From all reports, digital cameras will be one of the hottest-selling gift items this coming holiday season.

As prices drop and ease of use increases, those who don’t already own a digital camera are putting it at the top of their wish list.

Then comes the real question: What do you do with all those digital photos you take this holiday season? You know, those magic moments you’ve captured of the children sneaking down the stairs to see what Santa has left or Grandpa catching 20 winks after the turkey dinner.

If you’re like most people, you’ll want to share them with other family members as soon as you can.

You can attach individual photos to an e-mail and send them out one at a time. The only drawback is that this activity can be time-consuming for both the sender and the receiver. High-resolution digital photo files can be quite cumbersome and if the recipient has a slow Internet connection, they can take several minutes to download. Moreover, most people do not want large digital files clogging up their in-boxes.

Another, easier way to keep in touch with friends and family exists: Send your images to an online photo service where you can store and share as many images as you want, all for free. Your family and friends are not required to become a member of the service to view your shared photos. Instead, they will receive a personal e-mail from you and a URL link, which connects them to an online slideshow of your snapshots.

If you want to hold those new pictures in your hands rather than just admire them on your computer screen, you could print a few of them out on an inkjet printer and share them in person at the dinner table that very evening. Achieving this immediate gratification comes with a rather expensive price tag, however: the responsibility of maintaining the printer with cartridges of toner — ink used to create your images — and special paper, designed for printing photos.

For those who value convenience and archive-quality prints fit for framing and scrapbooking, online photofinishing is the solution. With the click of a mouse, online photo services develop and deliver prints-from wallets to posters — and all the standard sizes in between — to your door or directly to your friends and family members. One online photo service processes all orders within 24 hours of receiving them.