Best Online Photo Services Available: Preserving Those Memories

Photographs are one of the best ways to preserve memories. Getting your pictures used to be a task. First you had to finish the roll of film. (Ever have Christmas pictures to develop after Labor Day?). Then remember to take it to the store and pick it up. Now with the digital era, picture taking is not only simplified, so is storing, sharing and printing your pictures. This has become one of the new hottest markets with tons of photo processing websites waiting for you to upload your digital prints. So which one do you choose? What are the best photo processors available? Throughout the years of owning a digital camera, I have tried several sites for my own personal use. For me it's important to have a site where I can store my digital pictures, share them with others and print them at an inexpensive price. About the same time my sister in law was pursuing a career as a photographer so we researched so many of the services to find the best of the best. This included price, quality and storage ability. In this process I have found several photo services available on the web that I would consider to be "The Best." At this point most have very similar quality and layout. The main difference is pricing, storage options and ease of use. Here's a run down of a few of the most popular photo processing websites available:

www.Snapfish.com

As one of the most popular photo services on the web, Snapfish is considered the top pick by Digital Prints 101 reviews. Snapfish is an extremely easy to navigate site which consists of free unlimited photo storage (if you make a purchase or log-in once per year). As far as I can tell that lasts forever as I have had pictures stored there for over a year and have never made a purchase from there. Pictures can be organized into several different albums to make it easy to find the pictures you want. Snapfish works in conjunction with Walgreens. You can choose to have your prints shipped or save a little in shipping and have them sent to your local Walgreens. Printing on Kodak paper, Snapfish provides excellent quality.

Pricing - Even though they are continually running specials and sales, Snapfish is consistently one of the cheapest per print providers available at 9 cents per 4X6. New users receive 20 free prints and you can also receive free prints for referring others to the site.

Sharing - By far this is one of the biggest selling points for Snapfish. Not only can you share your photos with friends and family, you can send them print credits which are pre-paid by you. You also can create group rooms where several people can access the pictures. This is a great for pictures from events such as reunions or weddings.

Editing - Snapfish has free software available for photo editing. This includes the usual color changes and cropping as well as the ability to create slide shows

Extras - More than most, Snapfish offers a HUGE selection of products that can be customized with a picture. Gone are the days of the iron transfer t-shirt. Now you can have a protective skin cover made for your laptop or iPod.

www.Kodakgallery.com

Obviously owned and operated by Kodak, the Kodak Easy Share Gallery has been one of my favorite sites to use. With a fairly easy site to maneuver, Kodak allows users to upload unlimited photos and organized them by category. Your friend's albums are also visible. Working in conjunction with Rite Aid and CVS pharmacy, users can save some shipping fees by having the prints sent there. Kodak states they have unlimited storage as long as you make a purchase once a year. I have actually had pictures up there for quite some time and have not purchased in probably 2 years.

Pricing - Kodak Easy share does have slightly higher prices, but users also have the option of printing captions and/or comments on the back of their prints. There are not as many sale or promotions available here but the ease of use and unique products make it worth the while. About once per month there are promotions including free shipping or free prints.

Editing - Pictures can be edited directly on the site including cropping image adjustments as well as adding artistic touches or borders. This is definitely a fun feature to play with during the holidays. Software is also available for download. One note for ordering prints here: there is an option which is automatically turned on to crop and zoom prints so they fill the entire space. You will want to preview what this looks like if you have prints that could have pieces cut off. I had a few of my wedding pictures that had head cut off because of this. Customer service was geat about helping me fix this problem too.

Sharing - As per the name Sharing is Easy at Kodak Easy Share. Just send an e-mail to friends and family and they have access to the album you send them. Anyone signing up and purchasing prints from your invitation will result in free prints for the both of you.

Extras - Some of the unique photo-gifts available through Kodak Easy Share include Eric Carle themed cards and books personalized. This is also one of the best sites for full sized, quality photo cards. Kodak sends out newsletter style e-mails which have trips and tips in it as well.

Www.Shutterfly.com

In conjunction with Target, Shutterfly touts being the #1 online photo service available. As with other sites, Shutterfly is easy to maneuver through and produces quality prints and gifts. Here's the big perk with Shutterfly - new members receive 50 free 4x6 prints and a free 11x14 collage print as well as several other perks. Again unlimited storage is available. It is suggested you purchase once per year but I have found with most sites just need to make sure you log-in every so often to keep your prints. Shutterfly uses Fuji photo paper.

Pricing - At 19 cents per print, Shutterfly is definitely higher priced than other online photo sites. Not to fret though, there are several promotions available and very accessable. Once you are signed in to your account, available promotions are lined down the side for you.

Sharing - there is a huge community sharing aspect available at Shutterfly. You can either e-mail pictures or post them to a gallery and monitor them with a special user ID.

Wal-Mart Photo Center

So many options are available at Wal-Mart Photo center. Ordering on-line for delivery to your home will cost you only 9 cents per print (plus shipping). Order the prints for pick-up at a local store and pay only 15 cents (no shipping cost). Need them in a hurry, Wal-Mart Photo Center has 1-hour processing for 19 cents each. Using Fuji Photo paper, the picture quality may not be quite as good as the previous sites, but it's still alright. The lay-out of the site is actually identical to that of Snapfish, so you will know your way around both places. Editing and Sharing capabilities are the same as with Snapfish.

Extras - the claim to fame for Wal-Mart is their Disney line of products exclusive to the Wal-Mart Photo Center. New features they are displaying include Hannah Montana gifts to customize.

Clark Color Lab

Using the same layout as Snapfish, Clark Color Labs offers an inexpensive alternative to other sites that are available. Pricing per print is around 15 cents each, but the site has so many promotions you can definitely get them cheaper than that. During the holiday seasons especially, members will receive e-mail promotions almost weekly with at least two different specials that are available on the site. As with Snapfish, pictures can be shared and edited easily. Though it may not be as popular as other online sites - lacking the community aspect - Clark Color Labs have done me very well. I have ordered special projects for friends and they have raved about the quality of the product received.

Flikr.com

Owned by Yahoo.com, Flikr is one of the most popular photo sites available. Widely know for it's sharing capabilities, Flikr is great for community sharing. From the Flikr website "Flickr is an amazing photographic community, with sharing at its heart." Comments can be shared with the poster and you can subscribe to RSS feed on the photo-streams. You can create personalized products with your pictures. Prints can be ordered through Flikr's partner Qoop. Pictures can be edited right there on the web-site

For additional information on what photo services are available online as well as current promo codes for the sites mentioned here I always check in at www.digitalprints101.com.

Happy printing.