Cost, Convenience, Service are Virtues of Digital Printmaking, Says Photo Marketing Association International (PMA(R)).

JACKSON, Mich. -- Most digital photographers quickly come to the conclusion that they do not want to spend their own precious time making hundreds of snapshot-size prints. It is far less expensive, particularly if you include the labor involved, to turn the job of making 4-by-6-inch prints over to professional digital photofinishers.

The virtues include cost savings, convenience, and custom results, depending upon the type of photofinishing service you select. For example, the per-print cost is as low as 10 cents each when ordering online, while "warehouse club," one-hour labs are charging 17 to 18 cents per print from digital files. Many photo retailers with in-store, one-hour labs are promoting 4-by-6-inch prints at a cost of 25 to 29 cents each.

"But cost alone doesn't tell the whole story," according to Alfred DeBat, senior editor of prints-are-memories.com, the photo information website from Photo Marketing Association International(R). "You may find greater convenience by taking your memory card to a local one-hour digital lab, or uploading the images online to your favorite camera store for pickup at the mall. You have to work out some of your own priorities when it is time to make prints."

Here are a number of up-to-date options, according to DeBat:

Snapfish.com, an online photofinisher owned by Hewlett-Packard, is offering 4-by-6-inch prints on lightweight paper for 12 cents each, or 10 cents each when buying 1,000 prepaid snapshot-size prints. This system requires you to upload your digital images online, and the completed prints are mailed back to you. The competitive price is boosted a bit by taxes and shipping, which will depend upon order size, turn-around time, and location. To entice you further, the first 20 prints are free.

KodakGallery.com (formerly Ofoto) is an online photofinisher that charges 25 cents for 4-by-6-inch prints. But these Kodak Perfect Touch prints are automatically corrected for many common defects. The custom printing improvements include toning down foreground flash overexposure and opening up lost detail in shadows behind the subject. Kodak also uses its digital magic to produce more vibrant colors in the print. The site offers 10 free prints.

Shutterfly.com, now offering 15 free prints as an incentive, charges 19 cents per print with a 500-print prepaid plan (22 cents with 200 prepaid prints, and 24 cents with 100 prepaid prints), while the normal 4-by-6-inch print charge is 29 cents. The site employs Fujifilm Crystal Archive photo paper, which has a reputation of producing fade-free prints that will last a lifetime.

Photo retailers, such as Ritz or Wolf Camera & Image, offer a service whereby you can upload your images online and pick up 4-by-6-inch prints within an hour from a designated store. Ritz and Wolf charge 25 cents each for 20 or more 4-by-6-inch prints. This could be a way to send photos for store pickup to far-flung relatives during a single ordering session. The same store chains also promote 10-minute in-store printing of 4-by-6-inch prints from digital media for 25 cents each.