I have some experience in using these sites. So far http://www.itasveer.com has provided the best combination of value and customer service.

Nikhil- the big opportunity is in printing marketing collateral and taking business away from traditional offset format. This is what some of the largest companies in the MFD segment etc. are concentrating on.

With SMEs getting confident to take on their larger competitors, quality of communication and collateral acts as is a great leveler and that’s where digital printing comes in - cutting edge output, no compulsion of high numbers.

Nikhl,I just happened to read your review on Picsquare. I certainly have reservations for the same.

You have mentioned about the figures i.e. 70% of the photos that have been uploaded on Picsquare. I believe you have gained this information from the ‘report’ i.e a secong hand information?. Well, I am not aware of your engagement with the market scenario or trends that concern organisations like Picsquare and therefore I feel you have been extremely unfair with your judgement. I believe a 70% is considered much above industry standards and thus your statement, “which either means thats there are’nt many people uploading photos at Picsquare or that people are uploading primarily for printing,” stands unjustifiable. I am sorry to say that you have been extremely surfacial with your comments here.

Ankita: The 70% figure was quoted in BW and therefore, as indicated in the post itself, it is second hand information; I cannot corroborate it and its up to Picsquare to do that. How does one explain such a high percentage? These are the two alternative that came to my mind. Surficial though my comments may seem, I thought this might start a discussion on how such a figure can be reached. Fair or unfair though I may seem, you have right to your opinion.
I’d also like to point out that this is *not* a review of Picsquare - reviews are and should be more comprehensive.

Rajesh: I actually see opportunity in involving the offline print studios and also utilizing them for delivery. If they’re connected, the printing and delivery can be within a day. Only thing is, for them, it’s more about bulk orders. So, I think once there is traction, another business model will be int he offing, and the speed of service will be important. more on this later...am in bit of a rush. And, as the lady pointed out, my comments are surficial, and those of an observer, not a researcher.

Well, am sure Picsquare would’nt hesitate to explain the high percentage, provided you keep a track on their activities as an ‘observer’ and then comment like a ‘researcher.’

Hi Guys,

Thanks for comments.

Personally, I don’t completely agree that comments on open platforms like ContentSutra should always be a result of research. That takes away the beauty of openness. The idea is to create a forum where people can openly put forward their views and there is always an opportunity to respond back.

Why the numbers are so high, in my opinion, good indicator that there is need in the market. People are sure that they want to print as oppose to they have uploaded some photos and now they are not sure what to do. It will be good to hear what other companies in the same market have to say about this high number or what their experience with the market is.

Manish

people who wants to upload photos for sharing online either upload to flickr, yahoo, snapfish or some other fast services...people who upload photos at picsquare are mainly for printing purpose(mostly nris)....and 70% is reasonable after taking out bad photos etc.

Well Guys, Its great That lots of people are saying it Flickr of India, but its their mistake, concept is totally different
1) Flickr - Only For Sharing while PS is mainly concentrated on printing and delivery
2) Flickr’s interface, design and usability is too cool !!!!!!

Well what about print outsourcing or print on demand, where in a user any where outside in India can take advantage of the low printing costs in India.

One typical example would be a student in the US who wanted to print say 100 pages from the web or from the site “howstuffworks.com” all he has to do is logon to the website http://www.printoutsourcing..............com and upload the files to be printed. The site wil do the prnting in india and will ship it back to the customer using a FEDEX or a DHL.

Guys would u think this will work, actually is there that much costdifferences between printing in India when compared with other countries?, can the service can still be provided cheap even after the shipping charges?

So any one game for the idea?, hmm well its up to u, do the research, possinlity study and be the printsquare in print outsourcing and when u get the first 5 million bucks from seqoa capital, i will be here again on content sutra to comment:)

This blog post puts some figures in perspective:

http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2006/12/the_long_tail_o.html

Evidently 20% of digital photos are printed, at least in western countries.

Like Nitha said, print-on-demand is definitely an option that makes a lot of (economic) sense. CinnamonTeal provides these services in India and is the only service provider to do so in India

@Nitha
your vision is qute right but international shipping and other norms puts high voltage pressure on the commercial viability of the this kind of projects.
You need volume to compensate quality and price.