Ease of Use - Ordering Process:  

ClarkColor Labs uses the same simple step-by-step interface as Snapfish and York Photo. The design is intuitive and even the most novice computer user can upload and order prints from ClarkColor.

You can upload your photos in a variety of ways including choosing one-by-one from your desktop, you can upload multiple images by downloading Clark’s easy uploader, or you can download Clark’s PhotoShow Express, an external desktop application that helps you manage and organize your photos while offline.

We also like that ClarkColor suggested we adjust our print size from the standard 4x6 to a more digital camera friendly 4x5.3. In the end, it minimized cropping.

Quality of Prints:  

We sent the following three digital photos to each printing service in this review. As a whole, we did not feel that one company in our review merited a perfect score; however, our top three came close. The prints developed by ClarkColor are almost identical to the #1 and #2 services.  These prints are well done and the average user would have minimal criticisms.

• Sunset: We were pleased with the sunset photo that Clark produced. On its own, it looks great; it’s only when you compare it to the results of some other services, that you see minor imperfections. We felt the red and yellow hues looked great in the background, but one of the models seemed just a tad dark. Click here to see a comparison.

• Black and White: Across the board, the differences in quality varied most in the black and white photo sample. Like York and Snapfish, ClarkColor’s black and white photo came with just a bit more yellow undertone than we would have liked. However, the image was not quite sepia.Click here to see a comparison.

• Aerial: ClarkColor managed to clean up our foggy aerial shot well. Of the three photos, we felt this print was the best. However, there is a slight amount of yellowing on the buildings. Click here to see a comparison.

Note: To compare quality, we took each set of prints received from the online photo developer and laid them down, side-by-side next to each other to compare quality.

Pricing:  

ClarkColor has the same great pricing as York Photo. The standard per print price is unbeatable and they also offer great prices on other print sizes. We like that ClarkColor offers volume print discounts and their optional index CD is only $2.99.

Service and Site Features:  

When it comes to special service features, there isn’t anything particularly special about ClarkColor. However, they offer all the services you’d expect to see from a good printing service.

Some of the fancier features offered by Clark include free hi-res downloads and group rooms. The hi-res downloads are great if you want to set one of your photos as wallpaper or upload it to a personal website. You can download up to 50 photos in one sitting. The group rooms are a space hosted by ClarkColor that act as a place where multiple people from various accounts can upload their albums to share. These group rooms are great for those with friends and family living far apart.

ClarkColor’s free photo organizer, PhotoShow Express, is a small application that you can download to your desktop and manage your photos and albums without going online. The application integrates directly into Clark’s website and when you sign in to your account, you can immediately upload your new photos and albums.  Using PhotoShow, you can transfer pictures directly from your camera, do a small amount of editing, create slideshows and more.

ClarkColor also offers a nice selection of creative, photo-based gifts to choose from. These gifts range from t-shirts to tote bags, baby bibs to greeting cards and more.

Clark does not offer the option to pickup up your prints at a local store or upload your images to their website with a camera phone.

Shipping Costs/ Turnaround Time:  

There were only 4 days from the date we ordered to the date they landed in our mailbox. This is an adequate amount of time and within their 3-5 day estimate. The only thing that put Clark in our third place position is that York had our prints delivered in 3 days.

Our prints arrived in a paper shipping sleeve with a lightweight piece of cardboard reinforcement in a paper envelope. We were charged $.99 for shipping and handling. The actual cost to ship these photos was $.97. This only left $.02 for handling.

ClarkColor’s Shipping charges do increase with the number prints you order and they are tiered depending on volume. For example, they will charge an additional $.49 for every additional 10 prints you order, up to 195 prints.

In the past, we did have some delivery problems with ClarkColor. Our pictures were lost in the mail and we could only contact ClarkColor through email. They do not provide a phone contact.

ClarkColor.com is a competitively priced, easy-to-use service that is nearly identical to the #2 service and very similar to the #1 service. The photos we ordered through Clark came out well and overall, they have a solid service. However, we would like to see Clark offer a few additional features including in-store pickup.