Digital Photo Prints

Digital photographs to glossy prints in 3 days. Use a digital photo print service and have your snaps printed professionally on gloss or matt photo paper from as little as 5p per print.

Why print your digital images?

Despite the new digital age, printed photos remain a great way to share to your images.

• Get your glossy prints delivered directly to family and friends - you can share your photography with those people (like your Gran) who don't have computers and internet access.
• You can frame your prints to give as presents or to keep for yourself.
• When digital photos are processed on real photo paper the colours remain stable for many years, unlike inkjet or laser prints.
• If you need more space to upload and share your digital photography, buy some prints and many sites will give you more space online for free!

The printing process

The process is easy. Simply upload your photographs, choose the size of your prints and send your order. Your printed photos are usually delivered within 3 working days.

Digital cameras usually have an aspect ratio of 4:3, most of the online print services take this into account and offer print sizes to suit this ratio.

Many online print services also warn you if your digital image will be cropped because of the print size you've selected, or if your photo is of too small a resolution to print at a good quality.

Many sites offer the first 20 - 30 prints free when you register (you just pay for the postage). Other sites offer a pre-pay system which gives a discount on the already cheap rates. You simply buy credits up-front and use them as and when you need more photographs printed.

Websites that offer a digital photo print service

Below is a list of websites that offer a digital photo print service. We've picked these sites because of the usability of their website and quality of service, such as: easy-to-follow instructions for uploading your digital pics, and of course, competitive prices.

PhotoBox. I really like this website, it's very easy to use and the end product is great. At the time of writing they have an offer of 30 prints free if you register.

Photo prints are as little as 5p each if you order 500 prints, but the normal price is 10p per photo - still very good. You can order standard sizes or enlargments. If you buy print credits you can achieve slightly cheaper prices and your credits last for one year, worthwhile if you know that you are going to be printing more of your digital images. I have uploaded and ordered prints from Photobox and I was very happy with the results and the service.

Foto.com certainly have very competitive prices and they usually have good offers, such as your first 25 prints free on certain standard formats. They offer 'super fast' upload as well as the traditional slower html method. This is an international site, so you can have your photo prints easily delivered abroad if necessary.

myPIXmania also has competitive prices, as well as packs which offer a pre-paid system that discounts the prices even more. Their emphasis is on quality, quoting state-of-the-art technology and superior quality paper.

Snapfish offer competitive prices on their photo prints, and best of all, their pre-paid print credits never expire. They indicate with a yellow triangle if your photo is not of good enough quality to print and they have a good FAQ section with help on the best resolutions for the different print sizes.

It's simple to upload photos to ColourMailer, however, if you want to crop or resize your images you need to download their software (Mac and PC compatible), and they do warn you that unless you use this software your delivered prints may be cropped if they are a different ratio to the print size that you have chosen. However, this applies to all digital photos and it's nice of them to point it out.

Their prices are competitive and you also have the option of sending them a CD if you don't want to upload.

Kodak Gallery are a little more expensive than most but they make it very easy for you to choose different sized prints within the same order – you have the option to choose a size for each individual photo. Have your favourite pics printed at a larger size whilst keeping to the standard 6 x 4" for the rest.

Bonus Print offer five ways to upload and order your digital prints! 1. Use their software (PC & Mac); 2. Standard html upload to their website; 3. Web Album (seems to be much the same as No. 2, but stores your photos in an Album; 4. Windows XP Online Print Wizard; 5. Send in a CD/DVD or memory card.

They offer competitive prices and price their digitally-sized prints separately to their standard sizes. They also offer good advice on all aspects of uploading and printing, together with a guide to the best print sizes for the different resolutions of digital images. If you are uploaded photos taken on a digital camera choose their digital sizes, this makes it very easy to avoid any cropping or white edges.

Fotoinsight No software to download, a simple drag and drop system, and they offer a photo preview and image quality checker. Their site is clear and nicely designed, which makes using their service a breeze. This is also an international site, choose your country from the list at the top, and get your prints delivered worldwide. The only drawback is that you can't check what the prices are until you start selecting your photos, and the prices aren't so cheap.

Jessops
www.jessopsphotoexpress.com

Klick Photopoint
www.klick.co.uk

The Photo Shop Online (Fuji's image service)
www.thephotoshoponline.co.uk

Shutterfly
www.shutterfly.com
US site with prices in dollars.

Digital Camera Developing
www.digitalcameradeveloping.com
US site with prices in dollars.

Do you know of any resources we've missed, or do you disagree with what we've put then please get in touch with your feedback, or leave us a comment below...

Comments	Date
By Michael	2007-05-22 00:54:25
I've used Kodakgallery for photo albums (excellent 1st one), but the 2nd one never arrived. 3 emails have failed to elicit a response, not even an automated acknowledgement from a case-handling program. No reply from phone number on the order (in the Netherlands). I assume they haven't gone bust, so how can a company with Kodak in its name behave like this?
By Georgia	2006-09-26 11:10:32
I used my free credits, which I received from Photobox simply for signing up, to order prints. Great quality and very easy to order, and I only paid for the postage.

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