Want to see my vacation photos?
If your heart didn’t just plummet to your stomach, you probably never have had to sit through a two-hour slide show of the glories of Greece or been forced to page through a photo album documenting the wonders of Wyoming.
Or you may be one of the growing number of people who view holiday snapshots only online.
As Internet photo services enter their second decade, online picture-sharing is becoming ubiquitous. Reference pages such as andromeda.com’s online photo-resource guide list more than 100 sites where you can upload digital photos and videos, share them with friends and order prints. You can edit out red eye, group pictures into albums, add fancy borders and write clever captions. In turn, people around the world can scroll through your masterworks as slow or fast as they desire, e-mail you comments and even order prints or posters of your photos.
The only problem with this pretty picture of
cyber-sharing is choosing the right site. You can pick ones packed with techie features like picture tagging and RSS feeds. You can opt for sites that sell baby onesies and dog bowls adorned with your photos. You can blog, flog or log your favorites, depending on the the site.
Using the same 10 pictures taken from a recent trip to Vancouver, B.C., we reviewed 10 of the most popular online photo services. All of them offer free registration, photo uploads, sharing services and print ordering. Here is what we found.
SNAPFISH
snapfish.com
Who it’s for: Everyone
Advantages: Of all the sites we reviewed, this is the easiest to use. Each page has an icon that lets you click through for live online help, and tips are divided into “schools of fish”: blue for easy, green for intermediate and orange for expert. Also, Snapfish will develop your 35mm film and post the prints online, in essence giving you digital photos without having to buy a digital camera.
Disadvantages: Bi-weekly e-mails advertising Snapfish services.
Best feature: You can pick up prints at Walgreens about an hour after uploading them.
Worst feature: The fish theme gets a little too cute after awhile.
Premium service: No
Coolest thing you can buy: Post-office-approved stamps using your photos.
4 x 6-inch print price: 12 cents (20 free for new users)
Number of mailing days to get photos: 4
Photo quality: B-. A little dark.
Number of e-mails received within two weeks after registering: 5
DOT PHOTO
dotphoto.com
Who it’s for: Entrepreneurs
Advantages: Unlike other sites that offer only a hearty round of applause and free prints or memberships if you win their photo contests, Dot Photo delivers the coin: a $500 American Express gift card to the winner each month. You also can peddle prints of your photos and collect between 77 and 82 percent of the sales price, depending on the plan. In addition, there are sophisticated editing tools that allow you to record sound captions for your pictures.
Disadvantages: Lots of ads
Best feature: The easiest to upload photos of all the sites we reviewed. You don’t have to
install software, drag photos or consult the help pages.
Worst feature: Accounts that have been inactive for more than 90 days will be discontinued.
Premium service: Several options, including video and print discount plans
Coolest thing you can buy: Chocolate greeting and business cards imprinted with your photos
Print price: 15 cents (30 free for new users)
Photo arrival: 4 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 0
PICTURE TRAIL
picturetrail.com
Who it’s for: Creative networkers
Advantages: The site’s Photo Flicks function allows you to add fun features to the slide shows you share with friends and family, including bobbleheads, puzzle pieces, magnification and picture cubes. It also hosts PT clubs, where users can post photos and blog about everything from Abercrombie Loversss!!! to Bush is a Tush!!
Disadvantages: You can add music to your slide show, but the tune selection is so cheesy your friends will beg you to stop.
Best feature: Image-hosting software that lets you download your pix directly to chat rooms, message boards, eBay and other auction sites.
Worst feature: The most invasive ad placement of any site we reviewed. After registering, I had to scroll through three page-long pop-up ads before I could continue.
Premium service: Yes, but it’s difficult to find details about it.
Coolest thing you can buy: Nothing for sale but prints
Print price: 22 cents
Photo arrival: 5 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 3
KODAK EASYSHARE GALLERY
kodakgallery.com
Who it’s for: Basic users
Advantages: The site is simple to navigate, and it’s easy to view shared photos.
Disadvantages: You have to pay for everything but basic features, including uploading and storing videos or mobile phone pictures. There are also a lot of ads for Kodak products.
Best feature: You can sell your photos through the site and collect a 20 percent commission.
Worst feature: Registered users must be at least 18 years old. Most other sites have an age minimum of 13.
Premium service: $2.49 a month, which buys you a website address to post your pix and the opportunity to sell your photos. There are separate video and mobile phone plans.
Coolest thing you can buy: A “magic tiled mug” that gradually reveals your photos as you fill it with a hot beverage.
Print price: 15 cents (10 free for new users)
Photo arrival: 6 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 4
MY PHOTO ALBUM
myphotoalbum.com
Who it’s for: Videographers
Advantages: You can upload
videos from your computer or cellphone for free and post them for anyone to view and comment on. Top-ranked videos have their own page, so if you couldn’t get on “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” here’s your chance. There are also photo contests where you can win free prints. In addition, the site offers free home pages with your own address.
Disadvantages: There are frequent, annoying solicitations for premium service. Also, I couldn’t figure out how to delete photos once they were uploaded.
Best feature: The most borders, colors and other photo personalization tools of any site we reviewed.
Worst feature: While most sites just require a name and password to register, My Photo
Album asks your birthdates, sex, zip code and even household income, although the last one is optional.
Premium service: $15 a year buys print discounts, unlimited photo and video storage for a year, and relief from pop-up ads when you share your pix with friends.
Coolest thing you can buy: You have only two options: prints or photo greeting cards.
Print price: 19 cents (15 free for new members, although you have to activate an e-mail to get the discount. It doesn’t say that on the website, so I ended up paying for my pix).
Photo arrival: 4 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 7
SHUTTERFLY
shutterfly.com
Who it’s for: Scrapbookers
Advantages: Many other sites
offer bound photo albums you can create from your pictures, but Shutterfly has the most. You can make everything from recipe books to wedding albums to Clifford the Big Red Dog books.
Disadvantages: The site is a little cluttered, and accounts can be closed if they’re inactive for more than 180 days.
Best feature: Editing software that lets you crop your pictures and add funky borders.
Worst feature: You can’t use the bulk uploading software on Macs with Intel processors.
Premium service: No, but there is a Pro Gallery where you can sell your prints and photo
albums online and receive a 15 percent commission. Fee is $99 a year.
Coolest thing you can buy: Kids storybook you can personalize with text and photos.
Print price: 19 cents (15 free for new users)
Photo arrival: 3 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 4
FOTKI
fotki.com
Who it’s for: Worldwide My Spacers
Advantages: Fotki has sites in 12 languages and boasts 1 million worldwide members. You can make your photos public, tag them in a variety of categories and see how many foreign friends view them. You can also set up personal profiles, checking interests such as dating or networking. Prints are extra cheap, but they took more than a week to arrive.
Disadvantages: The site is cluttered and can be hard to navigate, particularly because there’s no tutorial.
Coolest feature: There are 12 different ways to upload photos, so you’re sure to find one that works for you.
Worst feature: It’s hard to share photos. I had to designate them public, set up a URL and a password and then send them to friends. You can’t make your pix private unless you pay for premium service.
Premium service: $30 a year buys unlimited storage space, the chance to sell pictures and participate in photo contests, hot linking and FTP uploading, and freedom from ads.
Coolest thing you can buy: Nothing for sale but prints
Print price: 9 cents
Photo arrival: 8 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 2
WEBSHOTS
webshots.com
Who it’s for: Photo connoisseurs
Advantages: Features more than 6,000 photos shot by professionals, and you can download five a day free for wallpaper, screensavers or e-cards. More than 400 million other photos, including your own, are classified into categories such as pets or travel and can be viewed by Webshots members.
Disadvantages: A lot of ads, and prints are pricey.
Best feature: One-stop viewing of thousands of incredible photos.
Worst feature: I couldn’t figure out how to designate my photos as private, or how to disguise my name, so I have a creepy feeling they are viewable to the world.
Premium service: $2.49 a month for unlimited photo downloads, 5,000 stored photos (compared to 1,000 for the free service) and no ads.
Coolest thing you can buy: Business cards featuring your photos and custom text
Print price: 24 cents
Photo arrival: 4 days
Photo quality: B-. Pictures were dark.
Number of e-mails: 5
WINKFLASH
winkflash.com
Who it’s: Artsy hoarders
Advantages: Free, unlimited storage of your pix for life. You also get a free URL where you can post your photos. Shipping costs are 99 cents per order.
Disadvantages: The uploading software was hard to use.
Best feature: Very cool editing software that allows you to do fancy stuff like embossing, tracing or “solarizing” your photos.
Worst feature: This is the only site we reviewed that forces anyone who wants to view your photos to register first.
Premium service: No
Coolest thing you can buy: Photo license plates
Print price: 12 cents (50 free for new users)
Photo arrival: 3 days
Photo quality: B. Very crisp but a little dark, and my art editing didn’t print.
Number of e-mails: 3
YAHOO PHOTOS
photos.yahoo.com
Who it’s for: Hard workers
Advantages: You can pick up your photos at Target, which offers one-hour processing. There are also a few interesting borders and special effects you can add to your pictures, and the site offers free, unlimited photo storage.
Disadvantages: The most labor intensive of all the sites we reviewed. To edit, order, share or view photos, you have to drag them individually into a tray. There’s no bulk uploading available for Mac users, and the photos didn’t download at all with an AOL browser.
Best feature: You can view your pictures on TiVo.
Worst feature: You have to sign up for the service before you can learn how it works.
Premium service: No, but there is a mobile phone photo uploading option for $2.99 a month.
Coolest thing you can buy: Photo ceramic tiles
Print price: 15 cents (20 free for new users)
Photo arrival: 4 days
Photo quality: A
Number of e-mails: 2
