The best ways to print your photos online

Photobox

All five tested services take images from your computer and post you prints of
them. It’s usual to upload the photos using software downloaded from the
site, though Photobox lets you drag and drop them onto your web browser —
quick and easy once you’re used to it. As with most of these sites, once
pics are uploaded, you can share them online by invitation, and invitees can
order their own prints. Delivery was a pricy £2.49 (or slightly cheaper for
fewer than 100 photos) but this service had the quickest turnaround, 48
hours, with images of excellent quality and the best colour reproduction of
all.

Cost: from 5p for 6x4in; £1.13 for 12x8in; 40 free prints.




Verdict: Not cheap, but offers outstanding prints delivered fast.


www.photobox.co.uk

Best for Prepay

Snapfish

As with Photobox and Kodak, the 5p rate is only for 500 or more 6x4in prints,
but the site allows you to prepay for that many, then spread their delivery
over a period of months or even years — a useful and economical idea.
Snapfish’s delivery is good value at 99p for 50 prints and £1.49 for up to
500, but the print quality was the worst on test: our photo files, like
those supplied to all the sites, were compressed jpegs, and Snapfish
appeared to have added extra sharpening and compression — which made little
difference to 6x4in prints but made 12x8in enlargements look distinctly
ropy.

Cost: from 5p for 6x4in; £1.20 for 12x8in; 20 free prints

Verdict: Cheap, but avoid ordering enlargements.

Tesco Photo




Tesco’s 5p rate applies for 150 or more prints, making it the best-value site
on test. It also claims to save you postage costs, because it can dispatch
prints to selected stores for free pick-up. Some branches even claim to be
able to have 6x4in prints ready just one hour after they are ordered online,
but store participation is far from universal — for example, only four
London branches offer any pick-up service at all. At a cost of £1.20,
enlargements aren’t so cheap, no matter how many you order. Print quality
was uniformly excellent, though.

Cost: from 5p for 6x4in; £1.20 for 12x8in; 40 free prints.

Verdict: Prints are good as those from Photobox, but in-store delivery
looks a bit like a gimmick.


www.tescophoto.com

Best for Ease of upload

Apple iPhoto

If you’re a Mac user with a recent copy of the iLife software suite, the
iPhoto component will upload your photos for you: just go to Order Prints on
the File menu. Users of older iLife versions may need to buy an upgrade, at
a cost of £69 for a five-user licence. Postage is £1.99 for all sizes of
order, but the prints weren’t the best in quality, as they were noticeably
brighter than they should have been. There is only one paper finish
available — glossy — and 6x4in prints are a costly 12p each, regardless of
quantity.

Kodak Gallery

Upload shots manually to the website, or install and use the free Kodak
Easyshare software, which organises the photos on your computer and lets you
order prints straight from it. It’s simple to use and alerts you if you try
to print a photo of too low a resolution for the paper size. Like all the
services on test (except iPhoto), photos can be printed in different
finishes and formats — even on mugs or as calendars. We used glossy paper
for test prints, and they mostly looked good, although one or two had a
faint yellow tinge. Delivery costs from £1.39.

Cost: from 5p for 6x4in; £1.29 for 12x8in; 20 free prints.

Verdict: Useful software, but others give you more free starter prints.


www.kodakgallery.co.uk

How to store your photos

Keep them behind glass

Chris Carr, head of photo at Jessops, advises keeping prints out of direct
sunlight to stop them fading. He also recommends framing them behind glass,
which blocks much of the ultraviolet light that fades the delicate dyes used
to produce the colours.

Mount them in an album

Trace gases in the air, such as ozone and nitrogen oxide, can attack photo
print pigments. Mounting them in an album greatly reduces their exposure to
air and slows this process.

Choose the right paper

Snapfish, iPhoto, Photobox and Tesco use Fujicolor Crystal Archive paper,
which is said to last longer than Kodak’s choice of paper. “A print on this
paper, framed under glass, should last 40 years before the first signs of
fading,” says Carr.

Back up your files

You can always order new prints . . . until you lose the digital files, that
is. Whatever storage medium you use — CD, hard disk or SD card — all can
fail in time, so make multiple back-ups of your most valued snaps, keeping
at least one of each online.



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