Google Photos prints with CVS and Walmart: Ordering details

Today we're looking at Google Photos latest update that includes new collaboration with CVS and Walmart for photo prints. Google Photos has access to soft and hard-cover books as well as prints of photos at "11,000 locations with print centers across the U.S." as of this week. As it is with any photo printing service via your phone or computer, this service has some fine print details which you'll want to become familiar.

*UPDATE: This article originally sourced a document where one of Google's standard canvas sizes was 12x14. Google Photos actual, final standard canvas size is 11x14 – all occurrences of this mistake have been corrected below.

Google Photos Canvas/glossy prints

Canvas prints from Google Photos come in three sizes – 8x8, 11x14, and 16x20-inches. These prints start at approximately $20 USD. We saw hints of this service in early September via the Google Photos app. At that time, pricing for the service was not yet known.

If you head to a CVS and skip the app, you'll find that CVS does not offer an 8x8-inch canvas print of a single photo. They have 5x7 and 8x10, but no 8x8. Pricing at $20 does, however, seem to fit right in between CVS's prices for the smaller and larger prints, which are $16 and $25 respectively. CVS also lacks an 11x14-inch canvas option, but DOES have a 16x20-inch canvas option for approximately $60 USD.

Walmart also lacks an 8x8 canvas print, but does have a 16x20-inch print for $30. Walmart also has "same day pickup" depending on the store, with or without Google Photos. Walmart's 11x14 and 12x12 canvas prints cost approximately $20 USD each.

Google Photos CVS and Walmart prints of 4 x 6-inch glossy photos will cost approximately 25-cents per photo. In the app, users will add a collection of photos to a single order, then select their nearest participating Walmart or CVS. Users will either be prompted to pay in-app or "pay at the shop". They'll be able to add a "pick up contact" as well.

In effect the app provides a simpler method for sending your photo files to CVS or Walmart so that they can then print your images. Given Walmart and CVS's previous web consoles and UI for this process, this is a welcome change, to be sure.

If you don't already see an "Order Prints" option in your Google Photos app, you may need to update. The latest version of Google Photos on Android (and likely iOS soon) should have the "ORDER PRINTS" button available.

Google Photos Book printing

NOTE: Google Photos printing of books are not a brand new service – it's been around since all the way back in the year 2017. Google is, however, renewing their push for people to purchase said books by reintroducing the books this week. They're promoting the books with a temporary offer of free shipping.

In September of 2019, Google initiated a free shipping deal on Google Photos photo books and canvas prints. That included shipping within the USA only, and was only valid until Sept 30th, 2019 11:59pm Pacific Time. As of September of 2019, prices with Google Photos for Soft cover books and Hard cover books started at $10 and $20 USD.

Google Photos photo books with a soft cover were approximately $10 for 20 pages, then 35-cents per additional page, up to a total of 100 pages. Soft cover books with Google Photos were 7-inches by 7-inches in physical size.

Google Photos hard cover books were 9-by-9-inches and approximately $20 for 20 pages. Additional pages cost 65-cents per page up to 100 pages, and the cost of shipping was not included.