By MARYANNE MURRAY BUECHNER	E-mail this article to a friend

January 16, 2004
Online photo-printing services have come a long way since they first emerged in the late 90s, when digital photography was still an early-adopter enterprise. Prices have dropped to a nice comfortable level, the prints look better and the websites are, for the most part, easier to use. And most make silver-halide prints, the same professional grade you get with 35mm film prints (and a cut above ink-jet).

To use, you simply transfer your digital image files from your computer to the website (easier with a broadband connection) and organize them into albums. Most services allow you to add captions and make minor editing adjustments. You can order prints of all conceivable sizes, create photo calendars and have your images printed on mugs, caps and other merchandise. Everything is shipped to your door within days. Here's the scoop on five of the most popular sites:

			Ease of Use		Prices		Print Quality		Comment
	Ofoto		Uploading, organizing, sharing and ordering prints is easy enough		Reasonable: 29 cents for a 4x6		Good; edges were sharp but skin tones lacked warmth; colors looked more natural in some cases, a bit dulled in others		Our calendar was easy to make and turned out beautifully
	Shutterfly		Smooth sailing from start to finish; the calendar creator is a snap		The highest per-print rate we saw: 39 cents for a 4x6		Pretty good; skin tones were often either too red or too yellow, and some prints lacked definition		After a blissful online experience, we expected to be blown away by the quality of the prints — we weren't
	Snapfish		Site is confusing and difficult to navigate; placing our order was frustrating		Competitive: 25 cents for a 4x6, 30 cents to print on heavyweight glossy paper		O.K., but inconsistent; colors are punchy — which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't; handles black-and-white images nicely		It's been around a while, and gets lots of traffic, so we expected better
	Sony ImageStation		Site is unwieldy, instructions confusing and incomplete; quite a few false starts undermined our trial		4x6 prints are 29 cents each; some sales lower this to 19 cents		Very good; produced best balance of color and light		Pay a premium per-print price and the site's technicians will make minor improvements (fix red-eye, adjust contrast)
	Wal-Mart Photo Center		Straightforward and intuitive		24 cents for a 4x6		Usually acceptable, occasionally outstanding; in some cases, colors looked washed out		After 30 days images disappear from the website unless you purchase longer-term storage; can receive online order at a physical store

Some general tips:

• Photo-printing services can't work magic. A blurry shot will come back blurry.

• You can use your own photo-editing software installed on your computer (basic programs go for $29 to $49) to fix red-eye or crop your shots before you upload them to the service or you can make these adjustments using the site's own tools.

• Be sure to upload full-size files for best results. Most services (and all of the ones listed here) will tell you if an image is not good enough to print at a particular size, but there are no rules, only guidelines.

• Digital images typically do not conform to the standard print dimensions so most services will zoom a little and trim a little unless you specifically tell them not to. One of my favorite shots of my two sons was, unfortunately, ill-framed. To keep Conor's chin, you had to slice off the top of Dylan's head. I had five services print this photo and each one trimmed it slightly differently. Snapfish and Photoaccess.com (not represented above) are among the few services that offer non-standard-size prints.

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