The Juggle Zone: Bargain Blog

I've never been a fan of scams, which is a term I use in a general way to refer to money-making schemes, particularly those that look to charge money for goods/services that would normally be free/inexpensive. Classic examples, as I see it, are inkjet printers (because they give you the printer for nearly nothing, then charge an arm and a leg for ink, for the rest of your life) and Swiffer type products (because those companies found a way to replace a broom/mop, which one buys once for $5, with a device that costs money each time it's used!)

The latest scam I've encountered, which isn't new in any way, is the passport photo business. How anyone can justify $10-$15 for two 2" square pictures is beyond me. In the olden days (before digital photography), it was certainly more challenging to conform to the U.S. Department of State's guidelines, specifically size. I did once prepare a set of photos for a family back when I was still working in a darkroom and when black & white pictures were allowed.

However, with the advent of the digital camera came access to a darkroom for the masses. Now, with just a little preparation, it is very easy to prepare up to 3 sets of passport photos, for under $.20!

The first step is to compose decent pictures, in accordance with the established guidelines. Next, using just about any photographic software, crop the image to a square, the paste the image into 1/6 of another image. Repeat once for a duplicate image. You can then add more copies of the same person or another, if desired. The last step is printing. While printing at home can work, in many ways the easiest method would be to have the picture printed by a professional place, either in B&M form, or at an online place, such as WinkFlash.