The Best Online Photo Processors - Digital Printing Services
There are many sources these days for processing
prints made from your digital camera. We tried printing
at home and it was too expensive and too much hassle, constantly
buying paper and new ink. So we started investigating digital
printing services. We found it to be extremely easy and convenient
to upload photos to the printing service's website and presto—a
few days later our film-quality prints arrived in the mail.
Signing up and uploading images is free, and most photo companies
offer free prints or other specials when you join.
If you don't want to pay shipping charges
for the convenience of home delivery, several services such
as Shutterfly
offer the option or ordering online and picking up your prints
at a local store, such as Target or CVs Pharmacy..
We experimented with a number of digital
photo processing sites and checked out their ease of use,
ordered prints, including photos with lots of color and some
with poor exposure or other lighting issues, and queried customer
service. The digital photo developers below came out on top.
CLICK on the links for detailed
reviews.
Holiday Photo Cards
- We also love using online photo services for holiday
and special occasion cards like Mother's Day,
Father's Day, wedding or graduation announcements, Halloween, Christmas,
Hanukkah, etc. The major photo finishers offer a wide
selection of holiday greeting cards, photo cards, and
photo-mount cards. Using your own photos really makes your
holiday cards special, and there are some great styles and
borders to choose from. There is a lot of competition among
the photo companies. Discounts and
promotions abound, so you can get some pretty good deals.
Check out the links below. We've listed current holiday sales
on photo cards, calendars, prints, and other photo products.
A note about prices: a number of sites like
Shutterfly
and Photoworks offer a prepaid bulk plan that can significantly
lower the per-print cost. If you take a lot of photos, you
may want to consider this option. Here are our top choices.
PhotoStamps.com - NEW
(get personalized stamps for mailing)
| DIGITAL PHOTO
DEVELOPING SERVICE |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Free
Photos when joining |
1st 20 free |
1st 15 free |
1st 20 free |
1st 25 free |
|
1st 16 free |
Print
Quality
(out of 5 stars) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4x6
print cost |
9¢ |
19¢ |
15¢ |
1-24: 19¢
25-499: 15¢ |
9-19¢ |
15-21¢ |
| Glossy
Prints |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Matte
Prints |
|
|
 * |
|
|
|
| White Border Print |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fuji Crystal Archive Paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Kodak
Paper |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Unlimited
Free Storage** |
|
|
|
|
10MB |
|
| Free
Photo Sharing |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free
Editing
Software |
|
|
|
|
|
edit photos from website |
| Add
Comments to back of photo*** |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Option
to pick up at local store**** |
Walgreens |
Target |
CVS, Rite Aid |
|
Walmart |
|
| 1-hour prints |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Prepay
or bulk discount plan |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Print
Delivery Time |
2-3 days |
2-3 days |
2-3 days |
2-3 days |
3-4 days |
5-6 days |
| Photo
Gifts (calendars,
mugs, cards, t-shirts etc.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
*Matte prints
only available on photos larger than 8x10.
** As long as you make at least 1 purchase per year.
*** Site allows you to add personal comments/references that
will be printed on the backs of your photos.
**** There is a higher per print charge for this option, but no shipping fee.
|
Best
Digital Photo Printing Services-processors