Photo Delivery

If you choose to email the photo, please send it to orders@itsmygifts.com. Please be sure to reference your order number in the subject of the email.

If you choose to mail us the photo, we will make a scan and create the gift using the scanned image. Your photo will be returned to you when we send your gift. Please make a reference to your order number somewhere in the package or on the back of the photo, and mail it to:

Photo Gift Order
itsmygifts.com
4417 13^th Street
Suite 509
Saint Cloud, FL 34769

Photo Quality Guidelines

For best results, the image you send us should be landscape (i.e., it's wider left-to-right, and shorter top-to-bottom). Generally, landscape photos have extra space on the left and/or right side that will allow us to print the text without overlapping the photo subject too much. You can still send us a portrait-oriented (i.e., tall and narrow) photo, but try to make sure the image has extra space on the left or right to minimize having text overlap the subject.

Special Effects - General

If we cannot get the text to be completely legible, or to minimize the amount of overlap on the photo subject, we will add one of three special effects to the image. Generally, for all the effects, using white for the effect will enhance the look of the image.

Special Effects - Side-Fade

Side-fade can be added to one or more sides of the photo so the majority of the text will be in the side-fade region, providing a more stable background and enhancing the legibility of the text. The sample photo to the left uses green side-fade to enhance the legibility of the text for a 2 Name gift, using green as the side-fade color. Click on the image to view it full-size.

Special Effects - Circle-Fade

Similar to the Side-Fade, the circle fade provides a static background for printing legible text. It is required for the Star Signs Photo gift. The image on the left uses Circle-Fade with a color chosen from the image. Click on the image to view it full-size.

Special Effects - Text Glow

The text glow effect is a combination of outline and drop shadow. Instead of simply having a different colored edges for the text or simply having a colored shadow on one or two sides of the text, a glow is a fading color that extends in all directions from the text. The photo on the left uses a white text glow. Click on the image to view it full-size.

Special Effects - Backdrop Box

While I'm sure print shops use a different name for this technique, this effect is essentially a semi-transparent colored box that is placed behind the text to increase legibility, but still allow some of the background to show through. The sample photo on the left uses a white backdrop boxes set to 60% opacity. Click on the image to view it full-size.

Minimum Photo Requirements

If you mail us a photo, the minimum size is 4" x 6" if you want a full-size, 8.5" x 11" print. If necessary, we can scan it at a higher resolution and print it out at 8.5" x 11". For prints of smaller sizes, just about any photo will do.

If you plan on emailing your photo and would like the best quality possible for the print, please use the table below to determine the size the photo needs to be when you send it to us. The minimum size column is for prints at 300 dots-per-inch (dpi). The recommended size column is for prints at 600dpi, which provides better image quality.

Photo Print Size

The Photo Print Size tells us how big you want your gift printed. If you choose to print one photo on 8.5" x 11" or one photo on 5" x 7" paper, you can also choose one of our frames. If you choose 2" x 3" key chain, the mug, or the stein, you will automatically receive the key chain, mug, or stein along with the print, and the print will already be inserted.

First Name Meaning - Photo Gifts

If you are getting the Photo Gift, and you email us the photo, the photo we email back to you will be of the same size and resolution (dots-per-inch). If you mail us a photo, we will try to scan it at 600 dpi. So if you send us a 5" x 7" photo, we will try to send you a JPEG photo that's 3000 x 4200.

Email/Download Gifts - Gift Type

If you are getting an Email/Download gift, you must decide if you will be printing the gift, using it as a computer desktop background, or both (you can get both for an additional charge of $1.00). If you are getting the gift for a computer desktop background, you also have the option of getting it for a normal screen (at 1600 x 1200 pixels), or a widescreen (at 1440 x 900). If being used on a widescreen, the image will have to be modified to accommodate the wider horizontal dimension, which may result in the cropping of the top and/or bottom areas of the image.

Email/Download Gifts - Resolution

If you are getting an Email/Download gift, and if you plan on printing it yourself, you must choose the desired resolution. By default, the gift will be created at 300dpi and we will try to target the gift for an 8.5" x 11" print. Currently, 300dpi is the only resolution available for the photo backgrounds. For gifts that are specified as being computer desktop backgrounds, 96dpi (or, more correctly, ppi) will be used for the image.