Back in the 1990s and early 2000s printing photos was always such an important thing for me. I’d get a disposable camera for the day trip / night out / etc. and then bring it to the shop to have the film developed and pictures printed as soon as I possible so I can see what I’d managed to capture! But then I got a digital camera and, outside of my days spent in the university dark room and digital photo lab, I kind of stopped printing pictures. Sure, every now and again I’d print something, and after our wedding I made sure we printed the professional pictures (side note: I actually designed the lay out for our wedding album and I’m really proud of it!), but for the most part the pictures just lived in the digital ether.

And that’s not really great, because you never know if the digital ether will fail or if there will be a glitch that will cause a favourite photo to corrupt. So when the team at Cheerz got in touch about trying out their services I was over the moon – I’d been trying to figure out how I wanted to print my pictures (designed photo albums? individual prints? square size? polaroid style?) and the answer had landed in my inbox. 

Cheerz is based in Paris, France, where the photos are printed on premium photo paper. (Parce que j’ai une affinité pour France , j’étais très heureux qu’ils sont de Paris.) They offered to let me try two products, so I went for the Big Fat Box* and the DIY Photo Book*.

The Big Fat Box* is designed to fit a large number of photos, which are delivered in a sturdy cube (pictured here!) that doubles as a great way to store your prints. With this box you can choose between 75 and 200 photos to print, and I went all out with the full 200!

Ordering was really simple. I used the desktop site (they also have an app!) while cosied up in my pjs with a mug of tea on the sofa. First select the product you want, then you can upload your choice of photos from your computer or connect to any number of social media sites (such as Instagram and Facebook!) and select pictures from there to print. Easy!

After you’ve ordered, the delivery comes quickly. If I remember correctly, mine arrived on a Thursday after placing the order on a Saturday. However, the two items were wrapped separately so arrived at slightly different times! (I had them delivered to work, so one came with the morning post and the other the afternoon delivery.) That’s not a problem, though – it just means your photos are literally shipped as soon as they’re ready, so they get to you more quickly!

The Big Fat Box* was really great. I loved that it came with the little photo previews (that heart above!) and it was so much fun going through the pictures and remembering all the adventures I’ve been on and beautiful moments I photographed to remember.

The photo quality is lovely, and the paper is sturdy. Heads up they print on glossy paper, so be sure to hold from the edges to avoid leaving finger prints on your lovely picture!

When printing you can choose between a square cut (4×4”) or vintage cut (3×4”) with the option to add text (they’ve got a several different fonts available!) and different colour borders (white, black, colour block and vintage). With the Big Fat Box* I went for square cut with classic white borders.

I was really delighted with the Big Fat Box*, and I love that the shipping container doubles as a safe way to store my prints. While I got this for myself, I think it’d be a great gift for a friend, or even a lovely present for a couple if you can select pictures of them together!

The other item I tried out was the DIY Photo Book*, where I selected pictures from Jeff & my trip to Morocco back in 2014.

The DIY Photo Book* is hardcover with chic, thick black pages and comes with 20 prints in 3×4″ sizing and the option to add text (like with the Big Fat Box they’ve got a several different fonts available!) and different colour borders (white, black, colour block and vintage).

The photos are shipped right in the book…

…tucked into a cute little envelope attached to the inside back cover!

What I really liked about this option was that the pages came prepared for me to just attach my photos to them. Just peel back the white paper to expose the adhesive and press the photo down – result!

For the DIY Photo Book* I stuck with the classic white borders and chose to print the same copy on each of the pictures: Morocco 2014. I love how they tell a nice story together, and once stuck inside the pages it’s so much fun to flip through and show to friends.

On the first page is a fun spotted print, paired with a place for you to handwrite what the book is all about.

The cover is a simple, sleek black with a sparkling finish.

Overall I’m super happy with what I received, and the items really beat my expectations in terms of quality and how quickly they arrived after ordering. I’ll certainly be printing with Cheerz again (out of my own pocket next time, too!) and I’ve already got my eye on their photo strips as something new I’d like to try!

If you’d like to order your own, use the code KATPOR to get £4 off your order.

Please note: while the products marked with a star (*) in this blog post were gifts, the views expressed are my own.