Printing photos ... wasn't that what people did back in the Stone Age?

With everyone wielding mobile devices these days, it's no surprise that the ritual of snapping, printing and storing photos has largely gone the way of VHS. But we're here to convince you that printing pictures from your smartphone isn't just for your nan - there are very real benefits, and these are the top three.

1. It improves your editing skills

Award-winning US photographer Brady Cabe encourages photographers to print their work because a blown-up, high-res print highlights everything wrong with an image. Dust from your smartphone lens will be magnified, and any undesirable elements you missed when snapping the image (such as floating trash, or a sneaky photo-bomber) will become glaring.

So, printing forces you to more carefully consider the digital image, and edit it to perfection.

2. You'll have a physical backup

Hard drives fail more commonly than manufacturers would have you believe, reveals a Carnegie Mellon University study. In fact, annual failure rates could be as high as 13 per cent (they were supposed to be 0.88 per cent, according to the manufacturer specs). Meanwhile, Shutterbug, in conjunction with scientist Dr Nils Miller, found that ink-jet-printed photos could last centuries, when kept in storage.

Don't just keep one copy of important memories. Save a digital file as well as a printed photo to guarantee longevity.

3. There's less chance of compression ruining the image

A major benefit of printing smartphone photos is that it creates a copy of your image that won't be further harmed by compression.

But what is compression? To keep it very simple, most software (including your phone) will "compress" an image in order to make the file size smaller. If you ever see ".JPG" after an image name, it's more than likely compressed - it may even be heavily so. Compression reduces the quality, and every time you open, edit and then save a JPG image, that quality will further reduce.

By all means edit your image as much as you like, but print off a high-res version after the first edit. Just in case.

• Quick note: Apps like Instagram will also compress your image - especially if you have High Quality Processing turned off. This has been known to dramatically reduce quality.

Epson is your go-to photo printing name

Epson Australia is one of the nation's leading brands in at-home photography printing. With our Epson Connect™ wireless technology, you can print high-quality, fast images straight from your mobile device. Browse our range online today, or find your nearest Genuine Epson supplier http://www.wheretobuy.epson.com.au/