Mom Management
Home: Simple Solutions for Digital Photo Processing

Digital photography is wonderful. It allows us to capture hundreds of images on a single, tiny, memory card without constantly changing rolls of film or wasting money on prints that are out of focus or poorly lit. The downside? It's easy to wake up one day and realize that you've developed nothing in the past twelve months, and catching up might take forever!

Not to worry—the digital age has ushered in a bevy of equally convenient photo processing options, one of which is right for you:

• The corner drugstore. Most drugstores and discount stores now have self-service kiosks for printing digital photos. Simply take your camera's memory card or a CD of photos copied from your computer, pop it into the kiosk and follow the on-screen instructions to select images and print sizes. These prints can usually be ready in an hour for a slightly higher rate per picture, or if you opt to pick them up later, you can pay quite a bit less.
• Online processing services. For those who don't have time to drive to the drugstore, there are online photo printing services like Shutterfly.com and Snapfish.com, just to name a couple. These photo printers allow you to upload your photos via your web connection, choose options like sizes and finishes, and the prints are mailed to you, typically in 2-5 days. These processors offer very competitive rates (like nine cents per print!).
• A combined approach. For those who want to upload their photos, but don't have 2-5 days to wait for delivery, there's the best-of-both-worlds option. Drugstores like Walgreens and CVS let you upload images for processing on their website, then pick them up at the store on the same day. Discount retailers, Wal-Mart and Target offer similar services.

Still don't know where to begin? Organize your photos either chronologically, by family member or by event, and commit to print one batch per week or per month, as the budget allows. Then promise yourself that you'll stay current going forward, by printing digital photos at least monthly. A reminder on the calendar can help you stay on track!

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