Guide to Finding the Best Online Digital Photo Printing Service

My criteria for finding the best online photo printing service is one that offers me quality and convenience, one that is flexible and simple to use and offers me lots of creative options -- all within my budget. That may seem like a tall order, but actually, there are many good companies out there. But with numerous photo services and pricing plans and feature variations, it can get a tad confusing. So I put together this guide on what I think are the most important considerations when in search of an online photo printer.

What Kind of Features Do They Offer

Digital photo services do a lot more these days than digital photo developing. You can get a tremendous array of photo related items and gifts, including photo books and calendars, cards, address labels, office items, aprons and other clothing items, large canvas wall art and so on. Shutterfly has a superb selection of personalized photo gifts.

I've discovered that the best online digital photo printing services keep up to date with the latest trends and integrate social media sites. The better web sites allow users to upload pictures from social sites such as Facebook and create web photo galleries for sharing online. Shutterfly and Kodak Gallery are two sites that give users their own private sharing website.

Reasonable Prices

Since costs can run the gamut, it is smart to compare a few photo printers first. The typical cost of a 4 x 6-inch print can range from .08 to .27 cents. That's quite a range! However, I've tried printing at home and I'm always running out of ink, driving the cost even higher. Printing at home can be anywhere from 27-50 cents per photo on average, often more, depending on your printer and the ink and paper cost. I've found that when I use an online photo service, the results are very good at the low to medium price range. In fact, of the numerous online photo printing services I've tried, Snapfish has consistently delivered quality prints at the lowest prices.

Image Quality

The better digital photo printing services will produce pictures very close to the original colors with vibrant color, proper saturation, and cropped the way you want. Several photo printing services, Kodak Gallery comes to mind, provide image optimization for correct exposure and natural-looking color. You'll find that most services give you the option of glossy or matte prints and use acid-free Kodak or Fuji archival photo paper.

Although I like the convenient of being able to order my photos online and pick them up at a local drugstore/retail partner store (an option offered by a lot of major photo services), I have found that, since they are printed at the retail store, sometimes the quality is not the same.

Ability to Edit Photos On Line

If editing your images is important to you, I recommend that you use your own software for all but the most basic things like red eye correction or cropping. I have found that most online photo processors provide limited editing tools, although some will automatically make color corrections during the printing process.

Storing Images

It's nice to be able to store your images online where you can organize pictures into albums and collections. Most services have this feature, but check carefully to see whether it is unlimited free storage and whether you are required to make a yearly purchase to keep your account active.To date, Shutterfly is one site that has unlimited free storage without requiring a purchase. However, I really like Shutterfly and use them frequently, so it has not been an issue anyway. One other nice perk is the ability to download stored images in their original size and resolution. While Shutterfly doesn't have this capability, at least yet, Kodak Gallery does.

Thus, choosing the best online photo printing service is rather personal because it depends on what is most important to you: getting a rock-bottom price on prints, choosing from the biggest array of photo gifts, etc. The good news is there are a number of quality photo sites to try out.