Instagram photo albums — they're leather and they fit Polaroids too!

Are you on Instagram? Of course. Do you ever print your 'grams? I bet not.

But you should.

And I'm here to help. I've hinted at it recently, but now it's official: my leather Instagram photo albums are in my Etsy shop, and I know from personal experience how rewarding it has been to make prints of Instagrams and to preserve and display them in albums.

After researching the most common sizes for square prints, I settled on two standard sizes for my leather albums. Both hold 48 images. The larger fits 6 x 6 prints (as well as traditional 4 x 6 photos and Polaroids) and the smaller fits 2.5 x 2.5 images. No matter the size, the photos are easily mounted in with photo corners, scrapbooking adhesive, or double-sided tape. And the pages are made of an especially thick and sturdy watercolor paper.

I'd love to hear what you think about these albums. If you have any questions at all, please let me know. And to learn more about them and see more photos, please follow these links:

Etsy: Instagram photo albums page

Blog: How to print Instagrams

Facebook: Photo album

I've mentioned often how I put my own handmade books to use, and these Instagram albums have been no exception. I've already made one for my husband and one for myself and plan to create more in the future.

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How to print Instagrams to display in a photo album

I'll be debuting leather Instagram photo albums this weekend at Porter Flea AirCraft here in Nashville, and I want to share with you my guide on how to print Instagrams — everyone's favorite square format photos.

The first Instagram album that I made was an anniversary gift for my husband, who uses Instagram often while reporting for the newspaper and to capture odd things around Nashville. Once the book was finished, it was exciting to see the images printed out and so much larger than we typically see them on an iPhone screen. The book that I handbound for him worked out so well that I decided to make more. Each of my albums has leather covers and 48 pages, made of thick watercolor paper. I have since been making two sizes, each designed to hold the most common square-format photo sizes available.

My large books are 7 x 7, which holds square images as large as 6 x 6, and standard 4 x 6 photos. The smaller books are 4 x 4 and hold 2.5 x 2.5 square photos.

There are many printing options out there, so I think it will help for me to share what I've learned about Instagram printing. Some services are user-friendly and simple, while others may require you to do more of the work in exchange for saving some money on each print.

Read along for my guide to printing Instagrams.

Printstagram — Easy to use, web-based

Sizes: 4 x 4 (perfect for large album) and 2.5 x 2.5 (fits small album)

Cost: $12 for 24 large images or 48 small

PostalPix — Order prints directly from iPhone

Sizes: 5 x 5, 4 x 4, 2 x 2

Cost: 29 cents to 89 cents per print (details)

RitzPix — Many options, prompt delivery

Sizes: 6 x 6, 5 x 5, 2.5 x 2.5

Cost: 49 cents per print

Note: For 2.5 x 2.5 images, you'll need to use photo editing software to set up a 5 x 5 document with 4 photos in a grid. Once printed, you'll need to trim them.

I've found other options as well, but these seem to be the easiest to use and most affordable. Another option would be placing your square images on 4 x 6 prints and then trimming them. For more information, check out this tutorial. If you go this route, you could print one 4 x 4 or six 2 x 2 images per 4 x 6 print, but you'll need photo editing software to set up the files.

I know that my husband and I have found it extremely satisfying to finally print our photos — somewhat of a lost art, these days. And I hope my new square-format leather photo albums can be another encouragement that will save more photos from collecting digital dust.

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