A few years ago, I went to a wedding. It was beautiful. And across all the tables during the reception, the bride and groom had scattered some Instax cameras. They were all the rage… made by FujiFilm, they brought back the nostalgia of yesteryear’s Polaroid, but with a modern twist. (In fact, I’ve spotted that the new Polaroid company has made new versions of their cameras, and they still look the same!)
I took a few extra snaps and took the photos home in my purse, determined to look into the cameras for myself.
It was a few years ago. I’ve been going back and forth on it.
I’m not the best photographer, so my phone camera is usually fine for all the things. I didn’t really want to buy a whole camera and then have to remember to carry it around with me. Unlike a specific situation or event, like a wedding… I’m not really likely to even remember.
So then I looked into photo printers. The same companies make photo printers that print to that specific size, and that was where it all came together…
After some research (okay, disclaimer, my much more hardware orientated partner did all the research, I’m really much more of a software girl), we* settled on the Canon Selphy CP1300.
* OK, further disclaimer, after arguing about whether or not we should get one for literally years, my partner surprised me with the Canon Selphy CP1300 for Kirihimete this year! But you know, details… tiny insignificant details.
It’s perfect. It prints full-size photos (4×6 size) in really beautiful colour and super fast. The only bad reviews seem to be about price, but if I factor in the time it would take me to upload the photo to Snapfish, or drive to Warehouse Stationery (both options which I’ve used in the past extensively), it kinda works out… ish.
I had a look at the different paper types, and wasn’t convinced that the KC-36IP paper, even though it was the perfect size for the Instax-sized print would do the Instax look.
So of course, in the way that I overthink all the things, I went to Adobe Photoshop.
First I made myself an “Instax” template:
- 55mm x 85mm
- Horizontal Guides
- 7mm
- 70mm
- Vertical Guides
- 4mm
- 50mm
- White layer as Background
- 300DPI resolution
Then I made myself a “Canon RP-108” Template (the size paper I have, which is the full-size 4×6 postcard paper I got) – Just 300DPI, 148mm x 100mm
The easy-peasy part of this is that the Selphy CP1300 has no bleed issues, it prints to the edge. I didn’t even have to fluff around with that.
Then it was a case of putting up to two “Instax” sized images (using the guides to crop my photo in the right place) and then printing the whole thing, and cutting it carefully.
You can’t even tell!
(I also found a Instant Hipster Retro Actions Photoshop pack a while ago, I don’t know if it’s still free or not, but I use it all the time to give my photos that Instagram look!)
Vivian Chandra 