Email and Cell Uploads

Emailing by Computer
A Note about Using Thunderbird
Emailing by Phone
File Types
File Size

Emailing by Computer

Using our email upload service is a fast and easy way to transfer photos from a computer to your Costco Photo Center account. Note: please make sure your image files are not compressed by your email program when you send your photos to the Costco Photo Center by email. Some email programs offer to reduce the size of your images, but this could affect the quality of your images when you order them as prints.

  1. Create an email with your photos attached and send it to save@mycostcophotos.com.

  2. By default we will send you a confirmation email, but you can elect not to receive a confirmation email by modifying your account settings.

    3. If you would like turn email notification off, click the account link at the top right corner of the Costco Photo Center and then click the 'email upload preferences' link at the bottom of the page. Click the checkbox in the 'email upload notification' section. The next time you email photos to your account you will not receive a confirmation email.

  3. If you have an account, your photos will be added to a folder named 'emailed photos' with the date that you sent them.

    4. You can choose a different location for your photos in the 'email upload preferences' section of your account. Click the account link and then click the 'edit your email upload preferences' link at the bottom of the page. In the 'album preference' section you can choose where your emailed photos will be stored. The next time you email photos to your account they will appear in the folder you selected.

    If you need to register for a Costco Photo Center account, enter the required details. Make sure you sign up with the same email that you used to send your photos.

  4. The photos you emailed are stored in your account and will be available for you when you next log in.

NOTE:

If you would usually receive a confirmation email, but didn't receive one, then it could mean you emailed photos to Costco Photo Center using an email address not yet associated with your account. You can easily add this address.

  1. First click the 'account' link in the top right corner of most Costco Photo Center pages.
  2. Next click the 'edit your email upload preferences'.
  3. In the bottom section, click the 'add email' link to associate any email addresses you would like. Make sure to include the address you used to send photos.
  4. Click the 'add address' button. Return to the homepage and you should be able to access your emailed photos.

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A Note about Using Thunderbird

If you are using Thunderbird to upload your photos, then be sure to include your photos as an attachment. We have noticed that forwarding an email with photos in Thunderbird saves the email as an .eml attachment that cannot be uploaded. If you would like to upload images that have been emailed to you, please drag and drop them into a new email, or save them to your computer and create a new email with them attached. You want to be sure that each photo shows up as an attachment on its own, rather than being rolled up into one attachment.

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Emailing by Phone

If you have photos on your cell phone that you would like to send to your account, then follow the steps below.

  1. Before you send photos from your cell phone make sure to update your cell phone number in the personal information section of your account. If you use a different email address on your cell phone than the one you use to log in to the Costco Photo Center, then make sure that email address is associated with your account. You can do this before or after sending your photos from your phone.

    2. To enter your cell number or associate an email address, click the account link in the top right corner of most pages of the Costco Photo Center. To enter your cell number, click the 'edit your cell preferences' located in the 'cell preferences' section. Enter your cell phone number in the popup window. To associate an email with your account, click 'edit your email preferences' and click the 'add email' link in the 'associated addresses' section. Enter the email address you use to send photos from your cell phone.

  2. Use your phone to transfer your photos to save@mycostcophotos.com.
  3. If you have not turned off email notification, then we will send a notification email to the email address you use to sign in. The email has a link to the photo center. Click the link and enter your login information.

  4. When you have logged in, you can view your photos in a folder called 'Emailed Photos' that will have the date you sent the photos in the name as well.

NOTE:

Costco Photo Center will NEVER delete photos from your computer or phone.

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Digital Photo File Types

In order to use the Costco Photo Center to its fullest, please make sure all photos you wish to upload are in the .jpg file format (.jpeg, .jpe).

NOTE: Whenever you upload a digital photo to your online account, only a copy of it is placed in your account. The original digital photo file remains unchanged on your computer (or your phone).

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File Size

The table below contains the best image sizes to use when creating gifts or ordering prints.

Print Size Minimum image resolution required
4 x 6690x460 pixels
5 x 7 805x575 pixels
8 x 10 1150x920 pixels
8 x 121380x920 pixels
Wallet Prints 374x259 pixels
Photo Gifts 900x600 pixels

If an image doesn't meet the resolution requirements for a print size or for a gift, we will display a resolution warning to let you know.

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