Microsoft, Fujifilm team on digital prints

Microsoft's Windows XP will feature a new icon that lets people click to order prints of their digital photos and pick them up at Fujifilm retailers in as little as an hour, the companies said Tuesday.

Fujifilm's Get The Picture Online service will be available starting this week through Windows XP's updated Online Print Wizard, MSN Photos and Microsoft Digital Image Suite. The service will let consumers order digital prints from their PCs and pick them up from one of the 5,000 retail photo centers participating in Fujifilm's program, including Sam's Club, Ritz Camera and Wolf Camera, or have the prints mailed to them.

As the images are displayed on the screen, the system will suggest an optimal print size based on resolution, in addition to letting people do some basic editing--including image cropping, image rotating and red-eye correction--at some retailers.

Digital photography has gained popularity, threatening the film-based photography business. But this does not seem to have diminished the attraction of a printed picture. That's why companies are launching printing services that let consumers order prints of their digital pictures online and then collect them from stores. Recently, Best Buy and CVS opened online photo-processing services.