Bring your family's story to life with print

Taking family photos is almost too easy these days. Smartphones and other gadgets are our constant companions, capturing every second as our children go about their daily lives. These images soon get buried in the depths of a phone's digital storage, though, and are rarely seen again. But there are still ways to keep treasured memories close.

Leti is a busy mum of four children between one and eight years old. Though a keen Instagram influencer, she's always been a big fan of photo prints. "We used to take rolls of film to the high street and eagerly await getting the prints back. We've lost that with everything being in the cloud or on the phone – the photos are there, but we never really see them."

Armed with Canon SELPHY Square QX10 and Canon SELPHY CP1300 printers, along with a Canon EOS 250D camera, Leti, her husband Zac and their children have found endless ways to tell their stories and recapture the joy of print, and here they share their creations.

Sending homemade cards is a great way to keep in contact with family and friends, and Leti finds that incorporating photos adds a personal touch that's almost like "being there", even when physically far apart. "I buy plain greetings cards and the kids can use the SELPHY CP1300 to make their own prints to add," she says. "That way they can produce something special and different that really tells a story and speaks to people, whether that's grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends or whoever."

Leti plans to use the printer for her children's birthday invitations and also has a neat idea for thank you cards. "We could take photos of the kids playing with the presents they've been given, to use as personalised thank you cards," she says. Leti has a lot of long-distance family, so creating photo cards regularly can really help to keep everyone close.

Leti's kids love to see how they measure up and have always liked having their heights recorded on the wall. Leti has taken this to a new level with photography. "I bought a height chart and put it on the wall. Whenever they feel the urge, the kids can take photos of each other and print them on the SELPHY Square QX10. We can also go back in time using the memories feature on my mobile phone, and the SELPHY Photo Layout app makes it easy for the kids to select images and print them out.

You can print and make your own growth chart with multiple designs on Canon's Creative Park.

"They love the QX10 printer because it's so simple to use. It's small enough for them to hold in their hands and connects seamlessly with phones and other devices over Wi-Fi. It's great that it runs on its own rechargeable battery too, so they can use it anywhere without needing to plug it in."

The printer produces square photos, leaving enough room to add a caption in the border. This is ideal for writing the date when the shot was taken, along with the height measurement. You can also peel off the backing to produce a self-adhesive surface, perfect for sticking the photos onto the height chart.

Leti is a firm believer that photos need to see the light of day instead of being buried on an electronic gadget. The SELPHY CP1300 outputs standard 6x4-inch photo prints in just 47 seconds. It can also produce sheets of mini stickers in various sizes, adding to your creative options. As with the SELPHY Square QX10, you can print directly from smart devices via Wi-Fi, but the CP1300 also boasts a memory card slot and a PictBridge port, great for printing images taken on a camera such as Canon EOS 250D.

The tilting colour screen of SELPHY CP1300 makes for intuitive operation and a battery pack for mains-free printing is available as an optional extra.

"Because the printer creates standard 6x4-inch prints, it's easy to find the right size of frame, and there are loads to choose from," says Leti. "The thing I love about putting photo prints in frames and placing them around the house is that the images are just 'there'. You don't need to turn on a device and search for them, which can be quite an involved process and one for which the children lack patience.

"The older kids love to have photo prints of themselves as babies and toddlers. Framed prints of special moments also make great gifts for our family and friends. Ultimately, I feel that a framed print is a physical thing that stands out, rather than just another digital image that's lost in the cloud."

You could also use prints from the SELPHY CP1300 and SELPHY Square QX10 to decorate a nursery for an upcoming arrival, using pictures of family and printing out your sonogram scan before adding baby's first photo.

Leti's children are really keen on scrapbooking. The family has a number of camping trips planned, and they all love snapping shots of their adventures. "The camera we used to use for instant photo prints was always running out of paper. With our phones or a camera such as the Canon EOS 250D, we can keep on shooting as long as we want, taking pictures instantly in the moment, then simply choosing which images we want to print later on.

"The SELPHY Square QX10 is ideal for scrapbooking," Leti adds. "It prints 68x68mm square prints on larger 72x85mm sheets of paper. This leaves an area where you can write a caption once printed. The kids really enjoy adding icons and cute little images to the photos when creating prints. And the paper has a peel-able backing to reveal a self-adhesive surface. That's great because they can create scrapbooks simply by placing the prints where they want, without needing to use any tape or glue."

Leti finds the Canon EOS 250D a perfect fit for family life. It's easily manageable for adults and children alike. Better still, it slots seamlessly into the complete creation process, from taking pictures to printing them out, thanks to its built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. "The kids really love putting themselves into the picture, taking selfies and keeping a record of what they're doing. The vari-angle screen is great for this, as it flips completely around so you can compose shots while in front of the camera."

Leti enjoyed the versatility of the cameras and printers she used to make her prints. "They're really good products – super user-friendly, compact and really simple, but the quality is amazing. The prints are really vibrant and last forever, and there are so many creative things that the kids can get into. It really works well for Zac and me too. I'm planning on creating a special project to share with him for our wedding anniversary, chronicling our lives together since we first met. Canon kit is superb for getting creative. I just love it."

Written by Matthew Richards