All about Engineer Prints (Large Scale Photos)

 I am all about telling our stories.  Some days at the kitchen table I look around at the happy mess, listen to the girls play and giggle (ok, or argue sometimes) and think to myself….this is it.  This is as good as it gets.  At first read that statement sounds particularly depressing or negative.  And yet I don't mean it that way at all.  What I mean is the life all around us is the best we have!  How sad to live a life always wishing for the next season.  There are good glimmers right where we are.  

So it's with this passion tucked into my very being that I also decorate our house.  Around here, photographs matter a lot to us.  I catch the girls gazing at them on the walls and talking about the stories they tell.  A long time ago (too long to admit) I saved the idea on Pinterest to have an Engineer print made of some black and white photos.  An engineer print is just what you see here.  It's huge, printed on thin paper, and done in black and white.  You can get these done at Office Depot for cheap.  This particular size cost $3.50 and was the most expensive size.  

 Here's how I did it. 

I first tried to navigate Office Depot's website to upload the photos from home and got very frustrated.  I figured out it was just wasting my time and I couldn't figure out how to upload my photos so I stopped trying.  Maybe you'll have better luck?  Instead, once I went into the store and told the clerk this he agreed that the website is very confusing.  He said the easiest and fastest way to get these done is just to go into the store.  

 (colored pictures from my business/personal printer the Epson R2000)

 When I went into Office Depot I had already emailed the pictures to myself.  RJ (the store clerk) then had me forward the email to the Office Depot address and quickly pulled them up on their work screen.  I took a quick glance, told him not to make any edits and just print the photos as is. That was it!  He said they would be done in 30 minutes, tops (but more like 15).  I went next door to Hobby Lobby and came back to get the prints.  For all of these (5 big prints) the cost was $14!

I am seriously in love with how these look. 

They capture our story in a way an 8 x10 colored photo just can't.  

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you decide to make your own: 

The better quality photo you have, the better your engineer print will look.  This may seem like common sense, but printing a photo at this size will make it a bit "fuzzy" anyway.  So if you start with a poor quality photo and then blow it up to this size you might not get the results you were going after. 

These prints only come in black and white.  I edited my photos in black and white BEFORE getting them printed.  Alternatively, you could have a colored picture printed but it will also turn out black and white.  So you'll want to think about the shadows and lighting of your photo….where are the dark and light spots?  Is there enough contrast for your engineer print to turn out well? 

You could easily buy a large poster frame for this at Hobby Lobby to get a more professional look.  Around here, we simply tape the photos to the wall. 

I hope you'll give these a try! I'm already imagining what else I could do with them. 

Brett and I have stared at the picture of Anna Ruth's dimpled hands long enough to make us sappy. 

:)

If you have more questions, ask away! I'd love to help! 

(and I'd also love your feedback on The Rosy Life in the previous post)