Alright, I'm back with another silly question. I finally accumlated a pretty pile of pictures to print up. I don't want to use tons of ink and pay piles of money replacing cartriges and buying paper so I figured I'd record the pictures onto an A drive disk (don't have a cd burner yet).
My question is, do stores like Walmart, Eckerds and Walgreens have a computer that you can place your disk in and print out these pictures or do they only accept cd's or one of those memory cards that you buy for your camera? Thanks!

The ones I've seen only accept CDs. But really the only way to find out for sure is to call them.

Also, you can take the diskette to a place like Kinko's and get it burned onto a CD there for a nominal fee.

Angie, a diskett can't hold the amount of pictures that a CD can. You're lucky to get 1 or 2 on a disk, depending on the size, etc.

There are some locations (in the Greater Toronto Area) where you can actually email the pics to them & they'll send by mail your pics. back to you or you can pick up from them.

Hmmm ... You don't want to spend money on ink and paper to print just the pictures you want, when you want; yet you're quite willing to spend it on a CD burner and on whatever the store charges.

The inks aren't all that expensive (I assume you have a printer that will do the job), considering how many prints you can get from a cartridge/set of cartridges. For most purposes normal paper will be adequate. It's only the very special pictures that merit photographic quality paper.

I have quite a collection of photos on my hard disk, most of which will never be printed out. They're for me to look at, or to send in e-mail. The few that are to be printed I want the satisfaction of doing myself, as and when I want, without relying on anyone else.

Ewood, unfortunately my ink cartridges are rather expensive ($40) and with my work, I go through them quickly enough so I'd rather not even start purchasing the colored ink right now. As far as buying a cd burner goes... that won't be happening for some time -- I haven't even considered purchasing one yet. I'm hoping I wont have to for a long time. For now I am just saving my favorite pictures on disk and I'll probably end up having a friend burn them to cd so I can have them printed up -- I was just wondering if anybody knew more than I did about those little digital photo machines I see in all the stores now so I wouldn't have to have the cd burnt, ya know? But anyway, like you, I too have tons of pics that I save on my computer and share through email but will probably never print up.

Thanks everyone! You're all so helpful -- and Ewood, that icon is adorable.

Ewood - for decent pictures that will actually last, you need good paper, good ink, and a good printer. Good paper alone costs about 20 cents for a 4x6 sized picture. Getting the picture printed at a store typically costs about 30 cents a picture. After factoring in the cost of good ink, a decent printer, and the fact that the store printed pictures hold up better, I don't see printing them yourself being much of a money saver.

Oh, and yes, many stores will accept pictures on disks, CDs, or memory cards (on their commercials, Walgreens claims to be able to read 'all' memory cards, I'm not sure which of the others accept which media). Unless you are already putting them on CDs for archiving, the best solution is probably to bring them in on the camera's card.

If your pictures are small enough (memory-wise) to fit on floppy disks, the cost equation shifts a bit. The quality of the pictures themselves will mean that you can get away with worse paper, ink, and printer without noticing a difference in the end product except that the professionally printed pictures will last longer.

You may well be right. I think you are talking about better and maybe more important pictures than I am. In essence I was talking about printing the best of my snapshots, not say pictures of a wedding.

In any case the question was about how to have a store print, not whether it's a good idea. My fault for introducing a digression!

Digressions can be interesting. I have just one more comment about printing your own pictures. I received a digital camera as a gift years ago when they were new. Although the camera was stolen, I still have the pictures I printed out on my printer... not a top of the line model, but a good one. Unfortunately, I have first hand evidence in the form of these pictures that picture printed on your home printer simply don't hold up well over time. If you plan on wanting the hardcopy for any period of time, I suggest getting them printed professionally.

That's interesting, methos. I have one which was originally scanned from an old-fashioned photographic print. I cropped out some unwanted background and made the edges fuzzy, printed it on my own "fair but not super" printer on photographic paper, and it's still fine three years later. It's in a frame under a rigid clear plastic cover. Perhaps being covered is the difference.

At least I think it's fine. Perhaps you have a more critical eye. If it does deteriorate I can just print it again. I still have the image file.

if you want to use fairly inexpensive paper that lasts a long time, go to a scrapbooking store.
all the paper that scrapbookers use are acid free, and are supposed to last a long long time without fading.

and does anyone have opinions on the best type of photo paper to use? is say hp paper better than kodak? or vice versa? does it make a difference what type of printer you are using as to what paper to use for best results?

I believe Methos you will find that the ink over the past few years has greatly inproved...I have left on purpose color and B/W prints in the sun for a number of months , and they have not changed....

I have also found that Kodak is the best photo paper to use..Pay more, but theres a reason...

Those great buys on e-bay for photo paper is a total waste of money... Terrible results .....

I have heard from someone that in-store photo printers may not be top-notch quality. The person I talked to claimed that her printer could print higher quality prints than the store kiosks. I haven't used the machines very often, so I can't prove or disprove this.

Ofoto or Snapfish will take your digital photos (upload via their website) and have your prints shipped to you on Kodak paper. Both give you your first 10 prints for free, just pay shipping (~$1.50). A relative of mine ordered snapfish photos, and I was impressed with the DPI.

Another way to get digital prints is to find a neighbor with a nice printer setup and pay them a few bucks to make you prints. (Pay at least 50c per page to cover their cost of expensive ink)

About 9 months ago I brought a new HP Photosmart 7660 printer, and am exptremly happy with it. The resulting prints are as good as downtown, and I really believe it uses less ink than my older printer.
I agree with another posting that the ink and paper has improved greatly over the past few years and that the prints will last.

Costco does a good job. 19c a 4x6 print. And they take everything media wise. But U can get a burner online for about 30.

ivnj

I upload my pictures right off of my computer to:
www.snapfish.com
For your digital pictures these are great pictures and only charge 12c US a pic, or if u prepay, which is also a great way they are only 10c US a pic.
You can also share your site with friends and receive 20 free pictures if they chose to order here.
The pictures are clear and crisp on kodak paper, and they send them to you right to your home mailbox. How much better can that get!
When u upload them they are stored in an album right there which you can also share with friend. U can make different albums for your different pictures.
Printing all your own pictures is very expensive. I save this as a treat for the odd picture I want right away.
This is the most inexpensive site I have found with lots of options to enhance your photos.
Give it a try, we all love it here.
It takes about 2 weeks to Canada to get the pictures. Not sure how long in the US.
Just copy and paste the link above into your address bar and it will take you there.
I hope this has helped you out.
Good luck and have fun!

I recommend snapfish or shutterfly.com myself.

From my experience, kiosks where you upload your photos yourself at locations such as walmart always crop you photos, or do other things when you want them just as you uploaded them.

Shutterfly and Snapfish have very competitive pricing, and pretty fast shipping, imho.

Stephen