What’s New at Cheerz?

One of my absolute pleasures in life is taking photos. It stated years ago with disposable cameras I’d get for cheap when I worked my Saturday job at Boots and graduated into digital when I went away to University. Yes, I was the girl who ALWAYS had a digital camera in her bag on a night out. I have countless photo albums filled with memories that I regularly look through when times are tough. When I became a parent, I went through a really rough time so stopped photographing as much, I have so little from LM’s first year that once I got my life together I invested in a nice camera and continued to take photos. I have thousands, probably tens of thousands of photos of LM now and I have no regrets. The only problem is the cost of printing these days. I tend to keep everything online (although I’m totally disillusioned with this after Instagram deleted my account for no reason, I’ve got a post in the making about that!) but my sitting room is filled with precious memories framed on the walls. So yes, I’m a fan of the photograph, and if that sounds like you, you should definitely check out Cheerz which is an online photo printing service that can turn your memories into practical works of art such as canvases, photobooks, christmas card printing, calendars, magnets etc.

I have worked with Cheerz in the past, reviewing their printing service and when the photobooks were first launched a few years ago, they’ve had a bit of a shake up since then and I’m loving them! But in case you’re new to the blog and you’re not sure what Cheerz is all about, I’ll give you a quick summary, and to do this, I’m going to quote myself (because I’m incredibly eloquent in my other post!)

Cheerz are the new kid on the block when it comes to printing photos in a fun and creative way. We’re not just talking the standard 6×4 prints here! You can make really stylish gifts and polaroid style prints which really appeals to me. Cheerz comes in both an app format and the website meaning you can create your product from your phone, tablet or computer. The system is so simple to use both on the website and the app so you get exactly what you want every time.

Cool, right? I honestly just love the Cheerz brand and I get super psyched when I open the app that lives on my phone. And you can download it for free from Apple here, and Android here.

This time, the lovely people at Cheerz asked if I wanted to review not only their new style photobooks, but a canvas too, which was just perfect given I’m changing up the walls in the lounge at the moment! I ordered them on the 12th July, and both the canvas at the photobooks had arrived by the 19th, that’s one week. Pretty impressive for photo printed gifts, huh? The canvas arrived separately to the books due to the size of it, which I also thought was great as it meant it was protected from damage that could have occurred had it been packaged in the with the books.

40 x 40 Canvas* £29

Creating the Canvas on the Cheerz website was simple. You select your size then follow the steps to upload the photo you want to use. The tool you use to adjust the photo on the canvas tells you if your image is too large or small, as this could possible affect the quality of the finished piece. The canvas comes in 2 sizes, 40 x 40 or 45 x 60. I went for 40 x 40 as the space it would be replacing already holds at 40 x 40 canvas. I had to try a few different photos before getting one that wouldn’t pixelate when finished.

The canvas actually arrived before the photobooks, only 4 days after the order was placed and i’m so happy with how it looks. I went for one of the pivotal moments from our last Walt Disney World trip and I think it looks amazing. In the past I’ve never bothered to get canvases of LM printed as I just feel she changes too much and a canvas is much more permanent than a photo in a frame. This however, is a moment I want to treasure. For the price and the size, I think it’s great and well worth the money!

Now onto the photobooks;

Portrait Photobook* RRP from £27

I was able to order two photobooks from Cheerz and I decided to create one for each of our last two trips to Walt Disney World. One for October 2016, and one for May 2018. A few years back when the photobooks were first launched on Cheerz I made one for our March 2016 trip and LM loves it, she still looks through it and we keep it in our lounge to show any friends that come to stay. The book styles have changed a little since they were first launch but the finish product is still as beautiful and makes a perfect keepsake.

I used the website to create my photobooks rather than the app, because of personal preference and where I had the photos I wanted to use stored. I selected the portrait hardcover photobook but you can also go with a landscape one, a little square or a big square. These are all priced differently as are the different types of book such as softcover, window or premium flatly which is perfect for coffee table books. Once you’ve selected your photobook type you click “get started” and you’re taken to your photobook creator. Most of the tools are predefined meaning you don’t get a huge amount of options, however this makes it easier, quicker and you cannot make a mistake when creating your book. The book I selected comes with 26 pages and for each additional 2 pages it’s a £1. Depending on the number of photos you select per 2 pages (the maximum is 8) you’ll be given four different pre-set layouts, some have places you can add text too. I have to admit, without these layouts I could have spent days getting it perfect, so in a way, I’m thankful for them!

Once your book is complete and customised the way you want, you place your order and before you know it, it’ll be coming through your letterbox. My two books took exactly a week from ordering to arrive.

The new portrait book is slightly bigger than the old one and I feel it’s more tightly bound. There are also more customisable options for the front of the book. I also think that these days the paper they use to print on feels better and takes the images so well they look bright and vibrant. With it being hard back it’s sturdy and will definitely survive my 6 year old reading them like they’re a bedtime story.

I plan on using post it notes to annotate each page so when we look back we know exactly what the photos are telling us.

Cheerz still remains one of my absolute favourite printing apps. At Christmas, I used it to create a calendar for my mum as her gift from LM. We have three of these photobooks and I use their photo printing service to print out photos in Polaroid shape to go inside my Christmas cards. I like that I can use the app if I’m in a hurry or go to the website on my laptop. I honestly cannot wait to see what Cheerz bring out next, but in the mean time, I need to create two more photobooks for our trips in April 2015 & September 2015!

If you’re thinking of using Cheerz to do create some wonderful photo products or print some of your memories out, I have a 20% off discount code valid until the 27th August! Simply enter TEACUPS20 at the check out (not valid on gift cards).