At a recent party my girlfriend took a ton of pictures and everyone asked her for reprints. Rather than heading down to the neighborhood FotoMat and putting herself in the poorhouse, she used Shutterfly, a Web-based photo service that lets her share photos for free, and more.
Shutterfly lets you store, enhance, and share your photos, and anyone you share with can order lab-quality prints of your photos. You and your friends are charged only when ordering prints or accessories, such as frames or greeting cards.
Getting started
Account registration is quick and easy, only requiring a name and email address. The simple and intuitive interface provides for easy navigation.
The site offers many options for uploading pictures. If you use a film camera, just send your film in a prepaid mailer and Shutterfly will post your pictures online. If you use a digital camera, you have three methods to choose from:
- Browse for individual pictures
- Picture Upload plug-in (drag-and-drop method)
- Shutterfly SmartUpload, a downloadable wizard-based utility
There's no limit to how many pictures you can store on your account.
The SmartUpload wizard lets you do simple edits such as cropping or rotating. You must access more advanced editing through the website. You can make red-eye corrections, use focus effects, and add a myriad of fun and creative borders to your photos.
Sharing your photos is a snap. Just choose the pictures you want to share and type in the email address of the person you want to share them with. Your friend can view your pictures in a slide show and also order prints.
Price is right
During the two months after you begin using Shutterfly, you get 15 free 4x6 prints just for registering. The print prices are competitive with similar photo services such as Ofoto and Snapfish.
Here are other prices for prints: 49 cents per 4x6; 99 cents per 5x7; $3.99 per 8x10; $1.79 per set of four wallet-size.
Shipping charges vary depending on the type of service you choose. US Postal Service is the cheapest at $1.49 for up to 10 prints. Photos are usually sent to you in three to five days, but they may take as long as 10 days.
The photos look as good as photos developed at a brick-and-mortar photo lab. Of course, the quality of the prints will depend on the quality and resolution of the photos you take and the camera you use.
Although Shutterfly is a great service, we have some complaints. Each visit to the Shutterfly site brings up an annoying pop-up advertisement. Also, regardless of how high the resolution of your original photo, you can view it only at medium resolution on the website.
Summary: Shutterfly is a simple-to-use service with a wide range of features. With its unlimited storage space and cool editing tools, we recommend Shutterfly to the casual photo hobbyist.
Pros: Easy-to-use interface; creative editing tools
Cons: Pop-up advertisements; doesn't allow viewing of high-resolution pictures
Company: ShutterflyPrice: Free service, charges only for prints and accessories
Available: Now
