Share your photos online the free and easy way.

Dirty diapers and late-night crying quickly acquainted me to the challenges of first-time fatherhood. But possibly the most daunting task was satisfying the ridiculous number of requests from family for baby pictures. With the generous gift of a 3-megapixel camera from my brother and an immediate purchase of several hundred megabytes of removable memory, all I needed was a good way to organize and share my photos online. But I wanted to do it for free, so I picked Ofoto.

Ofoto offers free, nearly unlimited online storage and an extremely simple image-sharing process that anyone, including my parents, can understand. For a fee, Kodak-owned Ofoto also lets you order prints and offers a wide range of sizes.

Pluses outweigh negatives

Ofoto's best features are a quick one-to-three day delivery time and good print quality. Like any photo-sharing site, Ofoto lets your friends easily browse uploaded pics before purchasing them, so they only get the pictures they really want.

But even if you upload 3-megapixel images, friends will be limited to viewing your images at far smaller resolutions so as to speed up browsing. Online images can also be titled and organized into albums.

Upload and price report

I uploaded about 50 images over a couple of weeks at full 3-megapixel, 1600x1200 resolution. Uploading that many high-quality images takes a bit of time, so if your friends aren't interested in 8x10 prints, 2-megapixel images will do, particularly for 4x6 and 5x7 shots.

My quasi-techie family really enjoyed the option to purchase prints ranging from wallet snap shots to 20-inch by 30-inch monster posters. Average-size 4x6 and 5x7 prints range from 50 cents to $1. Volume discounts beyond 50 prints are available in 4x6 and 5x7 sizes.

Summary: If you want a fast way to distribute your digital images to friends and family, Ofoto is one of the simplest and most convenient. Print-image quality is good, and print delivery speed is amazing. And who can argue with unlimited online image storage?

Pros: Prints delivered quickly; unlimited online storage; simple online sharing

Cons: Despite original resolution, online images are tiny; purchasing 20 to 30 images can be pricey