Photo Print App Innovation

With major transformations occurring throughout the photo print product value chain – in manufacturing, channels, and consumer behavior – it’s more important than ever to think outside the box as to how to best serve today’s – and tomorrow’s – photo print product buyers.

Rather than turning this rethinking into a conceptual exercise, our March 15 Spotlight will host 8 photo print app developers who’ll live-demo their innovative phone, web or PC apps, and discuss their apps’ merits vis-à-vis the photo print product value chain trends.

Join us! Get inspired, meet old or new industry friends from across the world, and share your own perspectives!

This Spotlight was held March 15, 2023. 91 attendees.

Check out our takeaways article.

Ink Cards. ChatGPT is for text and can’t be used for photo print products, right? PlanetArt doesn’t think so. Its Ink Cards users who feel lost for words to accompany their photo can now let the app’s new MagicMessage feature do the work for them. If does this after soliciting basic guidance from the user, such as the card recipient’s name, occasion and optional details, including information about the user’s relationship with the recipient or the recipient’s interests. 

MdBy. MdBy, Blurb’s sister brand launched last fall, is an intuitive, design-focused, web app for creating high-end photobooks, framed prints, and gifts that leverage a range of elevated print manufacturing options. MdBy’s photobooks include printed fabrics, linen covers, and matte full-image wraps with foil. Options for MdBy’s gallery-quality wall art include handcrafted frames and sustainable canvas. MdBy gifts include giclée fine art prints and unique takes on print sets and display options.

Stampix. Having started as an innovative sponsorship-supported photo print app, Stampix is now expanding its business model from B2B to B2C with the introduction of an intuitive direct-to-consumer photo print app.

Picta. What if your app is all made for convenience & speed so that your users could order prints in under 30 seconds and pick them up within 20 minutes from one of over 20K Walgreens, CVS, or Walmart partner stores? If nothing else, it then gives you the financial muscle to develop innovative new photo print products. We look forward to seeing – and hearing – what’s up with Picta!

IXXI. How to disrupt the well-established wall décor market? For IXXI this means offering a picture playground for your wall with their patented modular system. IXXI turns the concept of photo tiles into a creative playground that meets consumers’ interior design aspirations. The keys to success? Giving you the choice to display one image per tile or to display a single image though a collection of (almost literally) seamlessly connected tiles. Letting you use your own photos or licensed artworks, while offering you the opportunity to go as big and impactful as you want and change tiles without effort. And that’s just the start.

ip.labs. ip.labs develops a range of white label middleware and consumer-facing applications for photo print, app-to-print and web-to-print businesses. At our Spotlight, Kirandeep Kaur will introduce ip.labs turnkey print and design software toolkit and services that enables any photo app business, small or big, to start selling personalized photo products within their existing apps.

Zingcam. What’s next with last year’s Visual 1st Special Recognition Award winner, Zingcam? While applying AR features to photo prints is a long-pursued use case and Zingcam’s 1.0 version “brought an element of wonder, whimsy, and delight to how consumers can enjoy viewing their visual memories,” according to last year’s Visual 1st Awards jury, Zingcam is ready to take its AR for print product features to the next level. Enjoy viewing their next version, to be revealed at our March 15 Spotlight.

Grow.photos. What does it mean to be a parent-first photo book app? Grow’s answer: subscriptions to continuous photo albums that grow along with the must-retain memories of young families, coupled with an obsession with quality that combines ease-of-use UI with premium design and print product quality.