Printagram Mobile App

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Print your Instagram photos onto beautiful mini canvas products via the intuitive Printagram app

Printagram mobile app

Printagram is an app which provides a streamlined experience for customers looking to ordered printed copies of their Instagram photos on small canvases.

The brief

The client wanted to build an ecommerce-enabled app to build on the back of the smartphone community's growing interest in taking photos and enhancing them with a series of retro filters.

Capitalising on both impulse to purchase and the issue that many great photos never make it off the phone, the app should offer an easy way to order prints. In a few clicks, customers should be able to pick photos already taken with the popular retro camera app Instagram, select the canvas size, order prints and pay – all from inside the app.

The free app would need to be both intuitive for users and require minimal day to day management for the founders once the contract with the printer was up and running.

What we delivered

In line with the client's requirements, we designed and built a mobile app exclusively for iOS, which complements the familiar and straightforward design of the existing Instagram app. The app uses Paypal's mobile payment gateway to allow customers to checkout and pay for their order quickly and securely from within the app.

In addition we created a Drupal Commerce based order processing and product management system to allow the client to download their orders and edit products.

How we did it

Initially, we met with the client to discuss what kind of app was required, which other services it was designed to connect with, and what it could look like.

Having agreed that Printagram would be designed for iOS, our app developers created wireframe designs for the app's screens, from login through to photo and canvas selection, and on to the checkout process.

On opening Printagram, we required users to log in using their Instagram credentials, giving Printagram access to their own Instagram photo stream.

From here, the customer selects a canvas size or a package option. The app connects to the server to receive pricing and shipping costs dependent on quantities ordered, then prompts the user to type in their delivery address. It then redirects the customer to Paypal's mobile payment gateway for payment processing.

Technology we used

Server-side, we configured the Drupal Commerce module to provide an administrative back end which would handle orders and payment, with the Printagram app as the client-side front end.

We gave our client access to the Drupal Commerce module so that they could see and manage orders and refunds, initiate sale prices and configure pricing and shipping charges remotely from the app.

The Printagram app sends the customer order to the server which passes back the cost. The shopping cart and checkout process to continue on the app, from where the app redirects to PayPal's mobile payment gateway, offering payment opportunities through a PayPal account or via a credit card, before finally redirecting back to the app.


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