Should You Print Your Digital Photos at Home or Use a Photo Printing Service?

There are lots of options available for getting your digital photos printed, but which method is the best and most economical choice for you? Let's look at some of the options and the pros and cons of each.

PRINTING YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS AT HOME

Convenience and instant gratification are two popular reasons for printing your digital photos at home. Depending on your printer, you can print directly from your camera or from your memory card in most cases. Or if you want to touch up your photos first you can copy them to your computer, use your photo editing software (I like Photoshop Elements 3.0) to enhance your images, and then print right from your graphics program. You don't have to make an extra stop to drop off your photo memory card at the photofinisher or drugstore and then return to pick up your prints, and you save the shipping fees the online photo services charge.

However, printing your photos on your home printer may be more expensive than you realized. The per-print price can approach $1 per picture when you factor in the cost of buying a photo printer, high quality photo paper and lots of color ink cartridges. If you print a lot of photos you'll go through ink cartridges and paper rather quickly, which gets expensive, especially if you make mistakes and have to reprint. If you use inexpensive or off-brand paper, you will likely find that your photos may start to fade or discolor within a few months. According to industry experts, if you print at home, use the same brand name paper as your printer manufacturer (i.e. if you have a Canon printer, use Canon photo paper). Your prints will be better quality and last longer.

USING AN ONLINE DIGITAL PHOTOFINISHER

Online digital photofinishers like Ofoto and the new PhotoWorks make the process of printing your photos very easy. You can edit your photos either using your own photo editing software or download free software from the online line printing service to crop, fix red-eye, and add special effects or borders to your images. Then simply select the images you want to print, click to upload to the photo site, and you will receive your order, printed on high quality photo paper, in your mailbox in approx. 2-5 days. In addition to prints you can order customized photo calendars, photo cards, photo books, mugs, and other photo items. With some online services, like Shutterfly, you can even try out and order frames for your photos.

The downside: you do pay a shipping charge, so you may want to wait and order a number of photos or photo products at one time to make it more economical. Print costs for 4x6 inch photos range from about 19 cents to 29 cents, depending on the company.

Wal-Mart.com's prints are inexpensive and the bonus is you can upload your photos to their website and then pick them up at your local store and avoid shipping charges. Photo stores like RitzCamera.com or WolfCamera.com are also good options because you can either upload your photos to their website and pick them up at a local store in as little as an hour, or you can drop off your memory card at the store and pick up your prints later.

PRINT YOUR PHOTOS AT THE DRUGSTORE

Digital printing is now available at drugstore chains such as Walgreens and Longs. You can bring in your memory stick and use their photo kiosk to crop and edit your images and then print them. The cost is about the same as an online printing service, but you have to stand there at the kiosk and edit/upload your photos. Not something I really want to do, nor do I want to wait in line while someone else finishes their photo order. The good news is these drugstores also offer online photo services so you can upload your photos to their website and you can pick up your prints at their store usually the next day.

The other option is you can drop off your memory card or CD at the drugstore's photo department and pick up your prints anywhere from an hour later to a day later, depending on the service selected, just like the "old days" of 35mm film. The print cost is about the same as full service online photo finishers (less the shipping fee). There are frequent sales, so the per-print cost can be relatively low if you hit a sale, but you don't have the option of cropping or enhancing your images unless you edit your photos then burn them to a CD first.

My suggestion is to experiment with several methods and find the best one that works for you. Whatever you do, don't just let all those digital photos pile up in your memory card or on your computer, get them printed so you can show them off. Of course you can also share them online with family and friends, but that's another article.

Valerie Goettsch publishes the digital photography website http://www.digitalphotos101.com featuring reviews of photo editing and album software and digital photo printing services.

---

Photography 101 Part 3

ContentEven if you feel that you already know what kind of photography you like to do, it's always a good idea to try your talent at different aspects of photography.Pictorial, this is a... Read More

Is Digital Photography Expensive?

Being such a fascinating device as the digital camera, this technological masterpiece is of course a precious and priced possession. And acquiring it also means that one time achievement feeling. Thus a person... Read More

Digital Cameras and Digital Photography

Before you rush into buying your digital camera this holiday season make sure your properly informed. Many consumers during the holiday season rush into purchasing electronic equipment in a mad panic to get... Read More

How to Photograph Your Baby

Babies make the best and the worst subjects to photograph. They are the best for two reasons, people are more tolerant at looking at baby photos, as well as the fact that babies... Read More

Four Unique Ways for the Pet Portrait Artist to Stand Out

The warm feelings are flowing all around when the pet lover sees her commissioned portrait of her beloved dog or cat for the first time. Would you like the love to last even... Read More

Tips for Better Vacation Photos

Photos are a great way to share your travel experiences with family and friends. Here are a few suggestions to help you capture vacation memories you will treasure for years to come.PLAN AHEADMake... Read More

Using a Camcorder to Record Family Events Quickly and Easily

Let's start there (but not spend too much time on it because you are probably already checked out on their use):On/Off - On some brands you actually have to find two or three... Read More

Digital Photography: The RAW vs JPG Debate

If you use a digital camera (I use a Canon EOS Digital Rebel/300D myself) and that camera is an SLR, then it most likely can record images in RAW format. In general, you... Read More

Photography - Rules of Composition

Composition is defined as the combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole. In photography that definition is very important in taking quality pictures. The following rules of composition should be... Read More

Creating Printable Photo Greeting Cards

STAY CONNECTED WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.Making your own digital photo cards and personalized holiday photo cards is a lot easier than you think. All you need is your favorite photo or photos to... Read More

Is Film Better than Digital for Weddings?

As a professional wedding photographer I get this question asked more than anything else. Rarely will somebody ask me about my wedding photography education, awards, or professional memberships. I believe the root to... Read More

Why 1.5 Megapixels is Enough

Dots Per Inch is a useful measure of relative resolution. But if you don't know the image size in inches or some other measure of size, then the amount of dots per inch... Read More

Extreme Digital Photography: Beyond Point-and-shoot

When my old Olympus digital camera got broke while caving during a family camping trip, I had mixed feelings. For quite some time I had felt that the quality of some of my... Read More

The Arizona Desert Museum

The vast beauty and richness of the desert can be easily seen in one place in Tucson, Arizona. Known as the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum ["Desert Museum"], this gorgeous and convenient site is... Read More

Entering the World of Digital Video Cameras

Gone are the days when you would need to employ a professional to take a video for your business projects. Whether you need it to provide training to your employees or students, you... Read More

What You Need To Buy A Digital Camera Wholesale

Digital cameras are available in several price ranges today. They can be purchased wholesale as well as retail. Whether your budget is a mere $30 or $300, you are sure to find a... Read More

Digital Camera Metering

Looking at the most intricate details of the digital camera as a technologically advanced device a lot of functions come into play. Such s a point is that of the digital camera metering.... Read More

Selecting Good Stock Photography in the Age of Digital

The business of stock photography has drastically changed over the last few years. Ten years ago, selecting photographs for your brochure or newsletter meant spending hours pouring over stock photography catalogs and ordering... Read More

Who Had The Better Brushes Leonardo or Michelangelo?

Ordinary photos of dull subjects do actually sell, but the dramatic shots generally have an unusual element that makes them stand out from the crowd. They are well-composed and they carry no excess... Read More

The Naked Truth on Shooting Nudes

There are major obstacles to overcome to get into nude photography, not least of which is the need to practise technique. By its very nature there has to be at least one subject,... Read More

9 Tips For Taking Great Digital Photos

IntroductionModern cameras are highly automatic in operation. They have auto focus and auto exposure. The camera will focus on the subject - often identified by a small circle or square at the centre... Read More

How to Take Better Photos of Your Baby or Toddler

Every Mom wants to take great photos of their babies and toddlers. We all want professional looking photos for our children without paying a fortune! This better baby photo article will help you... Read More

How to Easily Select the Important Photography Category for Your Home Based Business

You may have already started to make money from your photography, but if you are still a gifted amateur, then there are effective methods you can use to kick start your chances of... Read More

Getting Your Photos Ready for Sharing

One of the main reasons people buy digital cameras is so they can share their photos with others. Even if you are just going to print your photos for yourself, you will want... Read More

Removing Cracks and Creases when Restoring Old Photos ? 5 Minute Digital Fix

A common problem with old photos is that they often have un-desirable cracks and creases.These can be removed quite easily using the Clone, Healing and Patch tools found in Adobe Photoshop.The problem is... Read More

Is your Digital Camera Compatible With Your Computer?

So you recently bought a digital camera or perhaps your thinking about it. And perhaps you may be wondering how many pictures will your computer hold? First you need to answer a few... Read More

The Truth About Pixels - Part I: Digital Cameras

Most digital cameras today boast of greater resolution and picture quality. What does that mean to the amateur or occasional photographer? You hear of cameras with 3 megapixals up to 6 or 7... Read More

Start Your Own Photography Business from Home

Anyone with the right camera equipment, and the necessary skills can set up a home business, marketing photography. You need only to convert a room of your house into an office, and then... Read More

Make More of Your Photos

We all want to make the most of our wedding photos and a new service from totalPIX makes it very easy with their beautifully bound photobooks.Like all the best ideas, the idea of... Read More