Can’t find the answer to your question here? Contact us

Q: What technology does Shutterfly use to print my photographs?
A: Shutterfly uses state-of-the-art Fuji Frontier digital printers designed for professional photofinishers. These printers expose Fuji's Crystal Archive photographic paper using red, green, and blue lasers to produce the sharpest prints available. The exposed photographic paper is chemically processed in the same way as in traditional photo labs. These printers, combined with Shutterfly's proprietary imaging technology, result in the best possible prints from your pictures.

Go to top

Q: What type of paper does Shutterfly use?
A: Shutterfly uses glossy-finish Fujicolor Crystal Archive photographic paper from Fuji. Fuji Crystal Archive is a resin-based paper that is noted for its unmatched archival quality. It has long been considered the finest color photographic paper available and is the choice of professional photographers and commercial labs.

Recent independent studies by Wilhelm Imaging Research (an organization respected for its testing of materials) show that Crystal Archive is the most fade-resistant photographic paper of all that are currently made, outlasting other major brands by almost a three-to-one margin. These independent studies showed that under normal display conditions, Fuji Crystal Archive lasts six or seven decades before any noticeable fade; the nearest competing paper was estimated to only last 15 to 20 years before fading.

More information can be found at the Fuji Crystal Archive page or by viewing the Wilhelm Imaging Research study.

We offer both matte and glossy finish paper for standard size prints. For our large format prints, we only offer matte finish paper at this time.

Go to top

Q: How long will my prints last, compared to inkjet prints and traditional 35mm prints?
A: Unlike prints from an inkjet printer, which are printed on the surface of a paper, Shutterfly prints are very fade-resistant. Shutterfly's chemical process - combined with the use of true Fuji Crystal Archive photo paper - means that your prints will have the same or greater durability as prints from traditional photofinishers. Fuji Crystal Archive paper has been estimated to last many decades before any noticeable fading occurs - for more information, please see the previous question on this page.

Go to top

Q: What do you do to my photos before printing them?
A: Shutterfly analyzes your picture and automatically applies adjustments to the picture to improve the exposure and colors in the picture in order to give you the finest-quality prints. We call this technology VividPics®. VividPics is applied by default to all Shutterfly prints.

However, if you have already edited your pictures for color, brightness, or contrast in an application such as Adobe Photoshop, we recommend that you turn off the VividPics® setting for the edited pictures. To do this, select the desired picture and click 'Enhance' on the green navigation bar. Then click the 'Effects' tab. On the bottom right, click the checkbox that turns off the VividPics® setting for that picture. If you have a number of pictures selected, you can 'Apply this effect to all selected' pictures using the link to the left of your picture. Pictures printed with this setting turned off will be printed exactly as they were uploaded, with no automatic image adjustments or corrections.

Additionally, if you are an imaging professional such as a graphics artist that works in a color-managed environment, we recommend that you turn off the VividPics® setting. If your digital images are in an sRGB color space and you have previewed the image on a calibrated monitor, your Shutterfly prints should be very close to what you see on your monitor when the VividPics® setting is turned off.

Please note that although our VividPics® technology does work to improve exposure, it will not fix images that are poorly-exposed to begin with.

Go to top

Q: Do my photographs have to be in any particular format to share and print?
A: Yes, Shutterfly currently supports only JPEG (.jpg) images.

Go to top

Q: Why did I receive a JPEG error when uploading an image using the Browse Upload?
A: The image you attempted to upload was either not a JPEG or was a broken JPEG. A JPEG is considered broken when there are inconsistencies in the original image file. JPEGs created by older image editors, like Photoshop 3 and earlier, may not work correctly either. Please use a current version of an image editor to save your images out as a new JPEG file. Make sure to choose the lowest compression setting in doing so to maintain the best image quality for printing your picture.

Go to top

Q: What are the minimum recommended resolutions for JPEG images?
A: When you order pictures, you may get a "not recommended" message. This means that the resolution of your picture is too low for the size of print you want. We recommend comparing the resolution of your pictures to our resolution guidelines. Using these resolutions as a guide will help you print the best pictures possible.

(Please note that our recommendations are based ONLY on the overall resolution of your picture, and not on the overall quality or clarity of the original picture. We are not and cannot be responsible for the original picture being blurry or out-of-focus, even if there is sufficient resolution to be 'recommended'.)

Pictures that fall below our recommended resolution guidelines may look okay when viewed online, but will appear blurry and pixelated — that is, the image will appear blocky, with jagged rather than straight edges — when enlarged and printed.

To check the resolution of your pictures once you have transferred them to Shutterfly, go to the View page and click on the thumbnail image; you will then see a larger version of the picture, with recommended print sizes. Above these, hold your cursor over the lowercase 'i'. Among the information displayed you will find the resolution.

For large-format prints (11x14, 16x20, and 20x30), our recommendations are similar to those for an 8x10, although you may wish to help ensure the best possible print by using an image that is 3 megapixels or larger.

Our resolution recommendations are as follows:

For large-format prints (11×14, 16×20, and 20×30), our recommendations are similar to those for an 8×10, although you may wish to help ensure the best possible print by using an image that is 3 megapixels or larger.

Go to top

Q: What if my image is a non-standard size?
A: If you don't apply the crop tool to your picture yourself, Shutterfly will automatically crop your image to fit the dimensions of the print size you chose. If we have to crop from the sides of the image to make it fit the paper, we crop an equal amount from each side. If we have to crop from the top or bottom of the image, we crop an equal amount from both the top and bottom.

If your picture does not fit the dimensions of the selected print size you can still have your entire picture included on the print. Please select the Custom Crop option in our cropping section and then select the entire image. Once the entire image is selected, please use the "Print Preview" button to preview how your image will look. The appropriate size white border will be included on the print such that the entire image is printed.

Note: Shutterfly determines what edge is the top of the image based on how you've rotated them for display on our Web site. So to get the proper behavior, you should rotate your portrait-mode images so they are displayed right-side up instead of sideways.

For large-format prints (11×14, 16×20, and 20×30) we recommend using the free online cropping tool for every print. To crop 11×14 or 16×20, choose the 8×10 crop shape; for 20×30, use the 4×6 crop shape.

For more information about the free online cropping tool, please refer to our cropping help page.

Go to top

Q: What does image resolution mean?
A: Resolution refers to the number of pixels in an image. Resolution is sometimes referred to by the width and height of the image as well as the total number of pixels in the image. For example, an image that is 1600 pixels wide and 1200 pixels high (1600×1200) contains 1,920,000 pixels (or almost 2 Megapixels).

Go to top

Q: How are resolution and file size related?
A: In general, the rule is: the higher the resolution of the picture, the greater the file size. JPEG (.jpg) compression can reduce the size of the file, but it also affects the quality of the image. Many digital cameras and photo editing programs allow you to control the amount of JPEG compression. Increasing the amount of compression reduces the file size but also reduces image quality.

Go to top

Q: What does Shutterfly mean by "not recommended" when I am ordering my pictures?
A: When you order pictures, you may get a "not recommended" message. This means that the resolution of your picture is too low for the size of print you want. We recommend comparing the resolution of your pictures to our resolution guidelines. Using these resolutions as a guide will help you print the best pictures possible.

(Please note that our recommendations are based ONLY on the overall resolution of your picture, and not on the overall quality or clarity of the original picture. We are not and cannot be responsible for the original picture being blurry or out-of-focus, even if there is sufficient resolution to be 'recommended'.)

Pictures that fall below our recommended resolution guidelines may look okay when viewed online, but will appear blurry and pixelated — that is, the image will appear blocky, with jagged rather than straight edges — when enlarged and printed.

To check the resolution of your pictures once you have transferred them to Shutterfly, go to the View page and click on the thumbnail image; you will then see a larger version of the picture, with recommended print sizes. Above these, hold your cursor over the lowercase 'i'. Among the information displayed you will find the resolution.

For large-format prints (11x14, 16x20, and 20x30), our recommendations are similar to those for an 8x10, although you may wish to help ensure the best possible print by using an image that is 3 megapixels or larger.

Our resolution recommendations are as follows:

For large-format prints (11×14, 16×20, and 20×30), our recommendations are similar to those for an 8×10, although you may wish to help ensure the best possible print by using an image that is 3 megapixels or larger.

Go to top

We also recommend that you use the least jpeg compression possible. While high resolution and low compression will increase image upload times, they will produce the best results.

Go to top

Q: If I have a digital camera, can I take photographs using any resolution setting?
A: Many digital cameras, especially those that are rated at 2+ megapixels, allow you to select from a choice of image resolutions. Shutterfly recommends that you always use the highest resolution setting that your digital camera allows if you plan to make prints. Similarly, many digital cameras also allow you to choose the amount of JPEG compression. The compression levels are frequently listed as Normal or Basic, Fine, and Superfine (or sometimes High Quality). If the camera has 2+ Megapixels, Shutterfly recommends either the Fine or Superfine setting (using the Fine setting will reduce the file size at the expense of slightly reduced image quality). If the digital camera has less than 2 Megapixels, we recommend the setting with the least amount of compression (Superfine). The specifics of setting the digital camera resolution and JPEG compression level can be found in the user manual for your digital camera.

For large-format prints (11×14, 16×20, and 20×30), you may wish to help ensure the best possible print by using an image that is 3 megapixels or larger.

Go to top