Professional Prints

Today’s inkjet printers do a pretty good job of printing photos, but you’ll still get better results from a professional processor.  They’ll be printed on good photo-quality paper with a photographic process that lasts longer than ink.  You can order them from a nearby store and pick them up in an hour, or ask that they be mailed to you.  You can even ask that they be mailed to someone else – and maybe framed as a gift!

Picasa makes it so simple to order prints, and the cost is so cheap (9-10 cents per 4X6), my bet is that you spend more on ink that you will ordering prints online.

Your choice of vendors

All you do is select the photos you want printed, then click the ‘Shop’ button at the bottom of Picasa’s screen.  You will have your pick of several online photo processors.  The links below will take you to their websites so you can compare.  When you click on one of these links after clicking on ‘Shop’ in Picasa – you will need to set up an account and your photos will be uploaded to that store.

Research which vendor you want to use with these links, but use the Picasa screen when you’re ready to order:
Walmart | Lifepics | Fotoflot | Winkflash | PhotoWorks | Photogize | Zazzle | PhotoStamps | Foto.com | Shutterfly | CVS | RitzPics | Kodak Gallery | SnapFish | SnapTotes

Easy as 1-2-3

Here’s how you do it:

1. In Picasa: Select the photos you want to print and click the ‘Shop’ button
   


2. Select your vendor and click the ‘Choose’ button.  You will need to login to your account with that vendor – or create an account if this is your first time.  Your photos will begin uploading at this point.  For prints, you want the highest resolution possible, so this part can take some time.


3. You should now be on the vendor’s site and you need to make your selections, type of paper (glossy or matte) size of print, quantity etc.  You can even order the photos printed on coffee mugs, or mouse pads, or t-shirts!  When you’re done, you check out and pay with a credit card. You can also specify whether to have the pictures mailed to you, or, if there is a nearby location for the store, you can choose to pick them up.

That’s it!

This tip brought to you by Geeks on Tour

Geeks on Tour is a membership website with hundreds of Tutorial Videos on topics of interest to travelers, such as managing digital photos with Picasa, Route-Planning with Streets and Trips, and sharing your travels with a website using Blogger or with friends on Facebook. You can subscribe to our free e-newsletters, or become a paid member and be able to view all of the videos in the Learning Library.