A Better Way to Develop Digital Photos

New online labs Ofoto and Shutterfly, along with Kodak's older QuickPrints site, offer a convenient and inexpensive alternative to processing your digital prints at the local drugstore or buying a personal photo printer. Download images from your camera to a PC, and upload them to one of these online labs. Then sit back and wait for your prints to be delivered. Though quality still suffers in comparison to print film, we found these services worthwhile.

Federal Express delivered my prints from Ofoto and Shutterfly within 36 hours. They weren't too expensive, either: Three sets (in 4-by-6, 5-by-7, and 8-by-10 sizes) of four images cost $18 from Ofoto and $30 from Shutterfly (plus tax and shipping). Sans taxes, equivalent reprints at a nearby drugstore cost $21 for generic or $27 for Kodak prints. Kodak's QuickPrints, however, was a whopping $53 and didn't show for nine business days (no FedEx option).

In color fidelity, prints from Ofoto and Shutterfly hold their own against two snapshot dye-sublimation printers I've used. Ofoto colors appear a bit more lifelike, but on blowups Shutterfly has less pixelation. Kodak's colors are the best here--a bit dark but with little evidence of JPEG's typical color loss. Extreme contrast appears in spots, though.

Online photo labs have other limitations. A high-resolution 6MB JPEG file I sent choked both Ofoto and Shutterfly (Ofoto is releasing an updated client to improve uploads). Kodak was the only one to warn me not to send anything bigger than 3MB. Kodak processes JPEG, BMP, TIFF, and other formats; Ofoto deals with JPEG only while Shutterfly handles JPEG and TIFF.

Then again, there are online-only benefits. All three labs can notify your friends to check out a new photo album stored on the companies' sites. Ofoto and Shutterfly let you store up to 50MB of files on their sites indefinitely for free, but Kodak charges for storage (or deletes your images) after 30 days. Ofoto posts reviews of digital cameras. And Kodak's PhotoNet offers a free feast of photo tutorials and tips, online photo-editing software, and templates for electronic postcards. Kodak can also print your photos on sweatshirts, coffee mugs, and much more.

Ofoto is inexpensive and Kodak offers lots of options for digital shutterbugs. But if you plan to print digital photos fairly often, a photo printer may be a better investment.

SUMMARY

Kodak QuickPrints PRO: Wide product range, great tutorials, supports many formats. CON: Expensive, getting prints takes a long time. VALUE: Too expensive unless you need prints on specific media. $Varies Eastman Kodak 800/235-5632 www.kodak.com/go/quickprints

SUMMARY

Ofoto PRO: Fast, convenient, good color, inexpensive. CON: Limited print choices, JPEG files only. VALUE: Inexpensive way to print your digital photos. $Varies Ofoto 510/647-0514 www.ofoto.com

SUMMARY

Shutterfly PRO: Fast, convenient, reasonably low pixelation on enlarged photos. CON: Limited print choices, quality could be better. VALUE: A reasonable option if you need large prints. $Varies Shutterfly 650/610-5200 www.shutterfly.com