Pixuru Turns Your Digital Photos into Works of Art

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Pixuru

Between my iPhone 5, my Sony NE-6 and my iPad mini I take more pictures than ever. You probably do too. The actual process of taking pictures is fun, but the question of what to do with the pictures once they are taken is often hard to answer. Pixuru has a great suggestion for what to do with your digital pictures. More accurately, Pixuru has a series of answers to the question of what to do with your digital photographs.The service made it possible for me to check out three of their offerings and I am happy to say I’m quite pleased with the result. Let’s walk through the process of using the application and service and then take a look at the finished products.

Pixuru

The first steps involved downloading the free Pixuru app and determining which pictures you want to convert into works of art. The first is simple — the second, if you are anything like me and have hundreds or thousands of digital pictures — is far more difficult.

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You will need to create a free Pixuru account before you can begin the selection process and the selection process is not only finding the picture/s you want but also determining what kind of final product you want to enjoy. You see, Pixuru takes your digital images and prints them on to a number of different materials with each offering its own look and feel.

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Pixuru offers Canvas Prints, Wood Prints, Framed Prints and Metal Prints. And that’s not where the choices end. Once you determine which of the four materials you want to use you also have to determine the size of the picture you want.

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Obviously the larger the size the more expensive it will be.

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You can also order any give picture on any one of the four materials as a three or four panel image.

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And while the multiple-panel images are pricey they are pretty cool!

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Finally, you can also use the Pixuru service to print your image on a number of different types of device case. So in all you have a choice of five different materials with various sizes and single or multiple panels for four of them.

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The company gave me a store credit to try Pixuru out. In addition, the service gives a 10% discount on the first order made with a new account. (It is not clear if this is a limited time offer or will be a constant aspect of new customer acquisition.) I decided to check out three of the four wall picture styles — Canvas, Metal and Wood — and set off to determine which pictures I would use. In each case I got a 12 X 12 finished product. With the 10% discount it all came to just $114.

Wood Panel:

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For the Wood Panel I decided to use a picture I took last year of an old barn here in my town. I figured the wood barn’s image printed on actual wood might be neat. As the company explains,

“They show some grain and work as firewood if you decide to break up with the person in the pic.”

Cute.

I was right about the wood on wood — it is unique. The only thing I don’t love about this style is the fact that the colors of the actual picture were not rendered accurately. I’m not sure why this is the case. It is not, however, a huge deal since only someone who sees the original picture would know.

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I do like the heft of the Wood Print as well as the simple method of hanging it: put the included wall hanger where you want it and simply drop the Wood Print over it.

Canvas Panel:

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In my opinion the Canvas Panel turned out fantastically. Since the canvas itself has a bit of a rough texture to it I decided to use a picture I took a few weeks ago using my Sony NEX-6. The NEX-6 has the ability to run special apps and, as a result, can do a good bit of image processing on-the-fly.

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I had taken a picture of the lake and hit it with a filter that make it look like a watercolor painting. It seemed like good candidate for the Canvas Panel. It was!

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Metal Panel:

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The Metal Panel promised to be the sharpest of the pictures. That’s why I opted to use a colorful picture I took of the lake. I think it was a good call. How about you?

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I’m impressed with the Pixuru app and service. It let me choose the type of material I wanted to use, the size and the original image and complete the process using just my iPhone.

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I hit “Order” and immediately received my confirmation. A week later the package arrived. I’ll be hanging all three pictures next week.

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Pixuru makes it simple to turn your favorite images into works of art you can proudly display at home or in your office. I’m a fan and suspect I will be ordering additional ones in the near future. This time, however, I’ll be spending a bit more and getting a few large, multi-panel pictures. Pixuru’s products can get pricey but the convenience and final product are truly impressive. You can learn more here.

MSRP: Varies depending on size and material but prices start at $20

What I Like: Easy to use; Fast to use the app to design and order your products; Fast processing; Excellent results that can be enjoyed for years to come

What Needs Improvement: Wood Print colors are not accurate…. but it still looks good

Source: Manufacturer supplied review sample

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.