The Southampton Press, November 3, 2005

Not Your Father's Kiosk Anymore

By Cheryl Machat Dorskind

Winter Sunset . I wanted to share this photograph with my friends and relatives in California so I uploaded it to an online service and e-mailed them the address to access it.

I WAS AT A PARTY THE OTHER NIGHT and the hostess's (film) camera, blinking multi-pulsating messages, refused to turn on: the tell-tale-sign of a dead battery. Luckily, I keep a point-and-shoot digital camera in my purse and she was able to capture the party's remaining moments. Promising her a CD of the pictures, I soon realized my friend, unfamiliar with digital photography, would find home inkjet prinking difficult and time consuming. I gave her the CD and suggested a local Kiosk or online service.

From drugstores to maternity wards, from convenience stores to cruise ships, Kiosks are found in ordinary and unusual places. Kiosk services vary from basic, no edit, push -button operations, to complete creative photo editing LABS including cropping, red eye reduction, b/w or sepia conversions, borders, and text options. The newer models support multiple media card slots including USB, SD, XD, Compact Flash, Memory Stick, and Smart Media. Typically, the touch
screens guide you through an easy and enjoyable process. The relative ease and hassle-free creativity of the kiosk can be a lot less frustrating than home printing. If there is a printing issue, it's not your problem, but rather the store's responsibility. The downside of a kiosk is you have to get up and go somewhere and hope the machine is working. In popular locations, you might have to wait on line. Some people are also nervous about the lack of privacy in printing on a public machine. I'm pretty sure the Kiosks do not keep a copy of your pictures, but you never know.

On-line services, which presently account for less than 10 percent of the digital printing market, are steadily growing in popularity. Although those with dial-up internet connections will find transferring large files long and cumbersome, if you have cable or DSL, you will be pleasantly surprised by this growing trend. The leading on-line services, kodakgallery.com, shutterfly.com, snapfish.com, webshots.com, and yahoophotos.com, offer free, easy to follow uploading options. Once the pictures are uploaded, you determine the size (from wallet to wall) of your print. Each service provides a variety of editing tools and typically offer an array of merchandising options including printing your photographs on coffee mugs, teddy bears, calendars, tote bags, aprons, jigsaw puzzles, etc. These make great gift ideas, but shop carefully, because prices vary considerably.

After you download your pictures, you are not obligated to print them. The on-line service will store them for you. You can print them at a later date, view them when you wish, or direct others to view them. (People can only see your prints with your permission.) I have received a number of e-mails directing me to Shutterfly about prints I might be interested in. My daughter's camp photos were available on Shutterfly and my husband ordered about 50 pictures last summer. Yahoo, MSN, and AOL will store your pictures on-line in a virtual scrap-book and your instant message partner can, with your permission, easily access them. Parents should carefully monitor their children's instant messenger activity. Talking to strangers is bad enough, allowing them access to your pictures can be extremely dangerous.

Some online providers offer mail-in processing for film users (you can mail in your exposed roll of film, and they will mail you back prints and the negative and post the pictures on the web.)

With the holiday season approaching, digital photo output offers many exciting gift solutions. Explore the local kiosk and try an online service; many offer free trial 4x6 inch prints.

By the way, my friend printed 30 of her best party pictures (for under $12.00) at a local kiosk.

©Cheryl Machat Dorskind, 2005, All rights reserved.
This article originally appeared in the Southampton Press (Eastern & Western edition), November 3, 2005. For permission to reproduce this article or any portion of its content,
contact: Cheryl@cherylmachatdorskind.com.