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[B][U]snapfish Digital Photo Gifts[/U][/B]This year and the last, I’ve moved away from the normal Christmas gifts of DVD’s games, and chocolate, and tried out photo personalisation gifts from snapfish, with their basic concept of “put your photos on stuff” business model.
I first came across snapfish early last year, (then branded as “Jessops Picture House”) and found the products on offer to be some-what limited, but eye-catching, and so ordered some, and was impressed enough to make another stop-over for Christmas presents this year. Since last year, they’ve expanded the selection range, improved the overall service, and seems to work fine within alternative web browsers too, whereas last year using Firefox seemed to be a no-no.
They do also offer the standard photo printing service, and the prints they produce come out very nicely.
Photo uploading and hosting!
To add your photo on to your chosen products, you’ve got to upload them to the snapfish servers first. They include “QuickUpload”, which is a small application that snapfish have put together that supposedly makes uploading photos easier, but I’ve always gone with the old-fashioned “select one and upload” method that’s included within web browsers, that lets you select up to 12 at a time, and that seems to work fine for me, as someone who’s a light user of the service.
Photos that you upload for prints / gifts are then easily selectable, and are also made available online for others to view, if you so wish. This allows for easy photo sharing with friends and family, as well as doubling up as a convenient back-up storage facility, should anything happen to your local copy of your digital photos. You can also send photos to phones, though I’ve yet to find a need to try this.
It does seem that others will need to be a member of snapfish to view your photos online, but considering that such photos may be personal, that’s probably a good thing, though the option of allowing all to view would have been handy.
Photo gift creation!
Aside from standard photo prints, the current selection of products available include:
“Mugs”.
“Coasters”.
“Puzzles”.
“Calendars”.
“Greetings Cards”.
“T-Shirts”.
… amongst other things. I’ve bought a “Calendar”, “Mugs”, and a “Puzzle” both this year and the last, as well as a couple of “Coaster” sets in the middle of the previous year, and all of which have been positively received by the people I’ve given them too.
The process of creating your chosen photo gift does vary from each product, but the general function is to select a photo, and crop / resize where required. Some items require higher resolution photos than others, and you’ll be informed of this is a photo doesn’t qualify.
Most items like a “Coaster”, “Mug”, or “Magnet”, required the basic “photo select and crop”, while creating a “Calendar” or “Photo Book” is a little more drawn out, requiring many photo selections.
Other items take a little more time and thought. For example, creating a calendar allows you to pick a theme and add a cover, then select a photo layout for each month, adding either one, two or three photos per page - with added caption, and a small box for each day of the month that can have it’s own photo and caption added, such as for birthdays, anniversaries, and so forth. Creating a photo book is a similar undertaking.
Also ensure that if you’re selecting an item that requires a little time to put together, to make use of the “save” option as you go, just in case.
Finished product!
When receiving the goods in the post, I’ve always been impressed with the results.
The mugs are pretty basic, (and by that, I mean it is just a photo on a mug), but they last, and the newer ones this year cover the whole mug, and even show / hide the photo when the mug is filled with hot water, which I like (maybe I’m just easily pleased?).
The puzzle is also pretty basic, in the same way that it’s just a photo that’s been cut up, but it was enjoyable for the person receiving it last year (and hopefully this year also) and has lasted.
The calendar has impressed me the most though. The months are printed on card, to allow you to write on, while the main photos are laminated with very clear photo finishes, which I’m very pleased with, especially considering the camera used for most of the photos is a 5-year-old 2 Mega-pixel model. With today’s camera phones and 8 mega-pixel offerings, the photo finish may be even clearer.
I’ve also found the delivery to be pretty quick, for example, I ordered a calendar last Saturday, and received it yesterday (Wednesday).
Christmas discounts!
As an added incentive, http://www.snapfish-xmas.co.uk/ list discounts that are made available on items up until Christmas. These seem to be on a 48-hour bases, before the current offer ends and the next begins.
To claim the available offer / discount, you simply key in the claim code provided on the page linked above, when paying for your order.
For example, today’s offer is free shipping for orders over £20, and ends at Midnight, while two days ago; they offered 50% off a canvas print (wish I’d spotted that one).
Overall rating!
Overall, I’d give the snapfish service an 8 / 10, or 85%, because it’s allowed me to give some gifts over the last couple of years that are different from the norm, and the 25% off duplicate product orders is a bonus, though not as likely to be used if you’re personalizing for individuals rather than a family. For example, 5 mugs with a single family photo on would be a duplicate, and be valid for the discount, compared to 5 mugs, each with a single person photo on, which wouldn’t.
The standard photo service is excellent too, though I find I have little use for it nowadays with an EPSON Stylus Photo R360, but its great if I ever need larger prints.
At times, the servers seem to stop working momentarily, which can be a little frustrating when your putting together a photo book or calendar, and at other times, seem to run slower than hoped, again becoming a little tiresome when working on a larger order, but it doesn’t happen too often, and I guess it’s down to the Christmas rush.
All in all though, a nice selection of items that can be personalised relatively easily, and the final products are, from what I’ve received, of a high standard. Of course you’re not limited to photos, and could just as easily upload and use scanned drawings from your kids, or Paint Shop Pro doodles – it’s all digital in the end.
PhotoBox!
And alternative service to snapfish is PhotoBox, who deal in the same type of products. They also currently offer Christmas specials, in the form of an advent calendar, with offers being available for the 1 day. For example, today’s offer from them is a buy one mug - get one free.
If you’re planning on getting a personalised photo gift, you should take a look at both sites to see which one offers the best product / price for you, as they don’t replicate the others offering exactly.
And if anybody uses any other photo gift services, I’d be keen to here about them too.
[B][U]snapfish Digital Photo Gifts[/U][/B]This year and the last, I’ve moved away from the normal Christmas gifts of DVD’s games, and chocolate, and tried out photo personalisation gifts from snapfish, with their basic concept of “put your photos on stuff” business model.
I first came across snapfish early last year, (then branded as “Jessops Picture House”) and found the products on offer to be some-what limited, but eye-catching, and so ordered some, and was impressed enough to make another stop-over for Christmas presents this year. Since last year, they’ve expanded the selection range, improved the overall service, and seems to work fine within alternative web browsers too, whereas last year using Firefox seemed to be a no-no.
They do also offer the standard photo printing service, and the prints they produce come out very nicely.
Photo uploading and hosting!
To add your photo on to your chosen products, you’ve got to upload them to the snapfish servers first. They include “QuickUpload”, which is a small application that snapfish have put together that supposedly makes uploading photos easier, but I’ve always gone with the old-fashioned “select one and upload” method that’s included within web browsers, that lets you select up to 12 at a time, and that seems to work fine for me, as someone who’s a light user of the service.
Photos that you upload for prints / gifts are then easily selectable, and are also made available online for others to view, if you so wish. This allows for easy photo sharing with friends and family, as well as doubling up as a convenient back-up storage facility, should anything happen to your local copy of your digital photos. You can also send photos to phones, though I’ve yet to find a need to try this.
It does seem that others will need to be a member of snapfish to view your photos online, but considering that such photos may be personal, that’s probably a good thing, though the option of allowing all to view would have been handy.
Photo gift creation!
Aside from standard photo prints, the current selection of products available include:
“Mugs”.
“Coasters”.
“Puzzles”.
“Calendars”.
“Greetings Cards”.
“T-Shirts”.
… amongst other things. I’ve bought a “Calendar”, “Mugs”, and a “Puzzle” both this year and the last, as well as a couple of “Coaster” sets in the middle of the previous year, and all of which have been positively received by the people I’ve given them too.
The process of creating your chosen photo gift does vary from each product, but the general function is to select a photo, and crop / resize where required. Some items require higher resolution photos than others, and you’ll be informed of this is a photo doesn’t qualify.
Most items like a “Coaster”, “Mug”, or “Magnet”, required the basic “photo select and crop”, while creating a “Calendar” or “Photo Book” is a little more drawn out, requiring many photo selections.
Other items take a little more time and thought. For example, creating a calendar allows you to pick a theme and add a cover, then select a photo layout for each month, adding either one, two or three photos per page - with added caption, and a small box for each day of the month that can have it’s own photo and caption added, such as for birthdays, anniversaries, and so forth. Creating a photo book is a similar undertaking.
Also ensure that if you’re selecting an item that requires a little time to put together, to make use of the “save” option as you go, just in case.
Finished product!
When receiving the goods in the post, I’ve always been impressed with the results.
The mugs are pretty basic, (and by that, I mean it is just a photo on a mug), but they last, and the newer ones this year cover the whole mug, and even show / hide the photo when the mug is filled with hot water, which I like (maybe I’m just easily pleased?).
The puzzle is also pretty basic, in the same way that it’s just a photo that’s been cut up, but it was enjoyable for the person receiving it last year (and hopefully this year also) and has lasted.
The calendar has impressed me the most though. The months are printed on card, to allow you to write on, while the main photos are laminated with very clear photo finishes, which I’m very pleased with, especially considering the camera used for most of the photos is a 5-year-old 2 Mega-pixel model. With today’s camera phones and 8 mega-pixel offerings, the photo finish may be even clearer.
I’ve also found the delivery to be pretty quick, for example, I ordered a calendar last Saturday, and received it yesterday (Wednesday).
Christmas discounts!
As an added incentive, http://www.snapfish-xmas.co.uk/ list discounts that are made available on items up until Christmas. These seem to be on a 48-hour bases, before the current offer ends and the next begins.
To claim the available offer / discount, you simply key in the claim code provided on the page linked above, when paying for your order.
For example, today’s offer is free shipping for orders over £20, and ends at Midnight, while two days ago; they offered 50% off a canvas print (wish I’d spotted that one).
Overall rating!
Overall, I’d give the snapfish service an 8 / 10, or 85%, because it’s allowed me to give some gifts over the last couple of years that are different from the norm, and the 25% off duplicate product orders is a bonus, though not as likely to be used if you’re personalizing for individuals rather than a family. For example, 5 mugs with a single family photo on would be a duplicate, and be valid for the discount, compared to 5 mugs, each with a single person photo on, which wouldn’t.
The standard photo service is excellent too, though I find I have little use for it nowadays with an EPSON Stylus Photo R360, but its great if I ever need larger prints.
At times, the servers seem to stop working momentarily, which can be a little frustrating when your putting together a photo book or calendar, and at other times, seem to run slower than hoped, again becoming a little tiresome when working on a larger order, but it doesn’t happen too often, and I guess it’s down to the Christmas rush.
All in all though, a nice selection of items that can be personalised relatively easily, and the final products are, from what I’ve received, of a high standard. Of course you’re not limited to photos, and could just as easily upload and use scanned drawings from your kids, or Paint Shop Pro doodles – it’s all digital in the end.
PhotoBox!
And alternative service to snapfish is PhotoBox, who deal in the same type of products. They also currently offer Christmas specials, in the form of an advent calendar, with offers being available for the 1 day. For example, today’s offer from them is a buy one mug - get one free.
If you’re planning on getting a personalised photo gift, you should take a look at both sites to see which one offers the best product / price for you, as they don’t replicate the others offering exactly.
And if anybody uses any other photo gift services, I’d be keen to here about them too.