For millennials and previous generations it is a nostalgic thing of the past: bringing the film of holidays or parties to develop by the photographer. Leave it for a few weeks, then return to take the developed photos. Watch them together with the family, remembering together the moments in which they were taken. Then came the digital cameras, and there was the division between those who went to the photographer with the USB and those who armed themselves with a specific printer. But the last frontier of photo printing are not home printers: they are the sites that offer photo printing from online. Consider for example the online digital photo printing service on PhotoSì, the best known not only in Italy.
In recent years this market has exploded and sites that offer online printing have multiplied, also thanks to the ease of use: for anyone who has folders with photos of past occasions on the PC the possibility of giving the print order live from the computer and to find the packet of photos at the door in a few days is very tempting.
Added to this is aggressive pricing, with basic prices similar to those offered by photographers to which discounts and bonuses are often added, especially for new users but also in conjunction with specific periods of the year (at Christmas, after Summer, close to periods of Communions, Confirmations or Weddings …).
Shipping is often free over a certain limit, and in general the service is always cheaper the more photos you want to print: it may be worth waiting for a good number of them or doing a common project with friends or family and sharing the costs to maximize the ‘efficiency.
As mentioned, the use is simple and similar on all sites. Once registered, you choose how much you want to print. Market leaders offer much more than just photos: various gadgets and gift ideas such as mugs, paintings and canvas prints, puzzles, pillows, cards or calendars are often possible. Some also offer wedding options, usually less expensive than traditional photographers and of good quality.
Once the support has been defined, you move on to inserting how many and which photos you want to insert. You can upload them directly from your PC, and then insert the various customizations depending on what you have chosen (the type of cup, the weight of the paper, the size of the album, etc.). As it is usually possible to save projects to return to later this allows for longer time for reflection and customization than at a photo shop. The range of possible choices is vast, and it may be worth spending some time experimenting: the site will usually show a preview of what is in the works. Once our decisions have been made, we move on to choosing the shipping address and paying. Shipments are quite fast, with a few days throughout the national territory and some sites have equipped themselves with a chain of stores that they use as a drop-off point for even faster deliveries.
It’s impossible not to mention the apps: the biggest services on the market also have proprietary apps that allow customers to make the whole transition from photography itself to de facto mobile printing, with a very intuitive and simple design. A valuable possibility for those who are now more familiar with the smartphone than with the computer.
To all this is added a customer service system, usually consisting of a chat part and a switchboard to answer any questions.
The choice of which system to use to print photos has several variables, but DIY online photo printing has been proposed as a valid alternative, especially for those who are already used to handling computers and smartphones.
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