Help

If you want multiple prints its much cheaper to buy a digital photo than to buy many hard copies of the print.

This is especially true if you are buying a photo including more than one person - you only buy one digital photo, rather than several prints. You can also crop and adjust a digital photo before printing.

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Do allow a photographer a few days to get their photos onto the system, and remember you can search by event name, date or location. (Try different spellings if unsure.)

At busy events a few shots will be out of focus, or someone could get in the way when you are being photographed. Photographers will post all the saleable photos they have. If yours is not there we can't help.

If the checkout process isn't working your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.) is refusing to accept 'cookies'. (Small files our server temporarily stores on your computer to manage the shopping basket.)

Change the security settings on your browser or use a different computer. If that isn't possible email us the photo number (in the form xxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx) and we'll get the photos to you.

We use PayPal because it is quick, easy and very secure. (PayPal is used by many businesses and processes millions of transactions daily.) There is no need to register with them.

Just use PayPal to make an online credit or debit card payment to the seller and you can then download your photo instantly. You also receive a payment confirmation email with the seller's details.

You don't need one. You only use PayPal to make a credit or debit card payment to the seller - there is no need to register with them.

Paying via a credit or debit card on PayPal allows you to download your photo instantly, use multiple currencies and gives you the best buyer protection, that's why we use it. You can also pay directly from a PayPal account if you have one. Both allow instant downloads if you have sufficient funds.

You can also make payments by eCheque (bank funding) through PayPal, but the download will be delayed until payment has cleared (up to 7 days - blame the banks not the seller!)

Very occasionally buyers are unable to use PayPal. In this case use our contact form below to send the photo numbers you want to the seller, and they will take it from there.

First check any spam filters you use. If the email has not been filtered out you have either mistyped your email address while on PayPal, or used a different email address, and in both cases you will not be able to download your photos.

Please read the question 'When I try to Download there are no photos for me?' to find out what to do next.

The sale price is set by the seller so the cost will vary. It is also possible for a seller to price galleries within an event at different rates.

Digital photo prices are very competitive and in general they are much cheaper than buying prints.

You are buying the photo from the seller and the payment goes directly to them, so you can only have photos from one seller in your basket at any one time. If you want to buy from two sellers you will need to build separate baskets, check out and pay for each separately.

Occasionally you may find two photographers are working independently on one event, but you will still need a different basket for each of them.

If you're waiting for a print to arrive, it won't! We only sell digital photos to download.

After buying your photos click the 'Download' button in the top right-hand corner and enter your email address into the search box. This must be the email address you used during the payment process on PayPal.

The system will return your photos. Click the green 'Download' icon below the photos to transfer them to your computer.

If the download fails this may be due to an intermittent fault in the internet connection. Try again or try on a different computer.

If your computer will only allow you to save a bitmap file when downloading it's a problem with older versions of Internet Explorer when your 'Temporary Internet Files Cache' is full. Use Tools>Internet Options>General and delete the temporary internet files.

This may take some time, but once it's done you should be able to save the photo file as a jpeg.

Reasons the system may not allow you to download your order are:

• You have mis-typed your email address in the download box. (Easily done.)

When downloading you could have miss spelt your email address or left a space at the start/finish. Double check this before trying anything else.

• You are not entering the email address used to place the order. (Happens frequently!)

Ensure that the email address used to download the photo is the same one used to pay for the order. A PayPal confirmation email is sent to the email address used during payment - if you haven't received this email you have most likely used a different email address during checkout.

- If you have a PayPal account check the email address registered on the account - it may be an old email address you no longer use. If so, use this one to download your photos.

- If you are not a PayPal account holder you may have mis-spelt your current email address during checkout. Try downloading the photos again using any obvious misspellings of your email address.

• You used a deferred payment method.

If paying by eCheque or bank funding it can take several days for the funds to reach the photographer and the system is designed not to release the photo for download until the payment clears. Check on your PayPal confirmation email to see if a deferred/delayed payment method is being used and what the expected delay is.

• You didn't complete the checkout process.

If you haven't received the PayPal confirmation email (and the email address was correct), then the PayPal process wasn't completed and the image wasn't purchased. Check with your card provider whether a payment has been made. If not, try again.

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If paying by eCheque (bank funding) it can take 5-7 days for the funds to reach the photographer and the system is designed not to release the photo for download until the payment clears.

Check on your PayPal confirmation email to see if a deferred payment method was used and the expected delay.

After 90 days the instant download service finishes. Photos may still be available for an extra year after this time, but only if the seller is using our archive service. You buy these as normal and they are then emailed to you by the seller.

Instant downloads are available for 90 days and archive photos for an additional year. After this the photos are deleted and are no longer available.

Images purchased from archived events will have been sent to you via email by the photographer. If you are now outside the 90 day instant download period or have purchased a photo from an archived event and need to re-download your photo, you will need to contact the photographer and ask if they can sent it to you (which may not be possible).

In both cases you should go to the Download page and enter the payment email address to find out how to retrieve your photos. (There is no need to email us - the process is automated.)

If you still don't get a timely response please use the contact form to let us know at 21CPhotos and we will speak to the photographer on your behalf.

We take complaints very seriously and can suspend photographers accounts for non-delivery of photos. In the event of non-delivery you have full consumer protection rights and are entitled to a refund.

Once you've downloaded a photo you an either print it yourself, visit a high street photo-shop or supermarket with the photo on a memory stick, or use a website that allows you to upload the photo and sends you a print in the post.

We recommend PhotoBox, who provide an excellent service.

Charities or clubs may print the photo for promotional, non-commercial purposes (newsletters), but otherwise use (whole, in part or manipulated) for publication or display is prohibited without the permission of the seller, which may require the payment of additional usage fees.

If you are unsure whether you can use a photo, or want to discuss commercial use, please contact the seller directly. Details are on your PayPal confirmation email, or you can use our contact form below.

The copyright and all intellectual property rights on downloaded photos remain with the photographer/seller. (When you buy a photo you agree to these terms and conditions.)

However, very occasionally a photo slips through the editing process which is slightly out of focus, and this isn't obvious on the sample you see before buying.

If you feel this is the case you should contact the photographer directly using the contact form below with your complaint. Please do not cancel or dispute payments until you've done this.