Apple Photos — Upload Pictures to Walgreens for Printing

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Summary

This document provides a general description of how to upload photos to the Walgreens website for printing photos from an Apple computer using the Photos app. These instructions can be helpful for working with other printing services websites like CafePress, CVS, Shutterfly, and Snapfish.

The instructions below assume you have been taking photos with your iPhone or iPad, and that all your Apple devices are synchronized using iCloud. If you are on your Apple computer and notice that the recent photos from your iPhone are showing up in the Photos program automatically, then these instructions should work.

The process involves saving photos from the Photos program to a folder. You may want to get the help of a tech support person for the first time you go through this process. After that, the instructions will be helpful for review and reference.

These instructions are specifically written for anyone using an Apple computer.

Preparation

To initially prepare for regularly uploading photos to the photo printing service website, it helps to setup a folder for the purpose by following these instructions:

1. CREATE A FOLDER — Begin by creating a folder that you will use for temporarily storing a copy of your image files. To do this, go to your Desktop. Without any program running on the screen, you will use the File menu (available at the top of the screen to the right of the Finder menu). If needed, click on the Finder icon in the Dock. The Finder icon is a dark blue and light blue face. When Finder is active, and you see the Desktop, from the File menu (top left area of screen) click on New Folder. A new folder will be created.
2. NAME THE FOLDER — The folder you created in the first step above will initially have the name “untitled folder” but you can change that to Printing Photos (or whatever you choose to name it). To change the folder name, click on the untitled folder and from the File menu (top left area of screen) choose rename. The letters of the folder will be selected and highlighted. As you begin typing a new name, those letters will be replaced with whatever you type.

Instructions

Now that your computer is prepared for the process, follow these steps for selecting and uploading phtoos to the Walgreens photos page.

1. UPLOAD PAGE — Most people will naturally begin this process by going to the Walgreens website and getting to the point where they are ready to upload the photos by following these steps:
   1. Go to https://photo.walgreens.com/store/home
   2. Click on the Upload Photos button.
   3. From the drop-down menu, choose My Computer as the source. The Upload photos to Walgreens page should open.
   4. Before continuing, it is necessary to continue to the next steps.
2. OPEN PHOTOS APP — Open the Photos program on your Apple Mac computer.
   1. SELECT PHOTOS — From the Library view (the option that shows all of your photos) select the photos you would like saved for printing. You can hold down the command key and while holding down the command key, click on the photos you want selected. If you already have a photo album created, you can select all the photos in that album if you’d like those to be printed.
   2. EXPORT PHOTOS — From the File menu, choose Export and then the option to Export the photos. Do not use the option to Export Unmodified Originals because this may result some incompatible file formats. The Export settings screen will let you select some options. The default options should be fine (JPEG high quality most compatible). Click the blue Export button, then be sure to choose the proper location which will be the folder you created previously in the Preparation.
3. REVIEW PHOTOS — The photos you exported should now be in the folder. You can check the folder to make sure they are all there.
4. UPLOAD PHOTOS — You can now return to the Walgreens website where you left off previously on the upload page.
   1. Click the blue Select Photos button.
   2. Navigate to find your PHOTOS to PRINT folder you created in the Preparation steps previously.
   3. Look at the list of photos and select the ones you want to upload, then click the Upload button.
   4. You will be on the Upload photos to Walgreens page.
   5. You can press the light blue Select More Photos button or the dark blue Done button.
   6. You should now see a message indicating “Success!” with options to View Album, upload more, share album, order prints, create photo cards, or shop all products.
5. ORDER PRINTS — Now you can choose the Order Prints option and follow these steps.
   1. Click on the light blue “Get More Photos” button to add more photos to your order.
   2. With each photo added to your order, you can select sizes and quantities.
   3. You can select glossy or matte finish for your photos.
   4. When you’ve added your photos, click on the dark blue “Proceed to Cart” button.
   5. You will now be at a typical online payment checkout page. Review your order and click the dark blue “Proceed to Checkout” button in the top right.
   6. Continue to the final steps by clicking the dark blue Continue button in the top right. The final steps are Payment Information, Order Review, and Order Confirmation.
   7. You can exit from the Walgreens website when done.
6. EMPTY FOLDER — This process will be much easier each time if you regularly empty the folder used to upload new photos. This will ensure that only new photos are added to your online Walgreens photo collection. By starting with an empty folder each time you can avoid duplicates and confusion.

Questions?

If you have questions, feel free to contact Iowa City Tech. Thanks!