Taking a picture can often be a lot easier than printing it, but Flickr, the image hosting division of Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), has announced a partnership with HP’s (NYSE: HPQ) Snapfish photo service designed to give users around the world many more printing options.
Under the deal, Snapfish becomes Flickr’s preferred printing partner, giving members of the popular photo-sharing site the ability to transfer, organize and print photos.
Snapfish also gives Flickr users the ability to create “unique photo gifts” from their existing Flickr streams such as photo albums, calendars, mugs and more. A Flickr blog post has more details on the print options.
“We are thrilled to bring the Snapfish service to Flickr’s member community and align with a leading online photo and video sharing partner in the industry,” said Ben Nelson, general manager of Snapfish by HP, in a statement.
The two companies said they’ve worked closely to make the service an integrated experience that combines Snapfish’s printing capabilities with Flickr’s online photo organizing features. For example, from the Flickr Organizr, members can select individual or batch photos for editing or printing through Snapfish where they can produce a variety of photo products using their own personally authentic Flickr images.
The companies said this is the first time most of Flickr’s international members will have an option to print photos directly from their photo collection. Snapfish currently operates in 22 countries worldwide. Flickr has over 40 million members worldwide and said it stores more than four billion photos and videos.
Snapfish also adds a number of different shipping options worldwide. In addition, members in the U.S. can opt for local pick-up of their prints in-store at any of Snapfish’s retail partners, which include Wal-Mart, Walgreens, Staples, Duane Reade, and others.
Printer giant HP is always on the lookout to bring new printing options to market. The company recently released what it calls the first “Web-connected home printer.” The $399 Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, is a new kind of all-in-one printer that offers access to Web sites consumers frequently print from, such as coupon and event ticket sites.
