Proper Old Photographs the Digital Way
Releasing digital photographs from their monitor prison

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I have spent the last week or so painstakingly going through all my lovely old junk and clutter with the intention of 'streamlining' my living space and generally freeing up all manner of hitherto groaning shelves and storage areas. I have found however, that my good intentions have regularly been ambushed by the accidental rediscovery of faded and tattered old photo albums, and many an hour set aside for untangling coat hangers or squashing down cardboard boxes has instead been spent in bittersweet reverie, laughing at old haircuts and staring aghast at fashion crimes too horrible to go into here.

In one of these agreeable bouts of nostalgia the thought struck me, that with the rise of digital media and the prevalence of pixelated photography, this very pleasant way of avoiding important tasks could soon be lost forever. So it was with no little interest that I spotted an intriguing offer from Jessops.com recently. Having signed up with Jessops due to a vague interest in purchasing a camera, I was sent an email promising that if I uploaded digital snapshots to Jessops Online they would waste no time in printing them out for me in a large, high-quality format and send them to me, directly to my door, for the princely sum of 1p per print and 99p for delivery! What's more, if I arranged to pick them up myself from a Jessops branch, then the service would become entirely free. It all seemed too good to be true, but needless to say, I shot off a batch of my finest digital efforts anyway.

What came back to me a few days later truly surprised me. The prints were of superb quality, with none of that minor blockiness or pixelation that you see sometimes with other, more slapdash, digital printing services. No, these were high-definition, wonderfully glossy, proper old photographs with a look and feel almost indistinguishable from film prints. In fact, when I showed these pictures to friends and family, most assumed they were prints from film.

I have been a digital photo devotee for several years now, and although I have been happy with photo sharing websites such as Flickr.com, I have steered well clear of Internet photo printing services, after several failed attempts involving long uploads, low quality prints and overpriced delivery rates. With Jessops, however, the service could not be simpler or better value. After a quick registration on Jessops.com, you are transferred onto a partner site SnapFish.com, where you can upload as many photos as you want through a simple uploading tool on their web page. You can then organise your photos into an album, and choose whether you want to print all your photos, just selected ones, in what format and how many times. With a quick click your cards are ordered. You can also choose whether to pick them up - at no cost, within two days, or whether to have them delivered straight to your door, within 2 - 4 days, at 99p. What's more, the photos you have uploaded stay on the site for you to share with whomever you want, and reprint at a later date if you wish.

In short, it's a digital photographer's idea of heaven. And that's even before you have tried any of the more 'advanced' features such as poster prints, puzzles and T-shirts emblazoned with your favorite picture. In addition the Jessops site is stuffed full of other offers; £20 off your first purchase - with further discounts rising in relation to the mount you spend. And of course the huge range of cameras and accessories you'd expect from the nation's number one photographic retailer.

The knowledge, commitment and passion for photography that Jessops are famed for in a retail environment has translated brilliantly to the online environment. The site is a treasure trove for those who love photography. And even if, like me, you have shied away from digital prints online, this is the place to go to be converted. The site is simple to navigate, easy to upload to, quick to react and follows up with confirmations via email in case your memory is worse than focusing ability. We at OnlineReview can't recommend it enough.