I'm a bit late writing about it but I did want to share my experience with ordering prints from Flickr. I was in a particularly instant gratification mood when I was sorting through my Flickr archives last month so I chose to have prints made at my local Target. I ordered late in the afternoon but since Target doesn't close until 10 I thought I'd have plenty of time to pick them up. Not quite. You must order by 5PM or pick up your prints the next day. Not a major issue so I went on with the order.

I chose a variety of sizes (4x6, 5x7, 4xD) and ordered about 35 prints. First thing the next morning I sprang by Target and my prints were waiting for me. In the package there was an index sheet of all the prints and the different sizes were each in a different folder with them all together in one of the traditional photo envelopes. I wasn't disappointed with the prints. Everything came out exactly as I wanted with only a couple exceptions. When ordering my prints I was warned that a couple shots should be 4xD or 5xD (the size and format geared for the size ratio most digital cameras produce) instead of 4x6 or 5x7. The warning said that some minor cropping would occur if I went with the normal sizes anyway. I was curious to exactly how much the cropping would be and well, people buy 4x6 frames and in this instance I wanted prints I could give to people that they could easily frame. I wish there had been some way in the order process to see exactly what the crop would be. When I got the prints back the cropping was fine for one shot and totally not fine for another. It would have been nice to know that ahead of time.

Other than that my only complaint about the Target service is that you cannot get matte prints. Your only option is glossy. I love the way the Flickr printing page explains it: "If you want to pick up your photos at Target, you have the option of glossy prints". Is it really an option if there isn't a second option to compare it to? I don't think so but ok. So if you must have matte prints you'll have to choose the Flickr option that mails prints to you. I've yet to try this for myself but I've heard the wait time to receive the prints is somewhere around 10-14 days for the normal shipping option. I'll verify that when I have another batch of family prints to order.