This review is long overdue and the main reason for its delay has been wondering how on earth I convey to all how great the site re-vamp and new facilities offered (most for FREE!) are!

So, right from the offset, let me offer you this - as a very keen (albeit amateur) photographer, PhotoBox has become my preferred online photo facility.
Now, here's why:-

Firstly, the re-vamped site is extraordinarily easy to use - and that in my life is always a bonus! The home page is mostly given over to the shopping facilities and products that PhotoBox will transfer your pictures of choice to - everything from mugs, T-Shirts, jigsaw puzzles and so on the list goes. I've actually sampled all these products and the quality is superb.

Yet the shopping facilities is but the tip of the iceberg! Create an account (for Free) and step into the World of online storage, viewing and editing and prepare to be delighted!

Signing in, you are immediately taken to your own page where you can upload your photographs - up to 10MB in size individually. Herein the fun starts. PhotoBox have added Picnik - the editing and viewing system - to their site and I would highly recommend you download this to your PC (it can then also be used with Face Book etc) Picnik has taken the best of Paint Shop and simplified it - so well that you can take your most mundane images and create chaos or masterpieces and then view them in near 3D format on your screen - it looks amazing and works seamlessly. I've been showing all my friends and it's gotten their attention, each and everyone one without fail. Of course, you can still run standard slideshows but PhotoBox have given you Picnik for free and I'm falling over myself for everyone to enjoy it as we have!

Now to the editing - and we spent hours playing around with this because although SO simple it's so much fun - I goofed up Angelina Jolie, hi-lighted Brad Pitt, turned one photo black and white but made my friends eyes blue (stunning) and on and on and on the list went on - and each edit took just 3 - 4 clicks to do - and all of course with an 'undo' back-up! I doubt I'll be using any other editing system from here on in so comprehensive is PhotoBox's.

However doing all this to your photo's is great but greater if you can share it with others and PhotoBox have more than accommodated us here too. With all the usual safety features enabling you to control who can see your creations, you can completely personalise your presentation of photo's on screen by placing them randomly as you would in a good old fashioned scrap book or photo album. All the photo's can be tagged and when clicked on, move front and centre of the screen with any notes or messages you may have chosen to add. This enormously enhances the viewing experiences for your friends and family.
Away from the computer, I had PhotoBox send me through some photo's, good old snail mail style - a real hard copy to display on my mantle piece. I had already seen first hand pretty much everything else - the note/books, the bags, the jigsaw puzzles, the T-shirts, the glassware. It took 24hrs and there, my usual hurried (and laden) postman handed over the envelope. Inside where two good, high quality well finished photographs, just as I had asked for.

From the basics to the comprehensive, PhotoBox is IT in the World of online photography. Now, enough reading - go get yourself an account - they're running some free offers at the moment ;-)

www.photobox.co.uk / www.photobox.com