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Photo Greeting Cards Get Personal

PhotoLoft offers a free, high-resolution alternative in Web-based cards.

By Ross Larsen, PCWorld   

PhotoLoft distinguishes itself with the high quality of image reproduction, says PhotoLoft Chief Executive Officer Jack Marshall. Combining PhotoLoft's software with Hewlett-Packard's OpenPix technology, you can print an online image directly from your browser at the printer's highest resolution, rather than the usual fuzzy 72 dpi. This same technology is at work in PhotoLoft's popular Web-based photo gallery.

The greeting card feature also uses Tegu Software's PicServe technology, which lets you create, customize, and send the greeting cards without any special plug-ins or downloads.

Cards can be sent for free via e-mail, or, for a cost, via regular mail.

A Slight Learning Curve

After logging on to PhotoLoft, you follow simple instructions to upload pictures to an online photo gallery. PhotoLoft supports JPEG, GIF, TIFF and bitmap image formats. Then it's time to place a photograph--be it personal, or from PhotoLoft's gallery--into one of PhotoLoft's many card templates, and add a personal message.

The site's navigation leaves something to be desired. The Create Card icon is small and easy to miss, and sometimes you must do a bit of looking around to figure out where to go next. I also found it difficult to edit and update greeting card images.

However, a little bit of patience pays off. Printouts of the cards I created with PhotoLoft were crisp, colorful, and generally photo-quality. And you need not lose track of those photos--you can store up to 20MB of photos on line for free, or 50MB worth for $29.95 per year.

Not Just Cards

The greeting card feature is just one part of PhotoLoft's e-commerce plan, which describes itself as an "online photo community and digital imaging commerce center."

To date, the site has offered photo personalized gift items (such as mugs and T-shirts), designed online and finished and delivered by PhotoLoft. Next quarter, PhotoLoft will begin selling digital imaging gear such as paper and ink, as well as digital imaging equipment. And by the fourth quarter, PhotoLoft expects to let professional photographers post their images on PhotoLoft albums and invite the public to order reprints online.