The way the world is today, it is rare that you can be around everyone you care about at exactly the same time. People have to go where opportunity beckons, and we have become a highly mobile culture. Most extended families are extended geographically. Lately, fuel prices have gotten so high that it isn't always practical or even possible to visit everyone you want to see, when you want to see them. All you can do, really, is try to stay in touch. There are many ways of doing this, but one of the most interesting and delightful ways is by using digital photo printing to print photos and send to your friends and loved ones.

Do you have kids? If you do, everyone in your family is interested in not only knowing what your kids are up to, but also seeing pictures of your kids. Kids grow so fast, and your relatives and even your friends would love to see more of them but aren't likely tot get the chance. You could, by sending them a photo at fairly frequent intervals, give them the chance to experience a little bit of the progress your children are making on their path to adulthood.

There are many ways to send photos to people these days. The easier ones are electronically. In fact, you can email photos to people. In many ways this is the most convenient method of sending photos to friends or family is by simply using your email account. While this is easy it has disadvantages. For one thing, the files are quite large, and your friends and family might not really be thrilled at the notion of you clogging their account, regardless of how charming the content of the email. Another option is uploading your photos to one of the many fine online photo gallery websites. This has the distinct advantage of not clogging up the inboxes of your friends or family. However, it has the distinct disadvantage of only being available to them when a) their computer is on, b) they are connected to the Internet, and c) they follow the link in the email you send them and visit your gallery. Wouldn't it be better if they had something tangible?

Why not send them prints of the photos you want to send them? You can print them from your online gallery and they will send it straight to the recipient. The recipient then has a high quality photo print that they can keep forever. It's doubly advantageous for older relatives who may not be all that computer literate. High quality online galleries use top-quality, Kodak photo paper, just like the kind of paper used for printing enlargements from film negatives optically. Most services offer a variety of sizes to suit your printing needs. Once your photos are online, the better online gallery services offer online editing tools so that you can enhance your photos. From there, you can order prints in a variety of sizes, in either glossy or matte, with an easy online form. If you're in a hurry, many online galleries offer express shipping, directly to your friends or family.