A question for you...about pictures in printable recipes
So, you know how in the last few years, I've been including printable PDF versions of my recipes? Well, some time ago, I also started adding in a small photo because a) I like photos, b) I think things look prettier with pictures, and c) I have a small picture obsession-thing going on.
Did I mention I like pictures??
Anyway.
I'm telling you this because a reader said she'd prefer it if I didn't include a picture in the printable version of my recipes because she doesn't like to waste ink on it.
A simple solution is to print the recipe black and white draft mode, but if there are a lot of you who hate having a picture embedded in the recipe, I certainly don't mind leaving it out! It's an extra step of work for me and I won't cry if I don't have to do it. 😉
So, let me know...does the picture in the PDF bug you? Do you lurve the picture?
Or do you (gasp!) not care at all?
Let thine opinion be known.
(psst! If you need an example to look at, the Energy Ball recipe has a picture in the PDF, whereas the Aussie Chicken recipe has a picture-less PDF.)
______________________________
Today's 365 post: Elbows vs. Hands
Joshua's 365 post: Let me go!
I LOVE pictures....I have to have pictures.....I wouldn't even try a recipe without a picture.....I hope everyone agrees with me because I would be sad without pictures. If ink really is a problem the recipe could always be copied the old-fashioned way; with pen to paper and this would really save on printer ink.
This is exactly me. Please keep the photos.
I do enjoy having a picture with the recipe. I print and keep many of your recipes, and my 10 year old son will pick a recipe usually based on the picture 🙂 . Thanks for everything you do and for sharing your life with us. We're eating at home much more and I've been inspired to homeschool my kids after elementary school.
When I try a new recipe, I take my laptop to the kitchen with me and cook by reading the recipe directly from the screen. If we decide it's a keeper, then I print it out and I like to have the picture because it helps me remember which recipe it was and that we liked that one. Is there an option to print with or without picture kind of like Allrecipes has?
Yes, I like the with or without option too. I love the pictures in the post, but feel no need for them in a printed recipe. Also, the no-bake recipe is a 2 page pdf, but only the first page has content 😉
Same here. I very rarely print out a recipe - my laptop is sort of like my recipe book 🙂
Love the photos! I keep all my prited recipes in a notebook and the photo helps to reference it. It helps me remember why I printed it in the first place. I wish all bogs did it, it would make life easier. Thanks!!
Definitely with pictures, a recipe is just not the same without one! It helps me to decide if a recipe is worth trying. I love your photos!
I love seeing the pictures as part of the post, I don't really care one way or the other if the picture is on the pdf recipe.
I love pictures... though when there are many as some websites include, I too like to make them smaller if I can.
your pictures are GREAT!!! put as many pictures as you can.
i don't like recipes with no pictures. please continue the great work you are doing :))))
I like the photos. Sometimes I print them out and don't try them right away. The photos help remind me usually (does that make me a visual person?)
So far the comments are overwhelming pro photos. I hope the person who was brave enough to venture an opinion doesn't feel overwhelmed.
Keep the pics in the recipes. I typically copy and paste, any recipe I see on websites that I want to try, to a new document, delete the pic from that and save it to print later. Or you can print immediately.
I love the pictures! Readers who don't want the pic could just highlight the text and choose 'print selection' rather than printing the whole page or could copy the text to a word processor to print
If I did print recipes I would want them without photos. But I don't print them so my preference is likely irrelevant.
I never print off either so again, I'm probably not the right person to comment either.
However pictures tell so much more than words when it comes to recipes (IMO) - but I'm a visual person, so 'springy' or 'whipped' or any of the other kinda words that might get used, don't resonate, I need to see it. Shame on me that some of my first recipes didn't include them. In fact I've decided to go back over old posts, and update with photos.
I like a small photo - but it won't crush me if there isn't one. 🙂
Thank you so much for all the wonderful recipes you share! I appreciate your generosity and kindness to all of us.
Blessings on the journey~
I love the pictures in the posts, but I would agree-no pics on printable version.
I like photos as well. If one really doesn't want a photo, they could copy the recipe and paste it in the word processing program of their choice and then delete the photo. But I like recipes with photos to help me remember--I'm a visual learner!
I much prefer to print a picture with a recipe. It helps me to know "What's it supposed to look like?" And, like some others, sometimes I choose recipes based on the picture.
I, too, love lots of pictures in the body of the post! When it comes to printing the recipe, though, I prefer no pictures. I do print in black and white draft, but using less ink is always preferred. I will continue to print recipes with or without the photo. 🙂
I don't like to print the recipes with pictures because of the ink--color cartridges are very expensive. I usually cut and paste into a Word document to avoid the picture problem when I want to print a recipe. However, I do like to see the post with the picture.
I've been copying and pasting into Word also. Once in Word I've been shrinking any photos I want to keep - like a step that is more complicated or the texture of something - and then deleting the other photos.
I'm happy to make the toner ink investment in a color photo as I've only been printing out the recipes that we have already tried and all loved. The first time around with a recipe is usually with the laptop on the kitchen table.
I like a small picture with the printed recipe so that I can see a visual to help me remember more about the recipe. I appreciate your making it so easy to print recipes! I personally don't feel good about electronics in the kitchen. I know a lot of people do, but I'm always afraid of spills.
Love the pictures I am a visual person so it helps me alot
I love the pics in the posts but not in the printable format. I like to print out on one page and put in a binder - for me just the printed recipe and your website name/date is perfect - that way I know where the recipe came from in case anyone ever asks or I want to go back and look up the recipe. my printer isn't high quality so the pics aren't worth it when printed. if they looked good when printed then I'd feel differently and would make room in my recipe binder!
I've tried copying and pasting without luck.
I always hilight the recipe, copy then paste into a word document. Then I adjust the font, if needed, and delete the picture if I choose. I'm a wishy-washy type of person so I apologize for not being any help!
I usually do the recipe off my laptop the first time then if it's a keeper I move it into my recipe software so it really doesn't matter to me. If I was printing one out I would prefer not to have a pic on the pdf to save toner, put I LOVE pictures and tutorials in your blog!
PLEASE leave the pictures if you have the energy to continue with them. The pokey reader can just highlight the print and move ot to her email and print from there.
Love the pics, hey i get an error message when trying to see the elbows and hands post!
I vote to KEEP the photos ... for what its worth. I like visuals!
Personally I like a small picture and when I download a recipe I always include the picture if I can. I have my printer set to draft print by default, so it doesn't use up too much ink.
Jx
Please keep the pictures. I can't imagine it wastes that much ink anyway. I like to have a pic so I know what I can expect my recipe to look like. We eat with our eyes first, don't we?
I love the photos in the posts. However, to print a recipe, I cut & paste recipes into a word doc to get the page count down and sometimes that means cutting out all photos. I don't like to waste ink or paper. Usually, if I can't get it to one page I'll write it out by hand.
By the way, just made your thin crust pizza dough for the first time last week & what a winner!!! After years of trying many, many recipes and not getting that pizza takeout effect, my family was thrilled with this one. Also, your advice of "must use a pizza stone" prompted me to allow my mother-in-law to gift me with her old pizza stone that she's been trying to give me for at least a year. Now we have awesome homemade pizza that rivals takeout!
Pictures! Please! As several have already commented, there are ways to print a recipe without a picture if you need to.
If you don`t like pics in your recipes just copy them into a word file and fix it as you want, and you`re done.
Your pics are great.
I'd prefer PDFs without pictures, because I don't like how much space they take up on the page, but you should do whatever you want. It seems like lots of people put pictures in their PDF recipes, so I'm accustomed to ignoring the PDF and copying the text from the post anyway.
I prefer a small picture on all the recipes I print. I'm a visual person and when flipping through recipes, the ones with photos stand out more and I'm more likely to make them.
I usually read in email and the pictures don't show up anyway due to my security. If a recipe sounds super interesting, I'd click over to your site and link it on pintrest, and if I was going to try it right away, I just jot it down on paper. But in general, pictures with recipes are best. I'd keep them and print it black and white if I went that route.
Well, I like the pictures, but.....when I'm printing I prefer just plain ol' black and white text. Only because I'm cheap and I don't like wasting ink. Even with printing the pictures in black & white it still waste a lot of ink. Maybe
have options for both?
I say keep the pictures!
I love the pictures in the posts, but when I print recipes, I prefer them without pictures. I often have to highlight your text, copy and paste it into a word doc, and then print. The extra ink isn't worth it. And when you add a photo, it still takes ink to print that photo, even if it is in Black and White.
I like to see a picture, but when I print the recipe no picture is needed for me.
Personally, I think it's your blog and you can do whatever *you* want : )
I do think the picture is helpful to remind us what the final result is we are aiming for. A simple way to have the recipe without the picture is to write it down, or simply cut and paste the text into a word or other document, and then one can still print, but sans pic.
Well that was my two cents--keep up the great work!
I rarely try a recipe that doesn't include a picture. Please keep the pictures!!!
I love Love LOVE having pics in recipes...I'm very visual and want to know what it will/SHOULD look like! Please keep pics in the recipes.
Thanks!
Jen
I vote no pictures on the pdfs, please.
It is like you to want to do what pleases your readers most. We're just glad you post the recipes for us to enjoy! If the vote is split, which it seems to be, do what pleases you most. There are ways around it for those who don't want the picture.
(For the record, when given the choice I tend to leave the pictures out of recipes to save ink and paper, but the occasional pictured recipe does make it into my recipe binder. I don't worry about it too much.)
I like the pictures but it all depends on the recipe. If I don't want the photo included when I print I just "cut" it out before printing.
dont waste ink or paper...put a laptop on the kitchen counter when trying a recipe from the internet 😉
or if you must print a recipe and want to save it in a binder or something....copy/select and print only the text and print in draft mode
I like a small picture when I print a recipe. It makes it easier to find the recipe later when I can see the visual.
Can you have two "click here to print with photo" and "print recipe only" ? I'm not sure how much extrawork that would be.
I like the picture to be included. I am a visual learner and if I don't quite yet the written instructions a photo usually fills in the gaps. I don't print the recipes out. Instead I save them in organized folders on my laptop and then just pull the recipe up when needed. I'm just starting to using this free app/program called EverNote. It allows you to save files and share them between laptop/pc/phone.
I really need a picture to look at. Both to remember what the recipe tastes like when I'm choosing what to cook, and to make sure I cook it correctly. I guess some people are just more visual than others. You can always elect not to print the photo, but you can't put one in if it's not there.
I agree with Donita!
I like to see what the recipe will turn out like.
I print your recipies all the time. My recipe storage system used 4x6 cards so I copy & paste from your PDF (or sometimes from the blog)
If I don't have room to include the picture I don't. The same could be done even if the reader wants a full page recipe.
For frugalness, no pic is the way to go, am overruled as I read the comments, I simply cannot afford the ink, often NO time to take the extra steps to get to a number of programs I might use to copy a recipe to, pic in pdfs are fine since I download pdfs to flash drives anyway, plenty of room on those that I can get for much cheaper than ink. When I can get the printer to print that is. Not frugal to use so much paper, ink or using pics which take up lots of memory space. Just my thoughts of course.
I love the pictures on your blog! I definitely love pics with recipes -- they can influence me one way or the other, for certain sure. However, when I'm going to print a recipe, I usually print just the recipe -- too much ink gets used...even when I make it black & white.
Thanks for the recipes you post -- your french bread recipe is now a "go-to" for me!
Blessings!
I definitely like the pictures! I want to see what it is going to look like, or I probably wouldn't even save the recipe in the first place. Is there a way you can have an option of printing with NO picture, for those who prefer? And I love seeing the numerous pics everyday in your post, that's what makes blogs interesting, much more so than just black and white print. All of the blogs I have bookmarked and read regularly have pics, so I guess that is what attracts me!
I also vote for no pictures in the pdf. IF the pdf is meant to printed, then to me the picture is a waste of ink. But I do love the pictures in the post itself. Could do two pdf's one without picture and one with. But I also don't tend to print recipes, but should, as when I try a recipe the first time I can do it off the internet/laptop. But then when I decide to do the recipe again, I have trouble finding the same one. I should print the recipe after we decide we like it after the first time.
I really like a small picture on a recipe printout just for the refresher of what I am looking at and what it should look like when your finished.
I love the pictures. I want to see how my dish should look. And while I understand the "ink is expensive" thinking I also believe that food is expensive and my time is worth something. If I take the time to get the ingredients, try to prepare the dish I want to know that my efforts were not wasted and that if my edges, for example, are a little dry (read almost burned) I know I can hide them with cool whip. So I vote for pictures both of the finished product and work in progress.
To be honest, I love to see pictures in the blogs. Several pictures showing the ingredients, part way through the recipe, and the final end product are always wonderful but in the pdf, no. I do not like photos there either. Thank you for allowing me to add my 2 cents. 🙂
I definitely prefer the pictures on the printable recipes. I think it makes the recipe more appealing and easier to find when flipping through my recipe book. In fact, on the few recipes you don't have as printables, I would always copy the recipe and one of the pictures into Word myself.
Photos!
Pictures on recipes - yes, please!
I like having a small picture in the printed recipe, like the size of the pic in the Pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Pumpkin-Muffins.pdf or even a little smaller than that.
I am in agreement with the above poster. A small picture would be good. Maybe the best option would be to have the option to print with or without pictures though. Glad I found your blog. I definitely think you should keep the pictures on the blog itself showing the process of making said item.
I like seeing the photos on-line, but really don't care one way or the other if they are included in the PDF. When I replaced my printer last year, I got black ink only because I printed so few color images that my inks dried out.
I'm all about the pictures!
If the printable doesn't have one (and some of yours haven't in the past) I find myself copying/pasting the text into my own text document and adding a photo!
I definitely prefer with to without.
When I try a new recipe, I take my laptop to the kitchen & read directly from the screen. If it's a keeper, then I print it out without pictures to save ink & paper. That said, I can appreciate that there are visual people who prefer pictures. 🙂
I like to have a picture because I can tell at a glance what the recipe is for. However, the reason I like a picture the most is because it makes it much more motivating to actually make whatever it is when you have a picture of what you'll have when it's done. I'm much more likely to make something when I visual encouragement that the end result will be worth the effort 🙂 I'm reminded of the sandwich cookies you made (or maybe it was your daughter - I can't remember) and I saw a picture of that and thought - I want to make those! Then when I printed the recipe out, instead of just being a recipe for something or other that I don't remember when I got it and now have no motivation to make it, I can see the picture and remember what it is and why I want to make it! 🙂
I like having the photo. When I want to print a copy, I copy the recipe only to a word document, save it, and then print it if I need to.
Leave the pictures in - makes me much more interested in the recipe when I can see it. If the option is there to print w/o pictures then you can please all.
Hi I love the pictures. If I want to print any recipe without pictures then I cut and paste what I want into WORD and then PRINT and SAVE in my recipe folder.
I love the pictures in the post, but prefer not to have them in the PDF. Having said that, if there is a picture in the PDF, I simply copy and paste the recipe to a word document and print (in draft) from there.
I prefer no picture with the printable. If I want to see what the finished dish looks like, I'll look at the original post. But I don't want to waste ink on the picture because that's not very frugal. 😉
This is sort of off topic-what is that bar in the picture? Do you have the recipe? mmmmm...
PLEASE keep pictures. Let those who think it is wasteful to have pictures use cut and paste for the worded recipe. Those who object do have options. JEEZ, I consider myself frugal, but a recipe without a picture because it wastes ink is going too far for me personally.
I like the pictures! They inspire me when I'm looking for something to cook, and if I don't want them I can just paste the text into a word document and print that.
NEED PICTURES
Love the pictures! It helps when trying to visualize the finished product!
I love pictures in the actual blog post, but if I'm going to print out a recipe, I would prefer not to have a pic--mostly for the same reason you stated above--ink. Even when printing in black and white, it's still ink...just my thoughts 🙂
I love pictures in the printable version. It looks lovely when I print it out, and I appreciate the time and trouble you have gone to to make it look so professio al.
Plus, as others had said, we do 'eat with our eyes' and if I am flipping through my recipe book for ideas for dinner, recipes with no pictures tend to get overlooked! Since you added the pictures your recipes have consists you made it into my meal rotation....
Love pictures on the printables, it really helps when referencing the recipe after I put it in my binder. Please don't get rid of them!
I always tell me kids (I mean my adult children, ahem) that the most important tool in the kitchen is a pencil. I tend to copy and paste recipes into Word, save them on my computer, print them out and then mark them up. I always end up re-writing my favorites with steps that make sense to me. If it takes me half an hour to remember where I keep my bundt cake pan, then step one on my recipe is FIND the bundt cake pan. But more often it is melt X amount of butter - because really, that's usually the first thing you need to do but a recipe usually just says somewhere in the middle of a paragraph to add X amount of melted butter and your butter is still in the fridge at that point. I also like to change things up - I usually try less sugar than the recipe calls for or I'll add herbs, spices etc...
Anyway....my point is that as long as your PDF files have text that I can select and manipulate myself the pictures don't really matter to me. I won't ever print the pictures myself but I can easily edit them out.
I do very much appreciate your recipes!
Recipe rewriter here as well. The way that authors/editors choose to distinguish steps perplexes me entirely - step one is a short line about melting butter, step two is a dense paragraph with 90% of the work?!? I prefer one action per line.
I like the photo included - I really like everything on 1 page only. I dislike having to print out recipes only to find (after I print of course) that it uses a tiny tiny bit of a 2nd page. Some blogs let you print out with or without a photo by clicking on a little box. Maybe that's something you could do?
I'm happy with pictures as long as the recipe is all on one page 🙂
If I really don't want a photo, I copy and paste to a word doc and delete the photo.
Thanks for sharing all your recipes! I've tried a few, and amazed my friends by making pitas from your recipe 🙂
I love seeing the pictures - that's what makes me want to try the recipe! But I have to admit, I don't print them. I usually cut & paste the recipe portion to another document, and print that.
I love the pictures. Please keep them. For those who don't want them they can cut and paste easily enough.
I love the pictures. Please keep them. For those who don't want them they can cut and paste easily enough.
I like the pictures in the post, but not in the printable recipe. That uses a lot of extra ink, even in black and white, and often makes the recipe go over 1 page, and I prefer recipes that fit on one page to put in my binder.
I am one who likes the picture in printable. Anyone who doesn't like it can copy the text and paste into a word document w/out picture.
this has been a recent discovery/dilemma for me as I only have a black and white printer, I realized I am not tempted to make new recipes because I can't see the pictures in color, so the pics are important, but I often can copy and paste the pic from when you post it (i send them to myself in email until I have a color printer accessible), so I'd be ok if you left them out for others to save ink!
Please, please, please keep the pictures. Your shots are the best! It is so nice to have a photo of what the recipe should look like with the actual recipe. I print them out and put them in clear sheet protectors in binders. When I want to make something, it is the pictures that inspire me to cook and be creative. Others that visit and cook in my kitchen also choose the recipes based on the photos.
Its important to remember that we feast with our eyes as well as our stomach. I can get plenty of plain recipes in black and white from my local newspaper- boring and dull. Life is too short to live in plain black and white!
I prefer to have 1 good picture of the finished product on my printable.
That way when I am preparing your delicious suggestions I have an idea of what it is eventually supposed to look like instead of possibly making it to the end and not knowing I have made a critical error.
But I like those pics to be good med-close ups and not the food in a small corner or too close up so I cant get a good idea of what it looks like.
I like the photo so I remember what it's suppose to look like 🙂
Also, I print out the step by step photos too! That's how I learned to make bread from you =)
I am a Look and Cook Gal who would love to buy a Frugal Girl Look & Cook Cookbook someday 🙂
I vote for pictures! I usually print recipes that I've tried and loved and having a picture reminds me of what the recipe is all about at a glance.
In my blog, I use a Print Friendly widget, so the readers can easily choose if they want to print the whole recipe with pictures or just the text.
I'm a new follower, so I haven't used this feature yet, but I'm certainly planning to and I love a small picture at the top of a recipe! Thanks for asking for our opinions!
Let me just say that I love your recipes! I love that you put pictures of all the steps in the process so I can see what it is supposed to look like and make sure I am doing it right (especially the bread recipes!) When I try a recipe I use the computer and follow along with the steps for the first few times and then if it's a keeper and I want to print it out I would prefer it without any pics. Thanks again for your lovely blog. (:
I like a small photo on the pdf. I have seen the option to have with a picture or without on some blogs, but don't remember wording or any other clues about how that might work on the blogger's end.
Visual learner, oh yeah, that's me!
Leave the pictures in..thank you!
I love pictures with a recipe and if I want to print it, I paste the recipe without the picture in my Word Document, or whatever and print it from there.
I like the photo.
Might I suggest that she use something like Evernote and not print the recipe at all. If she must print it, maybe she cuts and pastes just the words into a blank email and print it that way.
Cheers!
Pictures are important and yours are gorgeous. Perhaps you could include a separate picture-less printable version for your ink-conscious readers.
Happy Mothers Day!
without a picture, how do I know what the finished product is sapposed to look like???
Please keep the photos!
Love the pics!!
If I printed the recipes, I would tend to not want a picture. But mostly because I like to have the list of ingredients right in front of me and the instructions brief and easy to read. If I want pictures for a recipe I have found on a blog, I like to open the blog and refer to it as I am doing the recipe so I can check in step-by-step - which I LOVE to be able to do.
But do what you like - it won't stop me from reading!
When I look up a recipe or creative endeavors, I like to see what it might look like but when I print it, I cut and paste the words and leave off the photo. I hate wasting paper, so another thing I do is get my document down to one page by reorganizing the wording (putting ingredients or whatever into columns) or changing the font.
I like pictures, too. If you keep the pictures with the how-to directions in the blog post, that would work (as far as I'm concerned).
I'm another person who won't even try a recipe if there isn't a picture. I'm not much of a cook, so having the how-to posts with pictures helps me.
Love the pictures, it gives me an idea on how it is to look, or what its suppose to look like. I much like to have the visual!
I like a small clear photo of the finished product, or special steps, but since I sometimes copy and paste to end up with a single page, photos can get eliminated. I don't like step by step photos for a recipe that is not also a basic how-to for an unfamiliar process.
For those just learning, maybe a series of "101" courses to show the general techniques. I definitely do not want you to do anything to discourage anyone from cooking just because it starts out as unfamiliar territory. It was your yogurt photos that convinced me to try that, and we haven't looked back since, do a gallon about every week and a half.
As a reader who has printed most of the recipes on your site I suggest that you keep the picture in the PDF. I have a Frugal Girl recipe binder that I have put together and it is nice to have the pictures to refer to.
I love pictures on recipes but I rarely print them out. I have an app for my iPhone, iPad, and laptop that sync together that I put all my recipes on and I save the recipe and picture in that app. WONDERFUL!
I'd rather not have the pictures in the printable recipe so I don't have to use so much ink. It bothers me to have to print out something extra that I don't need, so if it forces me to include the photo, sometimes I will copy and paste just the recipe instead, which is a bit of a hassle and involves some formatting. Just my two cents . . . Thanks so much for your great blog-I read it every day!
A photo for me is like getting back to basics. You see what you are supposed to make and hope and pray it turns out that way!
Pictured please:)
I love the pictures.
Photos please!
I don't make recipes if I can't see what the end product looks like. It has to be visually appealing to try something new.
I don't necessarily want to print the photos when I print out a recipe because it does use up a lot of paper and ink, but all I have to do in that case is copy the printable text and paste it into a word document. Then I can delete the photos and print.
Some people enjoy the photos, so they should be left in. If your personal preference is not to print them, they are easy enough to remove. It just takes a moment.
Is it possible to do two versions? One with the photo and one without? I have never in my life printed a recipe from the internet - I just bookmark them and that's the end of it. I prefer pictures on internet recipes.
I do also have a physical "cookbook" made from recipes cut from magazines and the like, and I have to say I prefer it when there's a picture to paste in with it. I think probably if there ever was a recipe that I felt the need to print, I'd want the photo.
BUT, I also have to agree about the ink. I am an inkmiser too. 🙂
I like the pictures!!
Like many others, I usually try to get the recipes down to a single page before printing -- so I use Word for that. If the PDF was a single page, that would be EXCELLENT. I do like to include photos, even though colored ink is expensive -- it helps me to remember the details about the recipe and why I printed it out. I just like to keep it smallish and only what's necessary to make the recipe, and again, keep it to a single page!
Thanks for all you do!
~Angela~
I have to have the pictures! If there is no picture with a recipe I don't even try it.