A picture is worth thousand words…

In the OnMouseClick column that appeared in the December 23 issue of the TR Times, I wrote about creating hard-cover books from digital photographs — something that most people will only do for very special occasions. But what if all you want are standard snapshot prints? The easiest method is to take the memory card out of your camera and bring it to CVS, COSTCO, Walmart, or Target. At the store you put your memory card in a specially designed kiosk, use a touch screen to choose the images you want to print, go shopping for about an hour, and pick up the finished prints. Standard four by six inch prints are typically priced around seventeen cents each, but coupons and advertised specials abound.

If you are comfortable uploading images to the Internet, there are a numerous of photo-finishing service that will print your photos and mail them to your home. Four by six inch prints range in price from twelve to nineteen cents a print, with most services offering free and reduced cost prints on a regular basis. Shipping charges are low, but you can save the shipping charges by uploading images directly to CVS, Costco, Walmart or Target, and then picking up your photos the next time you go shopping. However, since most of the online services do not charge tax, the savings is negligible. All of the photo services also offer 5” x 7” and 8” x 10” prints, and some even offer poster sizes prints.

To get an idea of the print quality and other options provided by the photo-finishing service, I recommend reading some of the reviews that can be found on the web. CNET provides reviews of all things technology, and their review of photo printing services can be found at http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6451_7-6245134-1.html?tag=txt. Another web site, Epinions.com, lists many of the photo services, with links to reviews written by consumer who used the services, at http://www.epinions.com/webs-Web_Services-All-Photos.

Below is a partial listing and links to the online photo-finishing services.

www.dotphoto.com
www.imagestation.com
www.kodakgallery.com (formerly Ofoto)
www.photoworks.com
picasa.google.com
www.shutterfly.com
www.snapfish.com
www.cvs.com (choose the PHOTO tab)
www.costco.com (choose PHOTO CENTER from the menu)
www.walmart.com (choose PHOTO from the menu)
www.target.com (choose TARGET PHOTO from the top menu)