Digitized and Brought to Life

For her photo book, the author was able to clean up pictures using entry-level software, making family history immediate and memorable. (Julia Ewan -- The Washington Post)

Perhaps nothing illustrates the impact better than Eastman Kodak, the company that popularized film photography and is now fighting for its life -- in January it announced it would lay off about 20 percent of its 64,000 workers and refocus on digital products -- as digital cameras slam sales of film, paper and photo-finishing services. Film sales in the United States have declined every year since their peak in 2000 and are projected to drop 18 percent this year, according to the Photo Marketing Association.

A few years ago, Kodak bought Ofoto, a leading Internet photo-sharing site, to try to capture a share of the retail printing market from digital images -- if and when that market develops. Among the open questions, though, is whether people will print more or less than in the film era, which virtually demanded that all captured images get printed since film was bulk-processed at retail labs. Although people take many more pictures with digital cameras than with film, so far they are printing only 10 to 20 percent of their shots.

"There is less and less need for actual prints due to the pervasiveness of digital displays," said Kristy Holch, group director at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, which studies the photo industry. "We are just in the early stages where tech-savvy people are displaying photos on their TVs, and we think that will be huge in five years."

While film is in retreat, digital photography is spurring innovation. Camera makers are building image-editing tools directly into their products. Other companies are installing cameras in cell phones , handheld organizers, even key chains. Printer manufacturers are adding photo-display and editing capabilities to the latest generation of photo printers. Among the hot holiday gifts this year are PictBridge home photo printers that connect directly to cameras -- no PC needed -- especially the models that churn out nothing but 4-by-6 prints.

Computer makers, meanwhile, are trying to muscle PCs to the center of the digital universe, making them the place where consumers will store, organize, edit, print and share their growing collections of images.

Microsoft Corp. recently announced it will add software to its Windows XP operating system next year to make plugging cameras into computers much easier. And last week Microsoft announced a new feature for Windows XP designed to speed-order photo prints from retailers online and let consumers pick them up at a local store within a few hours.

"The PC is definitely playing a much larger role in printing, sharing and editing photos," said Josh Weisberg, a Microsoft imaging executive.

But some makers of cameras and printers would prefer an appliance approach, empowering printers and cameras to bypass computers and do more on their own.

"With all due respect to our friends at Microsoft and Apple Computer, digital photography may not need a divorce from the PC, but it may need a trial separation," said Gary Pageau, group executive with the Photo Marketing Association. "Look at the new generation of photo printers that let you edit and print directly from your memory card. They are all PC-less."

Many analysts think digital imaging technology is still too complicated to become as mainstream as film cameras, which found their way into more than 90 percent of American homes because they were point-and-shoot simple. Chris Chute, a senior analyst with research firm IDC, estimates a third of American households own a digital camera now, but he questions how high that number will go.