Amazon's new service delivers photo prints to your doorstep

Amazon's new service delivers photo prints to your doorstep

Because having tens of millions of unique items for sale, a mail-by-drone service in the works, its own line of mobile devices, and an original TV streaming service still left some holes in its resume, Amazon just added a new service to its repertoire: photo printing.

Enter Amazon Prints, an on-demand printer service where users can have photos, albums, calendars, and even stationary sent to their doorstep at the etail giant's trademark competitive prices.

Prints come in 4 x 6, 5 x 7, and 8 x 10 sizes, priced at $0.09, $0.58, and $1.79 each, respectively. Meanwhile, hardcover albums start at $19.99 and come in either glossy or matte page finishes, depending on what you think will make your pics 'pop' more.

Not only does Prints beat out the rates of long-time online printing source Shutterfly, but Amazon also plans to offer free shipping for a limited time on orders over $15.

Photo finish

There is one snag, though. Amazon Prints requires that the images be uploaded via Prime Photos, which comes as part of Amazon's $99/year premium subscription service.

If not, photos will have to be uploaded from Amazon Drive - another paid service that runs $59.99/year.

This means taking advantage of Prints will require signing up for either an Amazon Prime or Amazon Drive subscription. Thankfully, the former features more than a fair share of other goodies, including free two-day shipping, unlimited music streaming, and access to Amazon Prime Video.

Amazon Prints is currently only available in the US, according to TechCrunch, a limitation that should keep the free shipping promotion from getting out of hand. Still, it wouldn't surprise us if Amazon decides to expand Prints globally if the craze catches on.

Parker Wilhelm
Parker Wilhelm is a freelance writer for TechRadar. He likes to tinker in Photoshop and talk people's ears off about Persona 4.