Most of the photos people care about live on a phone, and most of them never leave it. A photo magnet is one of the cheapest ways to get one back out into the house, onto the fridge where it gets seen every time someone wants milk.
This post is about what you actually get, which photos make good magnets, and when the magnet is the wrong choice.
What it is
Your photo is printed in full colour straight onto a solid 3D printed base, using a UV printer, and the piece is cut to the outline of your photo. There is no paper print glued onto a blank and no sticker that lifts at the corners. The picture is part of the piece.
When you order, you upload the photo and place it yourself, so you decide what sits in the middle and what gets cropped away. Each magnet can have a different photo.
There are two sizes:
- 8 cm, $5
- 10 cm, $8
The 8 cm is the one to buy in numbers: a magnet for each grandparent, or one for every child in the family. The 10 cm is worth the extra $3 for a photo with more than one person in it, where faces would otherwise get small.
Photos that print well
A good magnet photo has three things going for it.
One clear subject. A dog, a face, two kids on a step. The piece is cut to the shape of the photo, so a picture with an obvious subject makes an obvious shape, and you recognise it from across the kitchen.
Daylight. Photos taken outside or near a window print with colour you will recognise. Photos taken indoors at night, under a warm bulb, tend to come out orange and soft, on paper or on anything else.
In focus where it matters. Zoom in on the eyes before you upload. If they are blurry on your phone screen, they will be blurry on the fridge, and printing cannot add detail that the camera did not catch.
Pets are the easy case. A close-up of a face, or the whole animal sitting still, both work. Cartoon versions of a pet work too, if you have one drawn.
Photos that disappoint
- Group photos at 8 cm. Twelve people at a wedding, shrunk to 8 cm, is twelve very small faces. Pick the 10 cm, or pick a smaller group.
- Screenshots and photos of photos. A screenshot of a message thread, or a photo of an old print taken at an angle under a lamp, carries the glare and the blur with it.
- Heavily filtered photos. A filter that looks moody on a phone screen often prints dark. If you have the original, use that.
None of these will be refused. They are the ones where you might open the parcel and wish you had chosen a different picture, so it is worth thirty seconds of scrolling before you upload.
Magnet or keychain?
If the photo is going to live on a fridge, the photo fridge magnet is the one to buy.
If it is going to travel, there is a second product: the photo keychain or magnet. The magnet on that one is $8. The keychain is printed on both sides, so it looks right whichever way it is hanging, and it is $13. Both together are $16, which makes a good pair for a grandparent: one for the fridge, one for the car keys.
Who these suit
- Grandparents, who would like more photos of the grandchildren and fewer of them on a screen.
- Pet owners, especially for an animal that has died. A magnet of a favourite photo is a gentle thing to give.
- Families after a holiday, one magnet each from the same trip.
- Secret Santa, at work or in the family, where the budget is small and a gift card says nothing.
When it isn't the right thing
If you want a framed print for the wall, buy a framed print. A magnet is a small, everyday object, and a big landscape photo with lots of sky and a tiny person in it is better served by paper and glass.
And if you only have a low-quality copy of the photo, say one forwarded several times through a messaging app, ask the person who took it for the original first. The print shows what is in the file.
How long it takes
Every magnet is made to order in Auckland. Allow 0 to 2 working days for us to make it, then 1 to 3 working days to arrive once it is posted. You can also collect in Auckland for free. Postage is worked out in your cart before you pay; the details are on the delivery page.
There are more ideas for using your own photos in the photo gifts collection.