Tech Tip Overdue

When I started this blog my intent was to post some computer tips, so I could refer to the posts when folks asked me for help. Over the last few months, the content has drifted to more personal posts, humor and political notes, so I felt it is time to add some more educational content for the technology challenged readers who happen by.

In January I posted my love for Picasa, the best way to deal with loads of digital images, and since then I found a great way to get your digital pictures on to paper for cheap. My brother turned me on to Wal-Mart's photo center online. Certainly another similar service exists, but since there is a Wal-Mart in most communities, this tip should be nationally useful.

By making any edits using Picasa, red-eye can be removed, unwanted relatives cropped out, and images rotated as needed in short order. When finished, using the EXPORT button, I send them to a new folder. For prints, be sure not to reduce the image size. Once you have the images you want to order prints for, exported with all your touch-ups, you just need to login to the Wal-Mart photo center, go to the "Add or Claim Photos" page, and when you click on the add photos link, a neato applet allows you to drag & drop your photos from your exported folder to the photo center page creating an online album. When you order prints from this online album you have several choices in size and delivery. You can save money by having them produced and delivered to a nearby store, usually withing 3-4 days, or have them ready to pick up in as little as an hour at your local store. Alternately, you can pay for shipping and have your photos send directly to your home, and several delivery options exist. What I found the most useful, is when selecting in-store 1-hour pick-up, I can choose any store, and have my photos pre-paid and ready for pick up in another state where my friends and family reside. This is a great way to share pictures over a distance, most of your relatives who are too cheap to own a computer or print the pictures you email them, are sure to shop at Wal-Mart.

Here are some points to remember when ordering or even printing your own digital photos:

• Use the highest quality setting on your camera when you want prints
• Avoid printing photos that have been emailed, unless you are certain they are the original size and quality. Some email programs reduce quality to speed delivery.
• Keep in mind, cropped photos will have reduced quality proportional to the amount of image you remove, print these in smaller sizes for better results.
• Similar to above, photos you edit brightness or contrast may not have the quality you will achive if you took the original photo with proper lighting.

Have fun and send me some pictures, my local Wal-Mart would be store #1920!