Kodak to put product shots online

Eastman Kodak said it will launch an e-commerce service tomorrow aimed at making it easier for companies to post pictures of products online.

Online auction service uBid.com and online residential rental resource Rentals.com are expected to be the first to use the service, dubbed Kodak Picture Ready.

Kodak said the service has a browser system that lets people edit photos and upload several images to the Internet at one time. In addition, the company will format the images as JPEG files, alter the file sizes to meet the specifications of customers' applications, and post the images on its servers.

"Kodak Picture Ready allows Kodak to offer online image management services for marketplaces like online auctions and advertising," Steve Powell, director of interactive e-business for the company, said in a statement.

While the market for digital photography is still in its infancy, analysts predict it will accelerate in the next five years. Kodak Picture Ready is the company's latest effort to create new digital services to augment its traditional film businesses.

Kodak and online drugstore CVS.com launched CVS Photo Center, which offers customers co-branded photo services online and at 4,100 retail stores run by CVS. Kodak also said it is offering traditional prints from digital photos submitted online.