On which web site do you like to post pics and which site don't you like?

[irisheileen]

I'm looking for a user friendly web site on which to post my new Alaska pictures. What do you use and why? What site have you abandoned because you didn't like it?

 

Eileen

[12B@C]

Go to the following thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=386752

 

I have had great fun putting together lots of pictures and trip descriptions this way. Sound and video can be added just as well. I like having my own web site without the usual commercials and anoying pop-ups, and the cost can be minimal.

If I can be of help let me know. You can find my email address on the web. www.*****.com

[mjt2890]

I use my own website and album software, really easy.

[cruzegirl]

I use a couple of websites..... I don't like shutterfly and though have used Snapfish, I pretty much stopped..... It kept exiting me and wouldn't let me log in.... I think it has to do with AOL and it was very annoying....

I use mostly webshots.com .... I like how they do the site..... But if you want a site that will give you free URL to link on websites that don't disappear after a week then use photobucket.com.... I like them too.........

[pierces]

I'm looking for a user friendly web site on which to post my new Alaska pictures. What do you use and why? What site have you abandoned because you didn't like it?

 

Eileen

 

I use PBase and Google Web Albums. For presentation and sharing, PBase is my favorite (http://www.pbase.com/pierce324). It is very user friendly and offers a free 30 trial with 10 MB of storage. After that it's $23 per 400MB per year. I have over 2000 photos there and am using half of my space.

 

Google Web Albums was an afterthought for me since I use Picasa (http://picasa.google.com/) for organizing my photos. It's an amazing program that not only keeps track of you photos on your system, but lets you do non-destructive editing and clean-up to them. The web album (http://picasaweb.google.com/pierce324) is an online extension with a one-click upload and is also quite easy to manage.

 

Feel free to browse my albums to see how the sites work.

 

Dave

[zackiedawg]

Like Dave, I use two sites. I started years ago with a cheap and simple site, http://www.funtigo.com. For $20, I could load 2,000 photos and make nice, colorful albums for friends and relatives to look. As I started to get into some photography websites, I found that the lower resolution uploads made many of my posted shots show too much compression artifacts and low quality, so I started looking for another site for my 'photographic' posts, and still use the Funtigo site for the regular 'vacation snapshots and friend & family' stuff.

 

I also use Pbase for the better photos - you can upload any file size or picture dimension - they simply tell you how much storage space you have. You can fill it with fewer really big files, or more smaller files. I mostly upload my photos on pbase at 800x600 for posting and linking, but at very high resolution (jpeg compression set to 1). At the moment, I'm just using the $23 annual for 400MB of space...I've still got tons of space even with 300 photos so far...and I can always reduce the quality a bit if I need more space. You can always add on more storage space if you need it.

 

I like both of these sites. Funtigo is easier for a beginner - very simple to make background graphics, titles, colors, etc. PBase is more advanced - higher quality, and much more capable graphically and design-wise. Uploading photos to both is fairly simple.

 

Feel free to check out either of my galleries for examples:

 

http://www.zackiedawg.funtigo.com

http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

[irisheileen]

But if you want a site that will give you free URL to link on websites that don't disappear after a week then use photobucket.com.... I like them too.........

I'm not sure what you mean. What disappears?

Eileen

[irisheileen]

Are any of these sites "secure"? Meaning that if I didn't want anyone to copy my photo it would be safe.

Eileen

[cruzegirl]

Eileen,

What I mean by the photo disappearing is that sometime I've linked a photo from webshots and 2 weeks or 1 month later, or less, it's gone.... All that's there is a red X.. But with photo bucket, it's free and it's a user friendly link that you put in your post and your photo comes up... It's great.....

As far as the sites being secure, with webshots, if you make it public then others can view your album/photos.... And they can download the photos.... Or you can make it private and they can't do it.... download your photos that is.....

[zackiedawg]

There is a basic limitation to how secure you can make an online photo. Some of these sites can disable the basic ways to copy your photo - in http://www.pbase.com you can disable the right-click command so a person can't right click and copy it, and cannot download the target file unless on an approved list. Unfortunately, there are other ways to copy your photo and most computer savvy people know this.

 

The limitation is: If they can see it, they can save a copy of it. Nothing you can do about that!

 

Two ways to help would be (1) Watermark your photos, (2) Post lower resolution versions.

 

Neither solution is perfect, but they help. If you watermark your photos, they don't look as nice on display, with a name or copyright plastered across it, but it does make it harder for someone to use it illegally. They either have to accept the watermark, or photoshop it out (not easy).

 

If you display lower res versions, it limits what the photo can be used for - large prints or sales to stock agencies and such are unlikely, because they require higher resolution. I use this method myself - I only upload my photos at 800x600 size. I know someone can copy if they wanted to - but they likely won't be selling my photos at a photography exhibit, because they couldn't get much more than a 4x6" print from that resolution. And stock agencies can't do much with 800x600, other than simple web posting.

 

If you disable right clicking, add a copyright statement, and limit the resolution of your uploaded photos to 800x600, it is fairly unlikely that you'll be the victim of any serious deception.

[mjt2890]

You cannot secure your photos online. If someone wants a copy, they'll get it. Disabling right click is a deterent, but you can still get it. There isn't a reliable way (that I've seen) that prevents someone from stealing them. Then again, my photos are nothing special and I don't mind mind people downloading them.

[DJan07]

I like to use Webshots. It's easy to use and my pictures are accessible to everyone.

 

Derek

[alirat]

I use webshots, for reasons that have already been mentioned. Its easy for visitors to use. Theres a mix of pro's and 'community' photogs - I can enjoy and be in awe of the other members but not feel totally out of my depth as there are other less experienced folk too!

 

I tried PBase but I just couldn't get the hang of putting the different albums together. There is a wealth of fabulous work there and some amazing bird photography! I didn't feel my work was of a high enough standard.

 

I also post my photos in the lowest res that makes acceptable viewing on the screen (took a while to get the balance right) and makes printing not really an option. My photos aren't *that* good, but they are mine and I wouldn't want someone printing them off.

 

Also Webshots can create links - example:

 

[bruce-r]

I like to use Webshots. It's easy to use and my pictures are accessible to everyone.

I hate webshots. I don't like the slow speed it takes for the pages to load and I don't like not having control over the size of the photo displayed.

 

I have my own web host and use software to make my own photo galleries. That way I have total control over what it looks like. I optimize my images so that they load faster. Most important, I don't post 100's of photos in a single gallery. I'm selective about the photos I post so the gallery page is about a specific subject or event and only shows the higher quality photos I took, not all the photos.

 

Example photo Gallery

 

I agree with all that zackiedawg said about protecting you online photos.

 

Allenhost offers a great photo hosting service for $33 a year. I use them for as my webhost for $55 a year.

[Leo Jay]

Oops, never mind. Misread something.

[CVL105]

I use shutterfly dot com and love it. You can email your photo albums to whoever you like and it's all free. And as far as I know, there's no limit as to how many pictures/albums you upload. And what makes this site even better, is that you can order prints right off the website. You resize the photos, fix any red eye, and crop it any way you'd like. You tell them how many of each picture and what size you want and they mail it to you. All for VERY cheap. And they are always having specials, % off, certain #'s of free prints, etc.