Storing Pictures in Online Photo Albums

Online photo albums make sharing and storing pictures very convenient. In addition to being able to share personal albums online with friends and family no matter where they live, many online photo albums allow visitors to order prints of their favorite photos.

Benefits of Storing Photos Online
Online photo albums have a number of benefits. Convenience is one of the main reasons online photo albums have become so popular. Online visitors can check the album whenever they wish. Similarly, relatives don’t have to wait for photos in the mail anymore: they can go online and immediately see pictures of their family members.

Personal albums online are also economical. While many online photo albums are free, those that require subscriptions tend to charge only a nominal fee. Conversely, film development and prints can cost avid photographers a large amount of money.

Storing pictures online provides you with an additional degree of security that defends against the potential loss or destruction of your precious photos. Even if you back up your printed photos on CDs, discs can still be damaged, scratched or stolen. However, if something happens to your archived photos, your personal albums online still hold a copy of your pictures.

Subscription-Based versus Free Online Photo Albums
Storing pictures online can be done through free online photo albums or subscription-based sites. Free online photo albums are fine as long as you simply want to display your photos online. However, free online photo albums also have some limitations.

Available space for storing picture is often limited on free online photo albums. This isn’t a problem if you post only selective pictures. However, you can run out of room in the album if you want to post multiple shots.

Free online photo albums may or may not allow visitors to order prints. However, free photo albums online often do allow people to order prints, as it’s one way the site makes money.

In comparison, subscription photo albums online usually offer larger storage space than free albums. While visitors to your online album can always order prints, some sites will develop film and automatically upload the pictures if subscribers send in undeveloped film.

Bulk uploading is a handy feature often seen in subscription online photo albums. Instead of uploading pictures one at a time, multiple pictures can be added to personal albums in one bulk upload. Free online photo albums don’t always offer this feature.

Some subscription online photo albums support camera phone pictures that are emailed from the camera phone to personal albums online. Not only does this provide almost instant access to the photos you’re taking, it also frees up memory on your phone by automatically storing pictures online.

Other features sometimes offered by subscription online photo albums include:

• calendars made from photo albums
• customized personal albums
• forums to meet other photographers
• greeting cards made with personal photos
• image editing tools
• no advertising
• photo book ordering
• photography tips
• poster-sized prints.

One word of caution if you choose to use free online photo albums. Free sites can suddenly disappear, as they are limited in how they make money. You could fire up the computer only to find that the site that was storing your pictures online has gone belly-up, taking your photos with it.

Popular Personal Albums Online
The online photo album you choose depends on the features you find most attractive. While some sites offer more storage space, others provide users with more editing tools or printing options. Pricing on yearly subscription fees, prints and other services varies greatly from site to site.

If you chose to use free online photo albums, check how long they’ve been active. Free online photo albums such as Yahoo photos are less likely to disappear than smaller ones. In fact, Yahoo offers one of the better free personal albums online, including bulk uploading and the option of ordering prints.

Subscription photo albums online vary in the services they offer and their value for money. Storage size may range from as little as ten megabytes to unlimited storage. Some subscription sites may even offer the first year free to new users. Depending on the size, yearly subscriptions can range from $5 to as high as $100. However, the average cost of subscription photo albums online ranges from $15 to $25 a year.

Storing Pictures Online Safely
Privacy and safety are issues when storing pictures online. Both subscription and free photo albums online should offer the option of making your pictures public or private. If you select public, anyone (friends and strangers alike) can see your pictures and may even be able to order prints.

Private settings restrict viewing to visitors you allow to access personal albums online. While some people enjoy showing the world their online photo albums, others prefer to share personal albums only with family and friends. Regardless of your preference, it’s likely that there is an online photo album that will meet your specifications!