Digital Home Thoughts: Shutterfly Launches Shutterfly Studio

"Shutterfly has introduced Shutterfly Studio software, a new photo-organizing application that is said to provide users with everything they need to manage their growing collection of digital images. Shutterfly Studio helps consumers view, organize and edit their pictures. Shutterfly customers can share pictures and order prints from their desktop using Shutterfly Studio, without having to upload images to the Shutterfly website first. The free software download is now available to Windows users at www.shutterfly.com/studio. Once downloaded, Shutterfly Studio immediately searches and thumbnails all of the digital images stored on the computer. Users then have instant access to Shutterfly Studio’s comprehensive photo management and editing tools, as well as a selection of viewing options including a full screen slideshow. Since it is designed for close integration with Shutterfly.com, Shutterfly Studio includes offline options for sharing and ordering photos. Furthermore, Shutterfly Studio performs operations simultaneously so users never have to wait for a task to complete before starting a new one; for example, users can upload new photos while editing others."



So apparently enough users were frustrated by having to constantly backup and retrieve their photos that Shutterfly has released a PC-based app that manages your Shutterfly account locally. That's pretty much why I've never used any online photo sharing/storing service. An offline manager like this might just make it worth my time. And Mac users will be happy to hear that: "...Shutterfly offers an export assistant for Apple’s iPhoto software to help users upload photos directly to their Shutterfly account from within the iPhoto software. Alternatively, they can upload directly from any of the key Mac browsers while using the Shutterfly site." So give it a try and let us know what you think.