Sharing Photos
You took dozens of photos, cropped them and made them gallery-worthy, now what are you going to do with them all? Thanks to online photo sharing services, you can simply upload them and pass the link on to anyone you want to see them.
7 of the Most Popular Sites for Sharing and Printing Pics
- Kodak Gallery, formerly ofoto.com
- What you can do: Upload galleries and buy prints, photo books and a wide array of cards and merchandise backed by the Kodak name.
- The cons: If you’d prefer an open album that you don’t have to “share” for others to see, you’ll have to pay. The storage is also only “free” for a certain period of time – purchases of Kodak prints or merchandise is required on an annual basis to retain storage.
- Snapfish
- What you can do: Share photos and videos in group rooms, do minor editing and buy your photo products on the cheap. Easy to navigate for even for a novice, the storage is free for photos (small fee for videos). Easy upload tools make the process quick, and the store offers a wide selection of prints, cards, books and merchandise.
- The cons: Quality is pretty good…but not great.
- Flickr
- What you can do: This Yahoo-owned site offers both photo and video sharing. A comment section allows photographers to get feedback on their work and family members to weigh in. Prints can be purchased and picked up at a Target store (or mailed to you).
- The cons: The free version has limited storage, and the choices for photo merchandise are extremely limited.
- Shutterfly
- What you can do: Share photos – and photo scrapbooks – with your family, then order photo gifts from one of the largest stores on the web. Viewers’ ability to comment and sharing services are the highlight of this shop, with individualized URLs for users’ albums.
- The cons: Prices are a little higher than the competition’s.
- SmugMug
- What you can do: A site that offers unlimited storage, one of the highlights of the service is tagging to enhance organization and to make your photo library searchable. Online albums are likewise adjustable – allowing you to add themes and backgrounds. Privacy options allow you to share the photos only with friends and family, with everyone, or not at all. Prints, photo books and a limited amount of merchandise can be purchased by you or the people who have access to your album.
- The cons: No free membership – although there’s a fourteen-day trial period to get a sense of whether you like what it has to offer. The cheapest option is $39.95/year.
- Wal-Mart Photo Center
- What you can do: With Wal-Marts scattered across the states, there’s an added level of convenience to their photo center that most sites can’t compete with. Upload is easy, and the site offers one-hour in-store pick-up, in-store delivery and home delivery. And prices are cheap on their wide array of gifts and prints.
- The cons: Storage isn’t free – you have to make at least one purchase a year to keep your photos online.
- Picasa
- What you can do: Google’s photo service offers a full GB of storage for free, and allows you to pay for more. Another site that offers the ability to share your photos and videos with the world or keep them private, Picasa’s packed with editing and photo management tools. And they now link right into your Gmail account for sharing photos.
- The cons: It’s a memory drain, so don’t try it on your netbook.
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