Whether it's a Christmas gift for a grandparent, or a humorous gift for a co-worker, there are plenty of great gift-giving opportunities to be had using the myriad of customized gift websites online. The quality of the items provided by the big name sites has improved a great deal over the years, and you can create fun and durable gifts yourself, with your own photos or artwork. I am always surprised at how fast the turnaround time is with most of these services.
As an artist I have used many of these services to make some very memorable gifts with my artwork, and some of the services even make high quality archival prints that will last a lifetime. Good stuff, and lots of fun... so get creative and make something today!
Customized Postage!
Yes, now the U.S. post office lets authorized companies sell actual, usable postage stamps with the photo of your choice on it. Does this scream "great grandma present" or what? A fun and reasonably priced way to get started making custom gifts.
- Stamps.com
- Starting at around 18 bucks, you can make your own stamps using their easy website interface. The prices decrease as you order larger quantities (16 for 2 or more etc.) , so think about making several sheets for several recipients at a time.
TIP: for Mac users they have a downloadable utility that integrates with iPhoto. As a longtime Mac user, I am touched!
Publish your own Books!
Photobooks, vacation books, cookboooks...
As digital printing becomes cheaper and better, there have been quite a few sites offering photo books. One of the main differences between the sites is the level to which you can customize your books.
- Viovio
- One of the things I have seen with the Viovio books is the ability to have a full-bleed (photo goes all the way to the edge) printed cover... and now they have hardback books with the same cover. The way they do the binding great and looks super professional... however, the software on the website to create the books is confusing, and I would recommend this site be used by people comfortable doing their own layout in photoshop, making individual jpgs of the pages, and uploading them. If you know how to do this, I can guarantee you can make something really impressive here beyond the standard photo album!
I made a portfolio type book here to be used as a catalog type presentation of my artwork. The color was a little off, but the way they make the books is so cool and professional, it was still worth it. They cost me around 14 dollars for 25 page books.
T-Shirts and Apparel
Here are some of the better known services on the web for custom T-Shirts. Many offer volume discounts. Some offer printing on dark fabric items.
- Zazzle
- One of the largest and most established sites for T-Shirt printing, Zazzle offers very quick turn around (usually shipping items in 24 hours) as well as the ability to print on dark and black colored shirts. They also have a very cool selection of mugs which allow you to design a wrap-around photo or artwork mug. Tip: While I like the quality of the shirts and mugs, I don't love the quality of the art and poster prints. See my art and poster links below for recommendations
