There are a variety of ways to get photo-quality prints from your digital images. You can make them yourself with a printer at home, or have a photo finisher do the work for you.
Many camera stores offer photo finishing from digital images. Simply take in your memory card, order the prints, and pick them up the next day. This service is now available in most drugstore chains, too—instead of dropping off a roll of film while running your errands, you leave them your memory card instead.
You can also order prints through online services such as Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com). You have to upload your pictures via the Internet to their facilities; they send you your prints back through the mail. If you don't want to wait for the postal service, you can still place your print order via the Internet, then go directly to the camera shop or drugstore to pick up your prints, usually within 24 hours.
Printing at home has also become easier and more enjoyable, because when camera companies realized that it was a lot easier taking pictures than printing them, they began to take steps to overcome the printing hurdles. Today's inkjet printers are great for photo work, thanks to custom paper trays, memory card slots, PictBridge compatibility, and sometimes even LCD screens for previewing images. Now you can bypass the computer altogether to produce snapshots and enlargements. This technique is called direct printing.
There are two common ways to direct print now, and a third is evolving. The first method is to connect your camera to the printer via its USB cable. Both camera and printer must have either Direct Print or PictBridge capability, but these technologies are built into nearly every camera and printer sold today. After you connect the two devices, you view the images on your camera's LCD monitor. When you find one you want to print, set up the job via the menu options on your camera and hit "print," and within minutes you'll have transformed a digital image into a beautiful snapshot.
Some printers include memory card slots, enabling you to remove the camera from the equation altogether. This method isn't as easy to use as the camera-to-printer connection, though, unless the printer also has an LCD monitor for previewing the pictures and setting up the jobs.
The third method of direct printing doesn't require a USB cable for the camera and printer to communicate. Instead, the print jobs are set up and transferred wirelessly, via either Bluetooth or WiFi (802.11). This method isn't as common yet, but it has great potential, especially for those who have a hard time keeping track of USB cables.
When shopping for photo printers, take a look at a popular alternative called dye-sublimation thermal printers, often simply referred to as dye-sub printers. Instead of spraying ink onto the paper as inkjet printers do, dye-subs use heat to apply dyes to the printing surface. The advantage of this system is that the prints are more robust and more resistant to water damage and fading over time. Many manufacturers tout 100-year lifetimes for their dye-sub prints.
This durability is further enhanced by a protective overcoating that's applied at the end of the printing process, so not only will the prints last longer than their inkjet counterparts, but they're also protected from fingerprints. If little Johnny puts his sticky thumb on your dye-sub print, you can just wipe off the smudge.
The most popular dye-sub printers are the compact models that produce 4" x 6" snapshots. They're not much bigger than the cameras they connect to, often have their own batteries for portability, and print fantastic-looking snapshots. Now you can take your printer, as well as your camera, on vacation.