Issue Date: February 23, 2003
Your photos, online
If you've been hankering for a digital camera but don't want to fork over the cash, bring your film camera into the digital age. It's easier than taking film to the drugstore: Just mail your film to one of a handful of Web sites that develop digital copies of your photos and put them online for you.
Even old cameras have digital potential: Photo sites will store your pics in cyberspace.
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At clubphoto.com, sign up (basic membership is free) and print an order form. Then drop your film in the mail. In a few days, you'll get e-mail telling you your photos are online. Have fun creating an online album, complete with captions, then send out e-mail invitations encouraging friends and family to visit your album. You and your guests can order prints, candy, cookies, T-shirts, frames and other gifts with your photos on them. You pay $1 to have your film uploaded and 25 cents per print (up to 4-by-6). The best part, though, is that your photos are neatly stored on the Web instead of in boxes all over the house. Want to send a picture to Aunt Ruth? Log on and pick one to send electronically. To store photos for longer than 90 days, you have to sign up for an annual plan ($24.95 to $34.95).
Most other photo sites work similarly, varying in pricing schemes, editing tools (Club Photo has none) and stuff you can order. Ofoto.com, a Kodak company, charges $3.95 to upload film, but there's no storage fee. Here you'll find the best selection of editing tools. Turn your photos into a calendar, sepia-toned images and more.
Shutterfly.com has a few editing and card tools, and your first 15 prints are free. Photoworks.com offers a groovy selection of reasonably priced photo gifts (like BragBooks and year-in-photo CDs), but the sign-up procedure is cumbersome.
So stop envying gadget-rich photographers. Your knowledge of the Web is even better.
-- Christina Wood
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