Online Photo Sharing Suggestions?

Updated on April 13, 2007
C. asks from Chicago, IL
51 answers

I am looking for a better way to share photos of my daughter to her far flung relatives other than attaching individual pictures to an email. Does anyone know of an online service where I can post her photos and family can go to her "website" and view and, very importantly, download the photos for themselves (a google search showed none that allowed free photo downloading). Ideally I could categorize photos into folders (3,6,9 etc. months, Christmas, 1st Birthday Party) so people could "watch" as she grows older.

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So What Happened?

Wow, I was overwhelmed with the response - you guys are great! I ended up going with the Google site, Picasa, because it was so easy to upload all our photos that we had on multiple computers. I also like the way I can categorize photos into folders, the slide show, editing, and organizing features along with the personlized url for viewing the web albums.

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M.H.

answers from Chicago on

To keep in touch with family near and far I have set up a blog through Google's Bloggerbot service. It's totally free and no storage limit.

1 mom found this helpful
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M.O.

answers from Chicago on

I use photobucket.com You can email entire albums as well as video clips. You can also create slideshows.

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N.D.

answers from Chicago on

OOPS, sorry. I have done a lot of research but www.photoalbum has CRAPPY customer service. I wouldn't recommend them. I would recommend (highly and for the reasons below) www.photophanfare.com.

I have done extensive research on this and tested out several websites. I have finally come up with www.myphotoalbum.com. It is incredibly easy to upload pictures to and you have unlimited storage for both pictures and videos. You can also set up an RSS feed for your relatives, they can watch slideshows (with music) and you can order prints from snapfish, shutterfly or kodak. It is AWESOME and it's cheap. It's like $60 a year and that includes your own custom domain name. Check it out- you can try it out for one month- no charge.

If you have more questions, let me know.

Good luck.
N.

1 mom found this helpful

N.P.

answers from Chicago on

Wal-mart
Target
Snapfish
Yahoo Photos
Ofoto
Kodak

With any of them, if the user right clicks on the photo and does a 'save as' he/she can save it to their hard-drives. Or they can choose to order pictures from the company itself.

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N.D.

answers from Chicago on

We've been using Yahoo photos since my daughter was born 2 years ago. Photos are very easy to upload, manage, and share with others.

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M.H.

answers from Chicago on

I second the Picassa recommendation. I love it. The program is very easy to use. One of the new features of Picassa is web albums, which allows you to create web albums and then others that you allow to view them can download the pictures directly to their computer. It has been great for our extended family.

The other site I use is Shutterfly.com. It does not allow the person to download it, but you can create a collection website and they can order prints (I have paid as little as 12 cents ea.) from the photos you post.

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N.S.

answers from Tampa on

I have used www.clubphoto.com for over 2 1/2 years and LOVE it! The viewer can't download for free, but the prints are only 19 cents regularily and frequently go on sale for 17 cents. You can have up to a 100 seperate albums and the basic membership is free - I have the platinum and pay 20 a year (i think). I just like it because it is different than when I was a child and my mom had to order doubles of every picture to send them out - now my family can order if they want and I don't have to stress about it.

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J.S.

answers from Chicago on

There are lots! Yahoo, photobucket, picasa. Just google it and see which you like best. I use yahoo and love it! Very easy for the most part! Good luck!

Jenni

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E.W.

answers from Chicago on

Walgreens.com is a good place that you can upload the pictures into different "albums" and mark them on the stage of life she is at and they can dowload them free if they want or have the printed at their nearest walgreens. You can all sign up for free and you can password protect your pictures so that only those you give the password to can view them.
Also Webshots does the same except for being able to print them at your local store, but you can download them into a program to be able to make them a wallpaper or screensaver picture.

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K.C.

answers from Chicago on

Here are two recommendations...
www.babysites.com - my girlfriend uses this one and you can customize the site and it's very user friendly. You can also password protect the site so only people you want to view it can. Also a great way to share photos... I can't speak to the download-ability function because I haven't done it, but I know you can.

www.snapfish.com and/or www.shutterfly.com - these are both commonly used sites to share photos. Check them out.

Hope you have success!

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S.D.

answers from Iowa City on

I use two sites. I use Snapfish to download and order for myself, and send the photo albums to grandparents to order their own! And I use babysites.com as my daughters own website. We have used it for two years and love it!! It is free for so much memory, which it took us almost a year to use it all. Then we paid about $35 to upgrade, and after a year have not even used half of it!! You make photoalbums, journals, guest book, etc. It is great..several of my friends have started using it too!!

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S.M.

answers from Chicago on

I use Shutterfly, when I purchase pictures I also save to CDs to keep since we don't have negatives anymore. On my computer to keep organized, I only save the date for the title of the photo. Otherwise, years down the road it's easier to identify when the pictures are from and also, it's easier to keep track of what I have ordered and shared. You can store albums in Shutterfly also and I keep those by date as well. Of course I like to buy the pics so I can have actual photo albums at home. My only problem is I've been so busy recently, I have all the pictures uploaded since September. So, I need to go on and order before summertime. I love digital photography! Even though I haven't ordered since September, everything is organized and it will just take me a little while to order them and then I'll make a fun evening out of putting them in albums and labeling them.

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I.C.

answers from Chicago on

I second Walgreens.com. I use it for those who are not computer savvy and/or have no access to viewing photos online. My husband's 82 year old grandmother doesn't have a computer and whenever we have pictures to show her, I upload them onto the Walgreens site and have them printed up at her local Walgreens and then all she has to do it go and pick up the prints herself.

Otherwise, I use photobucket and Kodak Easyshare because that's the program that my digital camera came with and it's also easy to use.

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H.D.

answers from San Francisco on

Try looking for Picasa2 on-line. I use it for all my digital images, plus I can scan and add them to the program. You can alter pictures and email them directly from the sight as well. Hm, you can't view them as from a website but it is a great program to use to SEND pictures. You could make your own geocities (I think even they charge a fee) site and let them visit it whenever they want. Other than that I am not aware of any sites that will let you use it for free. =/

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B.S.

answers from Chicago on

I don't know if Yahoo! Photo has free downloading, but it is great with relatives because you can order the prints on-line and pick up at any Target - and there is always a Target somewhere.

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A.S.

answers from Chicago on

We use photobucket. It's very easy, you can make folders and it's password protected. You just give your family the password info and then they can sign on an view your pics. Also as another benefit, the site gives you code etc if you ever want to post your pics on the internet for anything, your photos are hosted there and it gives you the code to copy if you want to put them on an internet site.

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V.D.

answers from Chicago on

I know you have received a ton of responses already, but wanted to share a couple of other great websites with you. Dropshots - www.dropshots.com You can upload photos as well as videos for your family to view. It's user friendly too. :) And also Winkflash - www.winkflash.com I use winkflash for ordering my photos, as they have very cheap prices for prints. I also use some of the others mentioned: kodak gallery and sometimes yahoo. All of them you can catergorize into folders (3,4,5,6 months etc.) and is very easy to do.

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J.M.

answers from Chicago on

I use snapfish.com and shutterfly.com and they're both nice b/c you can create all the dif. albums you want and also invite people to view all your photos, on both websites. I've also seen yorkphoto.com and kodak.com but I've never used them, hope this helps you!

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D.

answers from Chicago on

My family and I use snapfish.com you can upload your prints and send them to anyone. You can even order prints from the company. There is a ton of stuff you can do.

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D.P.

answers from Chicago on

Sure! photobucket.com is a great site. You can even order photo's straight from the site as well as just download them.

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S.M.

answers from Chicago on

C. I do it on walgreens web site. You have to pay for pics but they are 19 cents on line. i am sure you can print them out on your own printer. my family and friends are enjoying it. you can pick out the photos you like and have them made at any walgreens. good luck. S. m

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L.T.

answers from Chicago on

Snapfish or yahoo photos.

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A.D.

answers from Chicago on

I love the kodak gallery at www.kodakgallery.com. You can also order your prints online (and so can your relatives) and pick them up same day at participating CVS, Walgreens, etc...

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L.H.

answers from Chicago on

Hi Carol,

All of the sites suggested are all great free photo sharing sites. However if you're looking for a personal family website with your own web address I highly recommend http://www.smugmug.com.

I love it! I did a lot of research myself before deciding on smugmug. I was going to write a big long email about all of the benefits I love, but I think this is easier. Here's a list of all of the benefits:

- Easily add and share photos
* Unlimited storage!
- Say goodbye to ads & spam
- Crop the bad parts
- Enhance the good parts
- Personalize with themes
* Password-protect galleries
- Retrieve your high-res photos
- Organize at light speed
- Buy professional prints & gifts
- Sleep well with backup DVDs
- Post photos in blogs & forums
- Add photos from camera phones
* Have your own URL
- Track unlimited traffic to your photos
- Be notified of comments
- Create private ShareGroups
- Create and join communities
- Make life easy with Web 2.0: Tags, RSS feeds, APIs, and Ajax
- See photos on Google Maps
- Network with friends and family
- Find popular photos fast
- View by timeline
- Just $39.95/year

It's so easy to use and it's really fun being able to add the stories that go with the pictures! I get tons of compliments from friends and family about how fun it is to be able to keep up with our family... and especially our now 6 month old boy Jonah!

Here's my site if you'd like to check it out: http://hackbarth.smugmug.com. You can use this coupon code for $5 off: OShGVxo4byOBk. For each friend you refer you get $10 off so I actually haven't had to pay for my site for a couple of years now!

Feel free to email me if you have any questions: ____@____.com luck & happy sharing!
L.

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H.L.

answers from Chicago on

Whew! You have gotten tons of great ideas. We use www.babiesonline.com. It's awesome because you can tell about the baby and milestones and everything! And it's FREE, as long as you update the site every 90 days. Add one picture or something. I change the backround to the next holiday. It's great though. And they have a guest book for everyone to sign and comment. Lots of fun! Enjoy!!
Here's a look at my family site. I haven't updated pics since winter! LOL

http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/d/djonathon/

Happy sharing!
H.

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N.S.

answers from Chicago on

I use totsites.com. There is also a babysites.com. It's free and they let you download 20 pictures at a time along with growth chart update, journal entries and you can change the home page background each update if you want.
N.

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M.C.

answers from Chicago on

I use www.babyjellybeans.com and love it. I pay $9.95 a month, but we get so many compliments on that site. I have had it up for the last month and already saw that it has been viewed 675 times which means our friends and family are constantly checking it out to see our daughter grow!

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J.S.

answers from Chicago on

Hi Carol~
I swear by Target. You can download your pictures, and you can separate them into individually labeled albums. You can mark them to be private, or shared...or you can even list email addresses for them to be sent to. I have been sharing pictures this way for about 2 years now. It is so much easier than all the emailed attachments.
~J.~

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K.C.

answers from Chicago on

I'm sure you've gotten a million responses - but I personally love Kodakgallery.com. You can upload photos there and your family can log into the site securely and view your photos. They could also order photos that you have shared. Kodak has also recently made available sending the ordered photos to a local CVS store where you can just pick them up. I've done tons of little projects on the site too - greeting cards, playing cards, photo collage, photo book w/story, calendars. Everything has been wonderful quality, except for one thing which they replaced free of charge when I questioned it.

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M.A.

answers from Chicago on

I use webshots. So far I like it!!

M.

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I.K.

answers from Chicago on

I love dotphoto.com There are several reasons I like this site over others. You don't have to join to view the photos, so anyone you send it to can view them. When you download pictures, they automatically put it into a slide show with music that you can send. You can create and organize albums (and albums within albums) and name them as you wish. Prints often go on sale for $0.10 Anway, it's been great for us to share pix of our two boys. Good luck!

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A.H.

answers from Chicago on

Actually, google itself offers an online photo gallery thing through their Picasa photo program. I love using Picasa to sort through my pictures on my computer an then you can upload them to a Picasa gallery online easily through the program itself. The program can be found here: http://picasa.google.com/ , and the gallery area can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com . I use this for my family these days and I know my mother-in-law has just copied pictures directly off of there and printed them at home. They also have an option where people can purchase prints too, I believe. It allows you to display high enough resolution pictures that people copying them off to print is not an problem.

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A.

answers from Chicago on

Go thru Yahoo.com/photos - it's free! It allows you to give friends/family a link to get to the photos.

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

The best place to share videos or pictures is to blog. I use blogger.com. It is free and has been a lifesaver. Family could not always open or receive photos. If they like a photo, they can right click and download the photo.
Our site is
http://www.mcguffage.blogspot.com/

Ahnother option is snapfish.com for photos only.

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J.

answers from Chicago on

Snapfish.com is one online service and KodakGallery.com in another. I've never posted photos, but I've viewed photos other people have posted. Both have passwords so not just anyone can view your photos. BabiesOnline.com allows you to post photos and updates.
Good luck.

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L.S.

answers from Binghamton on

I have used Snapfish.com which is great (even allows for some really good gift ideas) and also shutterfly.com. Both are free to send photos and for folks to download them onto their computer. We use this every month for family far away to see the kids grow.

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C.U.

answers from Chicago on

We use www.shutterfly.com - you can make your own FREE website for your child that your relatives can visit...also you can order unique gifts and pictures etc... from them. We love it. And if your out of towners sign up under you and order pictures then you will get free pictures for yourself. We love it. You will also get 15 free prints just for signing up.

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J.C.

answers from Chicago on

We use kodakgallery.com. You can store, share as an email attachment or send a link to invite others to share. You can also crop, edit, and do so much more here for free. We love it and it has enabled me to share photos with all of my friends across the country and vice versa. I am able to just print the photos of my friends kids right on my computer or if I want a better or bigger one I can order online and have them shipped directly to me. Right now they are only 10 cents a pic to pritn and ship....great deal!!!

J.

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S.H.

answers from Chicago on

We use shutterfly.com and it has worked out great. Its free to join, you can organize different albums and send viewing albums to people's emails that they can keep. If they already have or want to also join shutterfly they can also save the pictures to their own accounts as well so they can print copies of the pics for themselves.

P.H.

answers from San Diego on

I was also going to suggest picasa.

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L.W.

answers from Chicago on

Hi C.---I use and LOVE www.babyjellybeans.com. We've had it since I was pregnant, showing photos of me getting bigger, and then used it in conjunction with the birth announcements, and now for all the milsetones month by month (my son is just turning one this week). It's really great, easy to use (with standard templates, colors, and icons for holidays, etc), and allows you to make separate folders for different ages or holidays or whatever. You can creat a photo page and put up to 20 photos, with captions, on that page. Amd it includes tons of room-I've been using it for a year (and we take a lot of pictures) and we're jsut now getting a warning that we are nearing our limit and might need to buy more disk space. It costs 8.95 a month, which is really cheap for what you get, and you can password protect it if you want, or choose not to. Your web address is usually www.babyjellybeans.com/babysname, but if you pay a one-time fee of something like $30, you can buy a domain name of your own so you don;t need the babyjjellybeans prefix (like ours is www.wadebaby.com (we named it before I gave birth and named the baby). Feel free to go check mine out at www.wadebaby.com if you want to see what it looks like.....the whole family loves it, and my mom is always goign on there and saving the photos onto her own computer so she can print them out at home (alternatively, non-web-savvy people can choose to download a photo and have it printed through shutterfly or something). Hope this helps! L.

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M.M.

answers from Chicago on

www.kodakgallery.com
I like this one because I use the little video camera feature on my digital camera to catch 30-45 second films....when you upload everything to the Kodak Gallery it will also load your videos and people can watch them as part of the slide show. You can order prints from the gallery and either have them sent to you or pick them up at a nearby Walgreens/CVS. Sharing is easy: just type in the email addresses and then you can save them. You can choose to have people create an account and sign in to view your photos (I do this because it shows to signed in to see them in your guest book, but you might chose not too as some people don't like to set up acocunts). You can also get all kinds of merchandise with your photos on there--I did a lot of Christmas shopping that way!
I downloaded the Kodak Gallery photo album software as well because then you can load all your photos on there on- or offline and then click "Easy Upload" and it puts them directly onto the site. This also allows you to pick and chose the ones you want to load first.
This program is FREE :)

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D.K.

answers from Chicago on

Photobucket is a way I share photos.

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A.R.

answers from Chicago on

Snapfish.com is wonderful! It does everything you're looking for and it's free! Enjoy!

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M.B.

answers from Chicago on

Well, I'm not sure about different folders and such, but there is an online photo sharing program called Hello. It's great!!! I use it to share alll our famlily photos, and all you have to do is go to where your images are stored, pick as many as you want and send them over. They are to your family in seconds. Also you can instant message in the program. It's really great. You should check it out. :)

http://www.hello.com/

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G.G.

answers from Chicago on

I use photosite.com. You can upload up to 100 pics for free and more for a yearly fee. It's pretty user friendly. Family and others can right click and 'save picture as'. You can get your own domain and make it private if you wish.

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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

I use Shutterfly which is really easy. We also have a blog for our son and it is great way for family to follow a long. It has a fee but it is worth it. It is $5 per month for the blog and $8 for the blog plus adding photos. It is through typepad.

http://www.typepad.com/?s=google&var2=typepad&Sit...

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K.K.

answers from Chicago on

I use snapfish, and I love it. Relatives can order prints and view all they want. Hope that helps!

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J.B.

answers from Chicago on

I use Yahoo's online photos, only downside is you have to upload 10 at a time but can put as many in a photo album that you want.

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M.P.

answers from Chicago on

This is a great site, and its FREE!

http://www.tabblo.com/studio/

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