Ease of Use - Ordering Process:  

The ordering process for Winkflash is really very simple; just follow the steps and you're on your way. Also, to use this service, you will be instructed to download a program that will be used for uploading your images to their website.

We found that although Winkflash is easy to upload your images you are still required to take a few extra steps compared to many other photo printing services.

Quality of Prints:  

To test for quality, we sent the same digital photos to all of the online photo developers we reviewed. Winkflash fared well during the comparison process and as a stand-alone we would have been happy with the prints Winkflash developed.

• Sunset: Our sunset came out nice and there was just the right amount of red in the print to accentuate the rosy cheeks of our models. But we would have like to see Winkflash highlight and brighten the models just a bit against the background. Click here to see a comparison.

• Black and White: Winkflash avoided making our black and white photo too yellow like some other services. The photo felt like a true black and white image and didn’t favor one color of the spectrum over the other, but the picture did seem a little dark. Click here to see a comparison.

• Aerial: The aerial print Winkflash produced was almost perfect. They cleaned up the overcast in the sky, and unlike some other companies, there was no hint of yellow in the buildings. They managed to clean up the picture while still making it feel like London. Click here to see a comparison.

Note: To check quality, we took each set of prints received from the online photo developer and laid them down side-by-side for comparison.

Pricing:  

Winkflash’s prices are neck and neck with the competition. There price is comparable to the cheapest service we reviewed, there really isn't much to complain about in the pricing department. Additionally, compared to the other services we reviewed, they had the best price for 5x7 prints.

Service and Site Features:  

Winkflash services include the ability to upload photos from your camera phone, free album sharing and no account expiration. You can upload all your digital photos to Winkflash and never buy another thing from them, and they will never delete your albums. This is one of the few services we evaluated that truly had limitless online storage. One cute feature that Winkflash includes is the ability to print messages on the back of your pictures.

Before ordering your prints the service has a print quality meter that evaluates the quality of your photographs and determines which printing size your pictures are ideal for. For example, some pictures may be too dark or blurry and would become distorted in an 8 x 10, but would appear just fine as a 4 x 6. We also liked Winkflash’s uploader application, “The Transporter.” It was easy-to-use and it uploaded our images without any problems.

You can also download Winkflash’s free desktop photo manager that helps you keep all your photographs organized on your computer without signing online.

Although Winkflash offers photo gifts, their selection was not as extensive as some of the other services we reviewed. However, they do include the basics like calendars, mugs, mouse pads, t-shirts and more.

Shipping Costs/ Turnaround Time:  

Winkflash used to offer a great fixed shipping rate, but since our last review this feature has since been abandoned. However, they still have competitive shipping rates comparative to our top three services.

Shipping starts at $.89, and goes up with the number of prints you order.

Winkflash ships their photographs in a standard paper envelope with a piece of cardboard reinforcement inside a lightweight cardboard envelope. With their packaging it cost Winkflash $1.14 to send us our photos using standard USPS First Class postage. This means Winkflash actually spent an extra $.25 just to send our pictures.

We received our pictures in about four business days.

Winkflash will also ship to all U.S. armed forces bases.

Winkflash provides its consumers with simple, photo-uploading and ordering processes, low shipping costs, great printing rates and respectable shipping times. Additionally, we liked the quality of Winkflash’s prints. However, we would like to see Winkflash streamline their interface making ordering and uploading even easier. Please see our top 3 products: Snapfish, York Photo and Clark Color.