The pros and cons of digital downloads

Let's get real about digital downloads and why they are great to own when compared to owning prints.

And what are the downsides, too.

For modern day photography businesses, offering digital downloads to customers is a no-brainer. Digital files are in demand. High demand, even, and for some customers, they are more valued than a print.

It's not hard to see why. The proliferation of phone cameras, iPads, social media platforms, and more means owning a digital portrait file gives a single image wild versatility (in ways an image didn't have a decade or two ago).

When you purchase a digital file from Creative Sports Photography (as of July 2025, the cost is $75 for a single download with various packages available to help you save), you receive a personal use license.

What does that mean? Basically, you're permitted to use the digital file (a high resolution, ready-to-print JPG) for just about anything, from creating your own prints to using it online.

Owning a digital file means you can:

• Print that image whenever you want

• Post that image online whenever you want

• Use it as your avatar on social media or recruiting websites

• Add it to a graphic or banner to be displayed in-person or online

• Send that image to a college coach or recruiter in an email

• Use it over and over to your heart's desire

About the only thing you can't do is sell it or use it for commercial purposes.

While in our modern day, digital files are in high demand and have a wide variety of uses, there are some downsides.

Actually, one major downside. And that is why I encourage customers to purchase both digital and prints.

We have this tendency to take a zillion digital photos with our cellphones, and then get all excited about what we've created. We quickly post them to social media.

And then? They get forgotten in a day or two.

Think about all of those digital photo files you have. When's the last time you looked at an image you took from last year (not to mention five or 10 years ago).

We tend to let digital image files fall into the abyss of our device storage, rarely to look at them ever again.

That's not what photography is meant for.

Not to get all Captain Obvious or anything, but photography - especially great photography - is meant to be seen.

That's why prints are important. Prints are permanent. And great prints elicit an emotional reaction when you look at them, framed on a wall, meant to endure.

I have three massive black-and-white portraits of my children hanging on a wall at the top of a staircase. I created them two years ago, and they never stop grabbing my attention and giving me all the heart feels.

There's a balance in our modern era where both digital image files and prints can be equally valued.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Are there other benefits of owning digital files? Or do you prefer owning prints?

Dave Pidgeon is the owner of and chief image maker at Creative Sports Photography, an elite-level visual service for competitors of all ages and events. He lives in Lancaster, Pa., with his three sons. You can contact him at dave@creativesportsphotography.com.