How To Get Free Photo Prints
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The convenience of carrying a high-quality phone in your pocket means that we all take more photos than ever before. But the complication is that printing these photos can be an inconvenient (and expensive) process. Thankfully some services strive to make this much easier, and they even do it for free! Here are some effective yet easy ways for you to get free photo prints.
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Key Takeaways
- Free photo prints are easy to get.
- Many companies offer a limited number of free photo prints either online or in-store.
- They offer this free service in the hopes of upselling their paid products or services.
- Some of these services have controversial terms and conditions, so make sure that you know what your photos may be used for once you’ve submitted them.
You can quickly and easily get free photo prints from any of the following photo printing services below. Read on to see the list.
Table of Contents
How You Can Get Free Photo Prints
There are six easy ways to get free photo prints. Some are a bit better than others, and they all have their pros and cons, so be sure to read the details carefully. Let’s get started with that list!
Walgreens
Walgreens is hands down the best way to get a free print if you have a location near you. Why? Walgreens has a free 8×10 print almost every month, for years on end, it does not seem to be stopping. Watch out for the latest code here. The catch is you cannot get it shipped to you, you have to go in-store to redeem this free print to get it 100% free. You can pay to get it shipped if you like too. Otherwise it is a reliable way to get a free print if you have a Walgreens near you.
CVS Photo
CVS Pharmacies have a convenient photo printing service. You can order your prints online, then either have them shipped to you or collect your prints from your nearest store. The service is not technically free, though, but they frequently run free photo printing offers. These offers allow you to get the print 100% free as long as you pick it up in-store. And by frequent, we mean a few times a year or even up to once per month. It’s worth watching out for those special offers and making use of the opportunity the moment it arises. We always share them as they are offered so stay in touch. They usually offer a 8 x 10, 5 x 7 or 4 x 6 print for free but it can vary.
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FreePrints
FreePrints is an app-based platform that offers you up to 85 free photo prints per month. The sizes are all 4 x 6, and you can only print one copy of each photo. FreePrints offers this service hoping that you would purchase more prints, or perhaps prints in other sizes.
Be warned, though, that the FreePrints terms and conditions state that FreePrints may use or sell your photos as stock photos if they wish. This is not necessarily a problem for most people, but it is something to consider. By uploading your pictures to FreePrints, you give them the right to use your photos in any way that they wish.
It’s also crucial to note that FreePrints does not offer free shipping, which ranges between $2 and $10, depending on the number of prints. So, technically these are not 100% free when you factor in shipping costs.
Shutterfly
Similar to FreePrints, Shutterfly offers not only free prints but an unlimited number of free 4 x 4 and 4 x 6 photo prints. You do have pay for shipping so it isn’t 100% free though! It even offers free unlimited cloud storage for your photos forever. Of course, Shutterfly also hopes that you will buy some of their larger size prints in the process, and shipping is also not free.
It’s worth mentioning that Shutterfly also has a clause in its terms and conditions that allows Shutterfly to use your photos in any way or form, including selling them as stock photos. If you use this service, you might just wake up and see your face on a billboard one day, and there will be nothing you can do about it.
Snapfish
Snapfish is the next app-based platform that offers you a hundred free standard 4 x 6 photo prints per month for a year after installing the app but they usually charge shipping fees so it isn’t 100% free. Apart from free 4 x 6 photo prints, Snapfish offers a wide range of other printing services like photo books, printed gifts like mugs and calendars, and much more.
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Similar to the previous options, Snapfish hopes that you will make use of its other excellent printing services in the process, making your free prints a worthwhile marketing investment. And, after a year, you will be so used to printing that you will want to keep on doing it, even if it’s no longer free.
Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club offers you fifty free 4 x 6 photo prints. You qualify for these prints when you open a new Sam’s Club Photo account. You must be an existing Sam’s Club member to be eligible since you must enter your membership number when you open your Photo account. Ground shipping is also free, so those fifty photo prints won’t cost you a cent!
Target Photo
Like CVS, Target Photo does not offer free photo printing as a standard service. Its prices are comparatively low, to begin with, but Target will occasionally run limited-time promotions that offer you free photo prints. It is worth subscribing to the Target Photo mailing list to see when that happens and to make use of the opportunity before the time runs out.
Related Questions
There are some risks, of course. There is always the possibility that your prints could get lost in shipping, and since it wasn’t a paid service, it is up to the provider to decide if they will re-print the photos for you (and usually, the chances are slim to none).
Then there’s the possibility with services like FreePrints and Shutterfly that your photos may be used for any other reasons without your explicit permission. If you use their services, you are permitting them to use your photos in any way, including selling them to advertising agencies or as stock photographs.
This way, your photos could end up in magazines, on billboards, or any other type of media, without them having to pay you a cent for that. Keep in mind, though, that all of this is within the legal bounds of personal privacy legislation. For the most part, your personal information may not be made available during the sale of these photos.
It’s a fact that money is the primary concern for all of these companies since they are commercial businesses. Their sole purpose is to make money. But the crucial point is how that money is made.
The simple motivation for most of them is gaining paying customers by offering them something for free. That’s where you are pulled in with free photo prints, but you soon want more, so you are willing to pay for more.
But there is also the more sinister (though completely legal) aspect of the companies selling your photos to other agencies or third parties, which you gave them full permission to do. This could become quite a lucrative income stream for any commercial business.
For the most part, no. Once you’ve uploaded your photos to their platforms, they have the right to use them with no limits at all. Of course, you are still the owner, but they now own the right to use it.
However, on platforms like Shutterfly, where you also get free cloud storage for your photos, you revoke their right to use your pictures the moment you remove them from their platform, except for specific cases where an image has already been sold or licensed out.