even if you were that persistent in obtaining a tangible copy of an Instagram masterpiece — and I sure as hell wasn’t — the hard-copy photo was most likely guaranteed to be subpar, with a grainy quality and stretched proportions.
 
This posed a big problem for me and, I assume, for the other more than 150 million users. Especially after Instagram became a love of mine (a borderline obsession if we’re being honest here), I was terrified at the prospect of never being able to have a physical copy of my pictures. What was I going to do after spending the last six months in Los Angeles, where I documented my every move — spending my afternoons on the Venice Beach boardwalk with all the eclectic artists and badass skaters, taking selfies with Russell Brand and eating Dragon Rolls in the Hollywood Cemetery?!
 
Before I had a mild panic attack, my friend introduced me to what is now my newest obsession and one of the best web apps for women, Printstagram. This company, created by the geniuses behind Instagram, takes your photos and turns them into high-quality prints in the form of square prints, stickers, posters, calendars, greeting cards, contact cards, frames and books.
 
The products range in price, from $10 for a set of two mini sticker books to $60 for a 12” by 12” frame, and make for unique gifts for friends and family and perfect, personalized ways to remember your favorite moments.
 
My favorite ways to use Printstagram are:
  • Prints – These square prints make for easy DIY decorating. For example, you can hang the prints on your mantle with twine and mini-clothes pins for a simple and vintage look.
  • Stickers – The mini stickers can be used in a variety of ways — my favorite idea is a creative “Save the Date” insert in which your guests can place your image on their calendar to remember an upcoming event.
  • Calendars and Frames – Both of these options make excellent gifts for friends and family as a reminder of happy times together.
  • Greeting and Contact Cards – This is an excellent way to personalize your correspondence with a unique image that reflects your style and personality.
  • Mini Prints – Mini prints are my favorite way of personalizing holidays or events. Use a mini print as a creative place setting for your table or as a way to tag holiday gifts!
 
Printstagram is both a web app and a mobile app that enables you to print from multiple Instagram accounts in one order. It’s cheap, it’s awesome, and it’s one step beyond the beauty of Instagram. So for all of you who, like me, now see the world through a small, square frame and who used to worry their pictures would disappear into the technological world, never fear: Printstagram is here!

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