And so as the holiday season draws to a close, only one question remains - what in the world are you going to do with all those digital pictures currently resident on your shiny new camera?
Many people will have taken or intend to take a digital camera away with them for the first time this year, and once you're through editing and gawping at the pictures on your screen, the inevitable question is how you make the best use of them afterwards.
Initially your reaction is bound to be "print them out", but it can be worth taking a step back from this - you no longer need to print out your snaps to show them around. If your nearest and dearest have a computer without an internet connection then, unless it's an ancient system, it'll have a CD-Rom with it. All of the major digital camera manufacturers issue software that will turn your pics into an album viewable by people without any need for extra software on their system, so it's an option worth noting if your computer has a CD writer.
Failing that, there is the option from Fujifilm and others to put together a web-based album. You can then share them with people by send ing them a password, so that they can have a look at them online. There's usually a small cost associated with this and you will need to register your details, but it's not a major hassle. Naturally, if you don't mind who sees your pics you can opt to put them on to any web space to which you have access, although the camera specialists are the ones who can put them into an organised, easily-viewable album.
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, few people will want to log on to a website to see your pics, or look at them on a screen. It will take an extreme cultural change before people want to do anything with holiday snaps except look at them on paper. It's a social thing; people like passing them around and spilling tea on them. Paper is the only answer here, but even then there are options.
For example, Jessops, Boots, Fotobox, Truprint and Foto First will happily take the memory card from your camera - or your CD or floppy disk - and get prints done for you, delivered to your home at around 25p per 6x4 print, which compares reasonably with standard photo printing. Or, if you have a digital camera from one of the companies offering the service, you can use something like the Canon Image Gateway to send your pictures over the internet and have paper copies delivered to you at home. Payment is by credit card, and the company is looking at adding T-shirt, jigsaw puzzle and mousemat options as well as plain paper print. Paper prints, the only option available at the moment, take two working days to come through.
If you're less patient, the other option is to print them yourself. Most colour bubblejet printers will print photographs without much fuss but inevitably the cheaper ones can make pictures look smudgy. The first thing to look for is the paper on which you're printing. Printer manufacturers as well as photography specialists like Kodak sell different grades of photo paper; glossy or premium, and matt for greetings cards. It's essential to open up the "properties" box for your printer when you're printing. Most will allow you to select the sort of paper you're going to use, and to get a decent result you need to get this right.
People who have yet to buy a printer for their system, or who are thinking of upgrading, might want to consider opting for a photo printer rather than any other sort. As the name suggests, these are aimed at printing pictures rather than text, and the quality and speed goes up since they are designed for the purpose. Prices start under £100, but clearly only the individual can decide whether a second printer for pictures is an extravagance or a necessity.
Many dedicated photo printers will take the memory card from a digital camera (but frequently with the exception of proprietary technology such as Sony's Memory Stick) so there will be no need to start the computer every time you want to print a photograph.
Another option, but only if you're going to do a lot of printing, is a photo printer such as the new Fujifilm CX-400. Its cost of £399.99 is alarming until you appreciate that the pigment is included in the paper, so there are no toner cartridges to replace. It will require heavy duty use to make this economical, but the quality is comparable to laboratory processing. And it's a nice looking toy.
