Keeping your memories alive (photobox.co.uk)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	photobox.co.uk
Date:	01/09/09 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy to use

Disadvantages: loads to choose from

Since the majority of people got digital camera including myself, I have found that there are so many pictures stored on my hard drive rather than in albums in my house. This is great because can take so many more pictures and delete the ones that are blurred but what happens if you don't take a backup of your pictures and lose them all? That would be awful (I have got a backup). I also find that there aren't many around the house as I never get around to printing them off.

Photo box is one of the many of photo developing sites. They offer lots of services from printing basic photos, to adding your photos onto gifts such as mugs, tee shirts, calendars and many more.
To start when you are a new user to the website you will be offered some free print credits to hook you onto their services and see the quality of their work. I would recommend everyone does this to all the sites out there as it's a great way to get some nearly free pictures printed.

** The website **
The site has just had a revamp and looks nice and stylish. There are samples of gifts you can buy on the homepage as well as a mine field of information about what the site offers.
Whilst there is a lot of information staring at you, there are clear tabs to make the navigation easier to get around the site. Despite the load of graphics ever changing to lure you in, I have never found the site to be slowed down too much.

** Signing up **

To be able to actually upload your photos and order them you'll have to create an account. This is the basics of what you would expect from any site and needs your name, address and email address. You don't have to add any bank details at this point which is good, despite the secure warnings; I don't like to leave my details sitting in someone else's server. I prefer to enter them when needed.
You will receive a confirmation email from the site when you sign up but you don't need to activate this to actually place an order.

** Uploading your photos **

First things first would be to upload some photos. You are given unlimited space to upload your photos ready for printing. If you want to leave your photos in the online album and go over your limit which varies depending on how many times you order.
When you start you are given 250mb of storage space and every time you order they give you an extra 50mb of space so you should always have enough to do what you want.

Uploading can be done in a couple of ways. You are asked to download the file to manage your uploads in a fast way, but if you don't want to follow this programme then you can upload your photos one by one from your pc. Personally I chose to download the programme to sync with my PC as it makes the process a lot faster.
Obviously when you are uploading a lot of photos at one time then you may be waiting a while, but it's easy to view your photos and then choose which you want to upload by highlighting before dragging and dropping into the upload box.

Once uploaded you can view your pictures, sort them into different folders which can be viewed at a later date, or add them to your basket for printing.

** Ordering **

As I mentioned you can get some free prints with your first order. This is currently 40 free 6 x 4 prints which is a great bargain. You only have to pay the postage of £1.49.
Free print credits can also be gained when you refer a friend.

To order what you want, you select you photos and choose the order option. A pop up box will appear and you can choose your size. There are many different sizes which range from the standard 6 x 4 / 7 x 5 through to more personal sizes such as square prints of 8x8 and 12x12 which a lot of people may use for photo scrapbooking albums.

The pricing structure for all the prints are standard to other sites as I have compared them quite a lot over the months when looking for some prices.
A 6x4 print will cost you 10p per print for any amount ordered fewer than 149, and then it gets cheaper the more you buy. I find 10p is a pretty average figure for a print and doesn't work out too expensive when you take into account you can crop, present and get rid of any photos you don't want before you actually print. Something you could never do with an old camera sent off for developing.

Once you've decided what you want and the sizes, you can then choose how you want to pay. I like the fact this site can take payment by PayPal which enables me to use any funds I have from EBay sales, but there is also the fact that I don't have to put my card details in.
You also have the option of paying by all the major cards.

** Delivery **

I have always found the delivery time scale to be a quick turnaround. The site promises to dispatch on the same day with orders placed up to 4pm. I placed an order on Saturday lunch time and I received the email to let me know it had been dispatched by 3pm. I was impressed at this as wasn't sure they would operate on the weekend.
My orders have always been delivered to me by first class post in thick board backed envelopes or tubes to prevent damage to the photos.

** Variety **

You can order almost anything you can think of that a photo can be added to from Photo box including etching onto glass, poster prints, collages, photo books, aprons, jigsaws etc.
The prices obviously reflect the work involved, but last year I paid £10.99 for a photo diary, and got a fabulous offer of BOGOF which was even better.
I have ordered so many different things from the site over the years and have always been happy with the quality and product. Any problems you can email the site for returns, but I have never had to do this.
It's worth looking here if you are stuck for a gift for someone. There are also some offer codes floating around as well which makes it even better.

** Overall **

My experiences have always been great from Photo box and they are my developer of choice now. I am making a scrapbook of my daughter's lives. Collaging the photos together on my PC and then uploading them to be printed on an 8x8 page. These look lovely when they are delivered on glossy paper and much better than I can get out of my printer at home.
My orders have always been delivered quickly and well packaged so I can't recommend them highly enough.

Summary: a great way to get your photos printed.