Digital Photo Printing Review

Surveying digital printing options

For those who don't want to print their own digital photos at home, digital printing services enable you to order selected prints, print photo albums and even create a number of novelty and gift items with images printed on them.

Reviews of digital photo printing services are increasingly rare, and few sources have been updated in the last year. Though we found a handful of new reviews, the most thorough is over a year old: a 2008 roundup at Information Week, where reviewer Don Reisinger evaluates four photo printing services for overall quality, cost and ease of use. There is also a fairly recent review at The Wall Street Journal and older reviews at ConsumerReports.org and PCMag.com. These reviews all compare the quality of prints, price, ease of use and editing tools of various sites. A 2006 roundup from Slate.com compares six photo sharing sites on the quality of a printed photo book, including photo quality, cover quality, website/software and service. Sites that allow users to rate services, such as OlegKikin.com and PhotographyReview.com, offer helpful information, but the volume of reviews varies. We also took a look at pricing and shipping policies.

Reviews say that using online digital photo printing services generally costs less than printing your own photos at home, but doing it yourself offers a better level of control and immediacy. Printing at home will generally cost between 17 cents and 30 cents per photo, not including the cost of the printer itself. If you're interested in printing snapshots at home, check out our report on photo-printers for our top picks; these small-format printers are simple and easy to use. Of course, you can also print photos with a full-size inkjet printer.