Rather than boxes and boxes of unlabeled and unsorted photos, so many of us are ending up with a computer full of image files with mystery names like Picture 082. Or perhaps you are one step ahead and all these photos are on discs with Summer Vacation 2008 sharpied on them.

This is great! but there is one problem isn’t there? You don’t actually look at anything on the discs ever again.

To deal with this problem, I still get my pictures printed out and placed into albums. I will flip through my albums. I won’t start up a random slide show on my computer.

Instead of wrestling with photo paper, ink, paper cutters, and color printers, I use the online services. You just upload your files, and they mail the set to you when the photos are ready.

I find the online services helpful because:

1. I don’t have to buy, maintain, and store all the photography equipment in my home.
2. I don’t feel guilty that I’m not printing out pictures because everything I need is right there.
3. Since every print costs money, it forces me to really think about which images I want to have represent my experience.
4. Once I go through that decision making process, I know the rest are inferior and can be deleted.

Voila! Less clutter on my desk. Less clutter in my computer. I have physical prints that I actually look at and can share with others. I am not keeping things for which I have no need and will never use.

Of course now, you have to get those prints labeled and into an album. :) I think that’s a topic for another day.

In my experience, Snapfish gives me top-notch quality for the lowest price. Are there other recommendations out there?