Digital photos are cool, but that doesn't mean every photo should be digital. Getting creative with printed photos is a great family activity that isn't just hands-on fun, but also makes lasting keepsakes you can hold in your hands to smile, laugh and say, "Oh my goodness, look how young we look!"

Printed photos aren't at risk of failing like a hard drive, and you're not likely to lose them when you upgrade your smartphone. So today, we're celebrating printed photos with some DIY photo project inspiration! If you've got the right photo printer at home, you can quickly snap important memories, print pro-quality images and use any of our below ideas to make albums, displays and gifts.

Photo album ideas

The classic family album

The easiest way to make a family photo album is to purchase a blank album from your local stationery or photography store. But if you want to feel creative, make your own by...

• Glueing your favourite photos to the pages of an old book or diary!
• Glueing photos to colourful pieces of card and binding the pages with book rings or string.

The perfect wedding album

If you want to make your own DIY wedding album with printed photos, our tips for family albums work great - but here are three added twists:

• Instead of any old book, choose a book that you and your partner both love. It'll have added meaning.
• Decorate the outside with patterned ribbons, small flowers, little buttons or shapes (likes hearts and stars), lace doilies, and that sort of thing. Just remember to glue everything on with care, as you want this book to last a long time.
• Add more than just photos. Write stories about what's happening in the pictures or have guests sign their names next to their image. Every extra personal touch will make this album all the more special.

The fun photo album

Photo albums don't have to be leather-bound books that sit and gather dust. They can be as fun as you are!

• About to throw out an old desk calendar? Instead, glue photos to each page so you've got a photo album you can flip through.
• Get a very long piece of card and fold it into a zigzag pattern. Then glue photos to the zigs and zags so you've got an accordion-style album.
• Go wild with the decor! Is it an album of your kids? Use coloured card to turn the cover into a fun monster, with white and black card for eyes and a little red card tongue. Or, if it's an album of loved ones, use red and pink card to turn the cover into a big heart.

Art, displays and gift ideas

Photo collage

Buy a large piece of card and arrange your favourite photos in whatever shape you like. Hearts are popular, especially for family, but you could do a rugby ball for sports photos, or maybe a star for school photos (because your kids are little stars).

To add extra pizzazz, and perhaps some longevity too, frame the collage. Or try a different style by hanging your collage from string, instead of framing it.

Photo mobile

You know those baby mobiles you can buy? Let's recreate those but with photos, to make a fun hanging decoration. Buy some wire - either craft, jewellery or gardening wire (any will do, so long as the gauge is thick enough that it can hold its own shape) - and bend a few pieces into a sort of coat hanger shape. Attach photos to either end of the coat hangers, then attach those to more, slightly larger coat hangers. After a few layers, this will give you your mobile shape.

Check out this video tutorial, and replace the blades with photos.

Framed photos

There's nothing as classic as a good framed photo. But there are more options than just wooden or aluminium frames from your local store. Here are a few fun alternatives:

• Old dinner plates.
• Colourful washi tape (available at most arts and crafts stores).
• Old clocks.
• A picture frame, but instead of a cork or card backing, you tie string in a line from one edge of the frame to the other, then peg your photos to the string!

Family tree

Here's one you might not have thought of. Instead of creating a regular collage, find photos of different generations of your family and make a family tree! Draw or paint a tree with lots of branches on a piece of card. Now glue photos of your family to the tree at different branch levels, writing people's names next to their faces.

• Alternative 1: Instead of drawing a tree on card, grab some of that wire we talked about before and bend long strips into a tree shape. You can twist two or three lengths together to make thicker branches. This will give your tree a fun 3D feel.
• Alternative 2: Instead of making a tree of your entire family, focus on just one person's life (perhaps photos of your child growing up, from toddlerhood through to adulthood). Make a singular branch on card or wire, and attach photos of their various stages in life along the journey. Don't want to use wire or card? Loop string through each photo so it creates a hanging collage.

Tips for printing high-quality photos at home

OK, so we've got great ideas for the next DIY craft project, but how do you get the best out of your home-printed photos? Here are some really quick tips:

1. Use high-quality images: The smaller the size of your photo, the lower the quality it'll be when printed out. Most modern devices can take pictures in HD (1920x1080 pixels, also known as 1080p), and we recommend this as your minimum size. If you can capture images in PNG or RAW rather than JPEG, we recommend that too - JPEG isn't as good.
2. Choose the right printer: When buying a printer that can print photos, don't be dazzled by the advertising. Look for something that isn't going to cost you in ink cartridges over time, or use a ton of electricity. That'll keep your budget happy over the lifetime of the printer. Check out the device's DPI (dots per inch) too, as higher DPI can give an indication of higher-quality printing.
3. Play with paper choices: Photo paper comes in lots of styles. Matte and glossy are the basics, but you can also get textured options like art paper or canvas. We recommend having a play with a few different styles and seeing which you prefer.
4. Edit your photos: Basic photo editing can turn a digital photo into a digital art piece (which, of course, becomes a printed art piece). To get the most out of your photos, watch a few basic photo editing tutorials on YouTube to learn about brightness, contrast and colour. Even a few small tweaks will make your images look more stylish and professional.

Choose Epson for your new printer

If you're looking for a high quality paper for your home printer, find your nearest Genuine Epson supplier For Australia | For New Zealand