Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long will my orders take and what mail service do you offer?
2. What is the difference between digital and conventional sizes?
3. What kind of format do you accept and what resolution should my images have?
4. What size prints can I order?
5. What kind of paper and equipment do you use?
6. Can I email the pictures that I wish to be printed?
7. Can you fix a print that is poorly taken?
8. What are Color Correction and Color Profile Matching?
9. Are transactions safe on the website?
10. How can I start placing my order?
11. Can I cancel my order after upload?
12. What is the maximum-sized print my camera can create?
13. Why is my picture cropped or having white borders?
14. What monitor setting should I use?
15. Is that the more megapixels a camera has, the better the pictures (the megapixel myth)?
16. Do you ship internationally?
17. Do you charge additional fee for international shipping?
18. Can I send pictures to PEphoto with my camera cell phone?
19. What are the soft cover photo books like?

1. How long will my orders take and what mail service do you offer?

It will take roughly 5-10 days for you to receive your order. We use United States Postal Service (USPS) to deliver the order to your doorsteps.
Please allow a few days for shipping to take place. We offer UPS and FedEx shipment upon request, please contact us for prices. (see prices for shipping charge)

2. What is the difference between digital and conventional sizes?

Conventional sizes are the standard sizes that would have been printed from film. You should choose these sizes if you wish to place your pictures in the traditional frames or albums. Digital size prints have the same width-to-height ratio as most digital cameras (4x5.3"), which means that we would not have to crop down our image to avoid white borders.

3. What kind of format do you accept and what resolution should my images have?

We accept JPEG and TIFF file formats in sRGB or up color space with 300 dpi resolution recommended. Higher resolution pictures will result in clearer pictures. We suggest the following resolutions for each print size. No special characters excluding hyphen (-) and underscore (_). To avoid errors and ensure quality prints, please follow these guidelines:

4. What size prints can I order?

Print sizes range from 3.5x5" to 50x165". We also offer passport size 2x2", wallet size 2.5x3.5", holiday/greeting/occasion cards in 4x6", 4x8", 5x7" and scrapbooks sizes in 8x8", 8x10", 10x10" 12x12", collages, magazine covers size 8x10" and creative borders sizes in 4x6" with envelopes, 5x7" and 8x10". (See Pricing)

5. What kind of paper and equipment do you use?

We use two brands of Kodak paper Edge, and Endura in both lustre E surface and glossy F surface. For metallic paper. Please go to our Pro site. We print our enlargements on Kodak Professional Photo paper. We use the latest technology for digital photo printing and are partners with Imaging Solutions (FastPrint, FastsScan), Durst (Theta 76, Lambda), Poli, and Noritsu.

6. Can I email the pictures that I wish to be printed?

Yes, please contact us for details.

7. Can you fix a print that is poorly taken?

If you feel the pictures were taken poorly or might need some adjusting, we do offer order adjustments at an additional charge, depending on the degree of adjustments.(See color correction and color profile matching). For touch ups, we charge according to the degree of touch up needed (how old or damaged the photo is).

$35 per hour (1 hour minimum)

8. What are color correction and color profile matching?

We provide manual color correction at an additional cost. We have experienced technicians to adjust photo brightness, contrast, color balance, and intensity to improve the accuracy of your photo's color.

In additions, we provide color profile matching service for professional photographers. For a picture that is embedded with color profile, we can tune our printer specifically for that particular color profile to obtain the best possible color print.

Extra charges apply for Color Correction and Color profile matching. Please refer to our pricing section.
If you would like this professional services added, please following the instructions below.
a. Upload and confirm your order through our PEphoto software.
b. Contact us immediately stating your order number and color correction/color profile matching details.
c. We will contact you for pricing and payment information.

9. Are transactions safe on the website?

Orders placed through our free photo software are protected by VeriSign online-fraud-protection in order to protect our customers' privacy. Under no circumstances do we use customer information or images for any purpose other than printing.

10. How can I start placing my order?

We'll make it easy for you. Just go to Upload Photo & Place Order Now!

11. Can I cancel my order after upload?

Yes, but you MUST notify us via email or phone within one hour after the order is complete. We will be unable to issue a refund after that since your order will already be in process.

12. What is the maximum-sized print my camera can create?

If you are taking pictures at your cameras maximum setting, the following table will show you what the typical maximum photo pixels setting will be for your photos. Recommended print sizes are based on 254 ppi (pixels-per-inch) printer resolution.

* Lowering your resolution will not increase the maximum print size

13. Why is my picture cropped or having white borders?

This is a standard practice in the photo finishing industry, due to differences between the shape of most digital images (4x5.3") and the shape of standard print sizes (like 4x6", 5x7", and 8x10").

The height and width of most digital images differ from the height and width of the print sizes we offer. Most digital cameras produce images that are slightly squarer than a 4x6", so that they fit better on to computer monitors, but more rectangular than an 8x10". This makes it impossible to print the entire image without cropping it or padding it with a white border.

Therefore, we have two options for you to choose from when the image size does not fit on the specific paper size. The image below will pop-up when you start our software, so just follow the instructions as needed.

Original image:

Crop to fill:
-full frame borderless
-some portion might be cropped


Adjust to fit:
-whole picture will be printed
-white border may appear

14. What kind of monitor and setting should I use?

Our site and software are designed for optimal use at screen resolution 1024x768 and best viewed in Internet Explorer 5.5 & Firefox 2.0 and above on PC or Safari 2.0.04 and above on Mac. AOL will work on most part of the site, but we have found times when it does not properly work for the photo book engine.

15. Is that the more megapixels a camera has, the better the pictures (the megapixel myth)?

5 megapixels camera is good enough for most people, as Bill Gates once said "640K of RAM ought to be enough for anybody." [NY Times tech writer David Pogue, 2007]

16. Do you ship internationally?

Yes we ship to 198 countries worldwide.

17. Do you charge additional fee for international shipping?

Yes, when you choose FedEx or UPS to deliver, Brokerage and Custom Duty Fees may apply.

18. Can I send pictures to PEphoto with my camera cell phone?

Yes log in to your account and create a Personal I.D. number (PIN) and add the email to your account by clicking My Account and Add Photos via Email. Click here for details.

Then send pictures to add@lifepics.com from your camera phone and your "PIN" in the Subject field. PEphoto will add those pictures directly to your account (album).

19. What are the soft cover photo books like?

The soft cover photo book is comprised of premium 12 points coated cover stock paper. We provide a transparent plastic cover for the photo book for protection and on the back has a black cardboard to protect your photos from the back end. The soft cover photo books are conveniently sized for handling and taking with you from place to place or as small thoughtful gifts. If you prefer a heavier more substantial feeling for your photo book, the hard cover is a better alternative to the lighter, soft cover version.