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Cheap Digital Photo Printing, Best Cheap Digital Photo Printing Service

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With the advent of the digital camera, demand for low-cost digital prints has created a new online market. Cheap digital photo printing services are now major players in the photo world and a boon to frugal shutterbugs.

The existence of cheap digital photo printing services eliminates the need for an expensive in-home digital printer and all the associated costs, like ink and paper, and frees consumers to spend their money on prints rather than printing tools. Moreover, cheap digital photo printing services provide the expertise and accuracy that comes with running off thousands of prints a day, as well as the benefits of professional-grade equipment.

The best cheap digital printing services are also user-friendly. They offer an expansive array of products and services, including numerous print options, gift items sporting favorite images, online sharing, image storage, and more -- some of which you may not even know you need or want. Most cheap online digital photo printing services also provide decent technical support and rapid turnaround. Indeed, with the online world as essential to many people's lives as the physical world, being able to capture an image on any one of your digital devices, receive a hard copy on your doorstep overnight, show off your shot to a worldwide audience, and store it forever in a virtual scrapbook neatly explains the appeal of cheap web-based digital photo printing services.

Cheap online digital photo printing services are similar to the high-end providers in many ways, but differ in certain critical respects. Cheap digital photo printing services, like Shutterfly, Snapfish.com, and SmugMug, are geared towards consumers. Costly online digital printing services, like Reed Photo and Nation Photo Lab, are meant for professionals. The quality of the prints produced by low-cost and high-cost providers is the biggest difference between the two. By most accounts, cheap digital photo printing services deliver good quality prints, but their standards are a sight lower than the expensive services. For obvious price-related reasons, the cheap online digital photo printing providers use lower quality paper and the equipment is not as technically exacting. Note, too, that the pricier websites offer more guarantees for the prints and are more likely to give frequent users membership deals that save money on bulk jobs.

Even so, as a thrifty consumer you want value for your money. So before making a decision about which cheap digital photo printing service to use, it's best to know which features each online provider offers and what kind of performance you can expect. Most cheap digital photo printing services give you a choice of finish for your prints, usually glossy or matte, and sometimes luster. You also have a pick of delivery options, ranging from overnight to six to 10 business days to one-hour pick-up at a nearby retailer; options and pricing vary by processor. There are also a host of keepsake items and gift possibilities, including mugs, t-shirts, mousepads, calendars, photo books, tote bags, and more. Cheap digital photo printing services also store your images online -- sometimes for free, sometimes forever -- and provide ways to share images online with friends and family. And finally, you want access to helpful technical support.

But don't be swayed by bells and whistles in the form of appealing services and product choices. These enticements don't compensate for poor quality prints or inconsistent results. The hallmarks of good cheap digital photo printing services are performance attributes that show attention to detail and also reveal a site's dedication to its customers. In our research we specifically looked for indications of consistency; that is, quality prints that satisfied customers time after time. We also noted the quality of each cheap digital photo printing site's technical support.

For the reasons touched on above and detailed below, we identified Snapfish.com (starting at $.09/print) as the best cheap digital photo printing service, SmugMug (starting at $.19/print) and Shutterfly (starting at $.15 /print) as runners-up, and Walmart Photo Shop (starting at $.09/print) and RitzPix.com (starting at $.19/print) as services that don't quite cut it.

The finish on your prints, storage capability, and technical support are all key factors that distinguish one site from another. For some users, though, the deciding factor turns on price alone, especially if you're ordering lots of prints. Either way, it's worth knowing just what each site offers.

Finish Options.

One important consideration for many photographers -- even amateurs -- when ordering prints from a cheap online digital photo printing service is the type of finish on the prints. The usual choices are glossy, matte, and luster.

Glossy prints are much shinier and more color-saturated than other print finishes. They look vibrant and alive, and generally more "polished." But glossy has definite drawbacks. For one, it has reflective characteristics that affect the way the picture is perceived in certain light, which can interfere with your ability to actually see the photo. In addition, fingerprints and dust are readily visible on a glossy finish. And just in case you happen to be shooting in black and white, or want the color edited out during printing, note that glossy doesn't do justice to black and white images; they deserve a matte finish.

Prints with a matte finish are not reflective or shiny, and may seem a bit dull and soft in comparison to glossy prints. But matte doesn't attract dust or show fingerprints as readily and may be easier on the eye. Matte is often the preferred choice for professional-looking and black and white prints. And they're ready for framing because of the border created during the printing process.

Luster (or lustre) finish is a cross between glossy and matte. Some cheap digital printing services call it semi-glossy, and that's not far off the mark. While the color saturation in a luster print is similar to what you see in a glossy finish, it doesn't retain the reflective shine or easily capture fingerprints.

Snapfish.com (starting at $0.09), Shutterfly (starting at $0.15), and RitzPix.com (starting at $0.19) offer users the choice of glossy or matte. Prints made by Walmart Photo Center (starting at $0.09) come with a glossy or luster finish. And SmugMug (starting at $0.19) is the only cheap digital photo printing service that offers all three finishes -- glossy, matte, and luster -- as well as metallic, which SmugMug describes as being very bright, sharp, saturated with color and imbued with depth (the finish requires special paper).

Photo Delivery.

Shipping charges and delivery times are important when choosing a cheap digital printing service. If there's time to spare -- that is, you can wait for the U.S. Postal Service to do its thing -- any cheap online digital printing provider will do, but that's rarely the case. Most of the best cheap digital printing services offer overnight delivery, but for that you'll pay a hefty fee. Snapfish.com, for example, charges $18 to overnight a photo book of 20-150 pages and $8.99 for an individual print. RitzPix.com's overnight price depends on the volume of work requested: up to $49 worth of prints cost $19.95 for overnight delivery. And Shutterfly charges $5.99 for priority delivery of up to 19 prints that are no larger than 8x10 inches. Delivery prices vary by service level and provider, so check the site carefully; you don't want any surprises. Also note that sometimes cheap digital photo printing services run special sales: Walmart Photo Shop, for example, offered free delivery on all prints to your home in a deal that expired at the end of July.

If you're really in a hurry, you might prefer one of the cheap digital printing providers that offer in-store delivery. With Walmart Photo Shop, you can upload your images and specify where you want to pick them, or choose one-hour processing starting at $0.15 a print. Snapfish.com lets you upload images to a local Walgreens, Meijer, Staples, or a designated photo kiosk where you can pick them up; Shutterfly has a similar arrangement with Target. But no surprise here, store pick-up is a convenience and with the exception of Walmart, it's something you have to pay for; fees are set by each retailer.

Extras.

Online digital photo printing sites offer consumers an array of extra features and services. Shutterfly, for example, offers a large number of gift packages that make practical use of your photos, such as mugs ($13.99), t-shirts (starting at $14.99), and puzzles (starting at $34.99) superimposed with a favorite picture; one user reviewer notes how easy it is to create a fully customized calendar with your favorite photos and special dates marked out. This cheap digital photo printing site also features a software suite called Shutterfly Studio that lets users edit and share their photos online.

Snapfish.com offers a slew of gift options, including stationery, photo books, and calendars. It lets you create a slideshow, called Snapshow, that you can email to friends, and it features a program called PictureMover that detects when a memory card is inserted into a computer and uploads all the pictures directly to the site.

SmugMug's gift options range from handbags ($29.99) and greeting cards (starting at $12.95) printed with your photo of choice to large mounted prints ($44.95) and posters ($39.95), to name but a few. There's also a host of sharing options, including support for embedded slideshows for blogs or other websites. But the stand-out feature at SmugMug is its compatibility with the iPhone: just upload your images directly to the site.

Image Storage.

Online image storage is a service that provides both convenience and security. For one thing, it frees up memory in your personal computer. For another, it serves as a safe location for your digital images that's less volatile than a home computer. Some cheap digital photo printing sites, like Shutterfly and RitzPix.com, will hold an unlimited number of images forever, free of charge. SmugMug offers members -- memberships start at $39.95 -- unlimited storage at no extra cost. Snapfish.com and Walmart offer users free, unlimited storage with one catch: you must purchase something from either service, even just a print, once a year or all your pictures will be deleted.

Technical Support.

As with any online service, there's always a need for useful and accessible technical support. Each online digital photo printing site we researched approaches this matter differently, and we found that it's a feature consumers use and care about. Snapfish.com, for example, provides support through email, snail mail, and phone (open daily); it also offers live chat and posts plenty of FAQs on its site. Shutterfly's help center includes a searchable FAQ database and a phone line that's open every day; for off-hour questions there's an email address. SmugMug also boasts a comprehensive FAQ but goes one step farther with a video tutorial on how to get started and a demonstration of what the site has to offer. SmugMug also provides an email address and supports a user forum for sharing advice on how to make the most of the site's features. The only weak link in SmugMug's technical support is the lack of a phone number for immediate needs. RitzPix.com provides FAQs, a telephone support line, email contact, and live chat, the latter meant only for technical problems. Walmart Photo Shop lacks a phone line but does offer FAQs and an email address.

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Walmart Photo Center
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