ClubPhoto: nice online albums, but prints could be improved
Written: Apr 26 '00 (Updated Apr 27 '00)
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In a nutshell, ClubPhoto offers terrific flexibility in customizing online photo albums, and it provides an extensive variety of photo gifts. On the other hand, its print services are hard to use and the print quality is nothing to get excited about.
This review roughly follows the same format as my Ofoto review for easier comparison between the two. You can find it at
http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-7C8B-CC248F2-38E94B21-prod3.
My test task
As with my research on Ofoto, the test assignment was this: 1) upload 12 photos into an online album, and 2) order one 4x6 print of each photo in the album.
Disclaimer: The ClubPhoto functionality described below is accurate as of 4/26/00. Things may change by the time you read this!
Uploading/editing pictures -- good
ClubPhoto lets you:
• Upload one picture at a time through their Web interface.
• Upload multiple pictures through their free "Living Album" software (see the next section of this review).
• Use unlimited ClubPhoto web space.
ClubPhoto doesn’t let you:
• Upload multiple pictures at a time through their Web interface. (Ofoto does.) In other words, you must download their “Living Album” software to download multiple files at one time.
Creating/customizing albums -- excellent
The key to a successful album creation experience with ClubPhoto is to use their free “Living Album” software. This program essentially lets you format your album on your computer; when you have it exactly the way you want it, you simply upload the entire album, formatting and all, to ClubPhoto’s web site.
“Living Album” lets you:
• Edit, add, delete, and rearrange photos in the album.
• Customize the thumbnails page. This includes specifying how big you want the thumbnails, background color, fonts, whether you want the thumbnails framed, and alignment.
• Customize each photo’s page. This includes setting the size of each photo.
• Link sound and video files to photos.
Once you upload the album to the ClubPhoto web site, you can:
• Password-protect an album.
• Customize your own personal ClubPhoto “home page,” which lists all your albums for easy reference. It’s very much like an Epinions member profile page – you can add a photo, tell a little bit about yourself, include an email address so others can contact you, etc.
Sharing albums -- excellent
To share your album with family and friends, simply click on “Invite Others to View Album.” The email will contain the URL that links to your photo album. You can even send a photo from your album in the email!
ClubPhoto doesn’t let you:
• Keep an address book of people you frequently notify. (Ofoto does.)
• Know when someone's viewed your album. (Ofoto does.)
Viewing albums -- very good
When someone views your photo album, they can:
• Run an automatic slideshow, or manually view each photo.
• Sign an album guestbook.
• Invite others to view the album.
Ordering prints -- poor
This was a painful, arduous task. Remember, I wanted to order 1 4x6 print of each photo in a 12-photo album. At Ofoto, it’s a breeze -- all the photos are shown on a single page, and you simply click “Select All”, and then click “Add Checked Items to Cart.” That’s it!
I could not for the life of me figure out how to do that at ClubPhoto, and I ended up going through a multiple-page, multiple-click process for each print I wanted to order.. Did ClubPhoto not imagine that customers would want to order prints for an entire album, like you would when you get a regular roll of film developed? I was completely dumfounded by this glaring usability problem.
• Sizes offered: 3x5 (45¢),4x6 (45¢), 5x7 ($1.49), 8x10 ($4.49).
• Delivery charge: $1.95 per order.
• Express delivery offered: None. (Ofoto offers FedEx 2day and FedEx overnight.)
• Warning if picture resolution is too low for the size of the print you want? Yes.
• Can you check your order status online? No. (Ofoto lets you do this.)
Receiving prints -- poor
• How long it took for delivery: an astounding 18 days – totally unacceptable! Order submitted 3/28; prints received 4/15. (Ofoto delivered in six days.)
• My photos arrived in an envelope with no cardboard reinforcement, and no “Do not bend” label. The envelope was easily bendable – not good.
• Besides the prints, the package included a very cheesy 4-page low-quality black and white printout of my photos. It didn’t include a full-color index sheet like Ofoto did.
Print quality -- fair
The ClubPhoto prints simply couldn’t compare to the Ofoto prints:
• The ClubPhoto prints had slightly washed-out color; the Ofoto prints were more vibrant.
• Some of the ClubPhoto prints were just a little fuzzy; the Ofoto prints were razor-sharp.
• Some of the ClubPhoto prints exhibited an unnatural blue-ish tinge.
Variety of other photo products available -- very good
Besides prints, you can imprint photos on:
• Mugs, plates, posters, tshirts, mousepads, jewelry, electronic greeting cards, and even cookies and chocolate!
Guarantee -- excellent
ClubPhoto’s guarantee states: “If you are not satisfied with an order for any reason, Club Photo will return your money or exchange the product.”
Free offers -- fair
• You can receive a free 30-minute long distance phone card if you provide your email address to itarget, an email marketing company (and partner of ClubPhoto). I couldn’t find any freebies directly related to photos.
Customer support -- fair
• Almost two weeks after I placed my order, I emailed ClubPhoto Customer Support to inquire on why I hadn’t received my prints yet (they state that delivery usually takes 7-10 working days). They responded with “The delay is due to missing
shipping information we have for your order.” Hmmm. They require an email address to register at their web site; couldn’t they have emailed me sooner to ask for the missing information?
Overall rating -- very good for photo sharing, poor for photo printing
• Would I use ClubPhoto for prints? Absolutely not! It’s terribly difficult ordering more than one print at a time, my order was ineptly handled, the packaging is flimsy, and the color quality is unrealistically on the blue-ish side.
• Would I use ClubPhoto for photo sharing? Yes – it provides nice customization options, including a personalized album list page.
As I said in my Ofoto review, I would be their exclusive customer if only they would remove their registration requirement for viewing albums. Until that happens, I will have to spend my time between two sites – Ofoto for superior prints, and ClubPhoto for customizable online albums.
Update -- 4/27/00
I've been notified by ClubPhoto Customer Support that they plan to improve their multi-image procedures soon; good news!
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See my test photo album!
• Go to http://members3.clubphoto.com/j230881/ and click on “12 Photo Test.”
• These pictures were taken with a Kodak DC-215 camera (see separate review), at highest resolution (1152x864), all except for the picture titled "Low-res," which was snapped at 640x480 resolution. No retouching was done.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
tanster
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Location: Palo Alto, CA
Reviews written: 111
Trusted by: 331 members
About Me:
Happily reviewing cool gadgets and SF Bay Area restaurants since 1999. Pass the gravy, please.
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