If you’re someone who never prints out any of the photos you take with your smartphone, Google might have a good solution. For $6.99 a month, it’ll use machine learning to automatically select 10 of your best photos and send the prints right to your door.
The company announced the service today, which it started trialing earlier this year. There don’t seem to be any differences between the trial and the newly announced “premium print series,” which will be available “in the coming weeks,” but Google has at least lopped a dollar off the monthly price. That’s nice, though you’re still paying extra for the convenience of having your photos selected and mailed to you.
For the trial service, Google allowed subscribers to give directions to the algorithm, telling it to prioritize “people and pets,” “landscapes,” or just send “a little bit of everything.” It’s not clear if those options are still available, but we’ll update this story when there’s more information. Google also doesn’t say what size the prints are, but its suggestion that the photos be used as postcard suggests it’s sticking with the same 4 x 6-inch size used in the trial.
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Users will have some options for their monthly deliveries, though. “To give you control over what photos you get and how they look, you can edit your photo selection, choose a matte or glossy finish or add a border before your photos ship each month. You can also easily skip a month or cancel the service,” said Google in a blog post.
In addition to the announcement of the premium print series, Google is also adding Walgreens to its same-day printing service (alongside CVS and Walmart). This lets anyone using Google Photos select and order prints from the app. Google says the addition of Walgreens’ locations “nearly doubles the total number of stores available for same-day prints.” The company also offers canvas prints and photo books.
