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What does this service do for me?
Bay PHOTO WIRE internet print service allows you
to have digital images from your digital camera
or scanner printed on traditional Photographic paper. The paper we use
is the same high qualiy photographic paper that you regular 35mm photos
are printed on. And, you can order your prints from your home computer
with easy to use software that guides you through the process.
What kind of software do I need to access this Service?
On this web site, you can download the free BAY PHOTO WIRE application. Once you install this roughly 1.4 MB file, you will be lead through an easy, intuitive process (WIZARD technology) to first select and then prepare the images you want printed. Once you have selected the images and chosen the prints you want, your PC will connect to our secure server and upload your images to our digital print center. Check out the online DEMO to get a better idea of how the process works.
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What kind of
picture can I upload?
In the current release of the software we support JPEG
format.
Please keep in mind that not every digital image you may have
on your computer will yield a good quality print. There may be problems
with resolution or file size that limit the level of quality that is
possible. The BAY PHOTO WIRE application will alert you with a warning
each time it may detect a possible deficiency in your picture.
What should I do to prepare images?
The main thing is that images you upload should have a sufficient number of pixels and color depth. The number of pixels in a digital image is the primary factor that determines the final quality once it is printed.
Number of pixels: this is generally called resolution. The first generation of digital cameras, which are no longer on the market, had a resolution of 320 x 200. Photos taken with such cameras are great for WEB usage and other on screen viewing, but they are not adequate for printing on real photographic paper.
In order to produce a satisfactory photographic print, your digital photo should have a resolution of at least 600 x 400 in its original size (the size captured by the camera). You should also remember that standard 35mm photographic film format has a specific aspect ratio of 24 x 36, which corresponds to a width of 3 for an height of 2. In the PC world, the aspect ratio of the rectangle is slightly different. This is due to the fact the computer monitors and digital cameras have a different aspect ratio than prints. This produces a difficulty when printing a computer based image to traditional photographic print size such as 4x6. Therefore, the BAY PHOTO WIRE application enables you to crop to a 2 x 3 ratio. If you select "Crop", you will be able get a print without any borders.
A 600 x 400 image has just enough resolution to print a 4" x 6" photo. Prints larger than that will show some deterioration in quality, usually apparant as a softening of the detail or pixelization. When in doubt, you should set your camera's image size to at least a medium size setting. If it's an image you know you will want to print large, then set it to the highest size/quality setting. Check our Resolution Guide for more information.
The BAY PHOTO WIRE application will warn you if you try to send an image that does not have enough resolution. You can bypass the warning and upload a low-res image anyway, but the result will be a poor quality print in most cases.
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How can I upload images from my Digital Camera?
Your digital camera is supplied with software and connection cables that allow you to transfer the photos from the the camera to your computer. Refer to your camer's manual for instructions on how to download images to your computer.
Can I print scanned images?
A scanner can be an excellent way to digitize your images. The only thing you should keep in mind is to scan with enough resolution to yield a good quality print. You should be careful, however, not to send in a scan with too much resolution. A file that is too large will take too much time to upload. A good rule of thumb is to try to scan a file with a resolution between 800 x 600 and 1024 x 768 for standard size prints. This will give you a trade-off between quality, disk space and modem transmission time. Select TIFF Color 24 bit or JPEG as the file format to save the scanned image as.
If you are sending in an image that you have previously scanned for a larger print size, you can create a copy of the image with your image editing software and then size it down to be just the right size for the new prints that you want. make sure that you save it agin in the JPEG format. Refer to the Resolution Guide for more info.
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Can I print Grayscale
images (Black & White)?
Yes, grayscale images are acceptable. But keep in mind that although the image itself may be black and white, it is being printed on traditional Color Paper. Since the paper has color dyes in its emulsion, it is often difficult to preserve a true neutral gray and the resulting print from a grayscale image may have a trace of a color cast to it, usually a slight sepia tone color.
Are GIF files good enough to be printed?
Due to its limited color palette and good image compression, the GIF file format is widely used for certain types of graphics on the Web. The main limitation for images that will be printed onto photo paper, however, is that GIF images are limited to a maximum of 256 colors. This makes them unsuitable for the subtle tones and gradations that are found in continuos tone photographic images.
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What Print size and Print finishing option can I select?
The BAY PHOTO WIRE application let you select the number of prints, the size and the paper surface.
What is the average time needed to upload an order?
Several factors will determine how long it takes your images to upload. The modem speed you are using, the quality of your internet connection, the level of "traffic" on the internet at the time you are uploading, and the file size and quantity of the images you are sending are all elements that figure in the length of time it will take to send us your order.
Although it is difficult to tell you exactly how much time the upload will take, here are some results we have achieved in "normal conditions":
A 640 x 480 picture of size 41K with a 14,400 baud connection took 28 seconds
A 640 x 480 picture of size 41K with a 28,800 baud connection took 14 seconds
A 858 x 614 picture of size 61K with a 14,400 baud connection took 42 seconds
A 858 x 614 picture of size 61K with a 28,800 baud connection took 21 seconds
A 1536 x 1024 picture of size 161K with a 14,400 baud connection took 1 minute 52 seconds
A 1536 x 1024 picture of size 161K with a 28,800 baud connection took 56 seconds
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