Find out which photo storage and sharing site best suits your needs with this deep dive into the top online photo services.
If you're like many others (including me), you habitually turn to
Facebook when you want to share photos online. Arguably, that's
perfectly fine -- after all, your photos are not only stored in a place
you access often, but are quickly shared with friends and family who use
the social network (so, basically, everyone).
The downside? Facebook doesn't offer much beyond tagging, likes, and
comments. What if you want to order prints? Or search for photos by
date, name, or tag? Most importantly: what happens when you get sick of
Facebook and cancel your account?
The benefits of storing and sharing your photos on a dedicated
photo-storage site are clear. Not only do these services offer more
robust organizational tools, editing, and privacy options, but you also
have the option to order prints, and, for the avid photogs, sell your
prints to the masses.
In this guide, we'll compare five of the most popular photo-sharing
and photo-storage sites, and take a look at some advanced solutions for
professional photographers who are looking for more storage and
flexibility.
Dedicated photo storage sites
Flickr
Flickr can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be.
Storage-seekers can organize their photos into albums (dubbed "sets")
and further organize those albums into collections.
But, those who want to dig deeper can take advantage of features like
groups, tagging, commenting, geotagging, social sharing, printing, and
even statistics. Flickr also provides a desktop app, mobile apps, and
Web-based editing for cropping and things like red-eye removal.
Pros: Easily configured privacy settings, fine-tuned
organizational tools, and the capability to upload videos make Flickr a
one-stop portal for all your personal media. Free accounts get a
generous 30MB file size limit and up to two videos per month. There are
accompanying
Android and
iPhone apps for easy mobile access and sharing.
Cons: The free account will not suffice for those who want to
upload their existing and ongoing photo collection. Without the Pro
account, uploaded photos are compressed. No support for raw files.
Some might find the plethora of features confusing and overwhelming.
Groups, contacts, tags, and so on can clutter the interface, bothering
those who just want to store their photos online.
Photobucket
Nearly 10 billion hosted photos says it all: Photobucket
is popular. It offers unlimited photo and video storage (with file size
limits), album organization, Facebook integration, and mobile apps.
There's even an accompanying Snapbucket app for creative editing on the go.
Pros: As a social-rich platform, Photobucket gives you plenty
of ways to share photos with specific friends and social networks. Photo
editing and complementary mobile apps make it easy to access and manage
your photos, no matter where you are. The free account will be enough
for casual photographers.
Cons: Photobucket isn't for everyone -- the site hits you over
the head with social features and the community is saturated with
teenagers hosting GIFs and cutesy photos for their LiveJournal or Tumblr
blogs.
10GB of monthly bandwidth and a 5MB limit for photos on the free
account simply won't cut it for high-res photos. And avid photographers
who need to host large photo files will be displeased with the
20MB-per-photo limit on the paid account.
Snapfish
With unlimited photo storage and a dead-simple interface, Snapfish
has had no problem attracting millions of active users. Although prints
and products like photo books take center stage, Snapfish also offers
basic photo editing, albums, sharing features, and groups for those who
use it as a storage service.
Pros: Users can redownload the full-resolution versions of
their uploaded photos. Aimed at the non-tech-savvy crowd, Snapfish is
ridiculously easy to use, and those who order prints frequently will be
satisfied with the product offerings and the option to pick up prints at
Costco stores.
Privacy options are satisfactory, allowing you to share specific
albums with a unique public link or through social networks like
Facebook. There are Android and iPhone apps as well.
Cons: The user interface looks pretty outdated and overly
emphasizes paid printing services. So much so, in fact, that users are
required to purchase at least one print (9 cents) yearly to prevent
their accounts from being closed.
Shutterfly
Shutterfly, which recently
acquired Kodak Gallery (and its users), continues to grow as one of the
largest photo sites, focusing on printing and products like stationery
and photo calendars.
When it comes to photo storage, Shutterfly is pretty generous: you
can upload as many images as you want at no cost. From your photo
dashboard, where uploaded photos can be organized into albums, you can
order prints, edit photos, organize them, and share albums with others.
Pros: With unlimited photo storage and fun tools for creating
photo projects and editing, it's no wonder that Shutterfly is so
popular. The privacy-conscious will be pleased with the default privacy
options. Shutterfly's printing services are reasonably priced and
convenient, offering in-store pickup at Walgreens and Target.
There are iOS apps, including an
iPad-specific app, and a Roku app.
Cons:
Even though Shutterfly stores full-resolution versions of your photos,
you can only redownload the compressed versions. If you want the
original photos, you'll have to order a CD. For avid digital
photographers, Shutterfly is not an option.
There's no Android app currently available.
Picasa Web Albums
What do you get when you combine "Picasso" and "mi casa"? Picasa,
of course. A flagship Google product, Picasa Web Albums is a photo
storage site deeply integrated with Google+. It offers sharing, photo
editing, album organization, video storage, and a desktop application
for managing your photos.
Users can uploaded an unlimited amount
of photos at 2,048x2,048 pixels, but are limited to 1GB of storage for
photos larger than that. Those who want more storage can subscribe to a
monthly plan starting at $2.49 for 25GB.
Pros: Uploading
photos is a breeze and the interface is easy to navigate. The service
offers just enough features to please most people, but doesn't overwhelm
with printing services or confusing add-ons. Avid Googlers will feel
right at home, as Picasa integrates with other Google services and a
monthly storage subscription also applies to Google Drive.
Unlike some of its competitors, Picasa supports plenty of file types, including PSD, TGA, and some raw formats.
Cons:
The service is somewhat fragmented: Picasa is scattered across Google+,
Picasa Web Albums, and a desktop app. First-time users will certainly
be overwhelmed by the Google+ integration, an issue for those not
interested in using the social network. Finally, there's no way to
redownload entire albums.
Summary of features:
| Flickr | Photobucket | Snapfish | Shutterfly | Picasa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Standard: Free; Pro: $24.95/year | Standard: Free; Pro: $24.95/year | Must purchase 1 print/year | Free | Standard: Free; Pro: starts at $2.49/month |
| Storage | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Standard: 1GB Pro: 25GB - 1TB |
| File types | JPEG, GIF, PNG | GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG | JPEG | JPEG | Standard: Pro: JPEG, TIF, TIFF, BMP, GIF, PSD (Photoshop), PNG, TGA, and some raw |
| File size limits | Standard: 30MB; Pro: 50MB | Standard: 5MB; Pro: 20MB | 5MB | None | 20MB |
| Bandwidth limits | Standard: 300MB/month; Pro: unlimited | Standard: 10GB/month; Pro: unlimited | None | None | None |
| Resolution | Standard: < 2,048 pixels; Pro: original | Standard: < 2,048 pixels; Pro: original | Web-size | Web-size> | Original |
Cloud storage sites
If
all you want is to host your images online somewhere, without any extra
features like photo editing, social networking, and printing services,
your best bet is to use a cloud storage site.
Amazon Cloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, and SkyDrive
are some of the more popular options that are usually focused on
document storage, but we're seeing these services evolve to offer more
photo-friendly features, like Google Drive's thumbnail view.
The
advantage to using these services is that you'll rarely encounter file
size limits, you can upload any file type you like, and the interfaces
are clean and easy to navigate. You'll most definitely need to pay for
storage space, but the benefit is that you can use your cloud storage
for items like documents and videos, too.
Most, if not all, of
these sites offer sharing options and public links, so that you can
share photos with friends and family. Moreover, you'll always be able to
redownload the full version of your photos onto any computer or mobile
device.
Check out our overview of the most popular cloud storage services to find out which one is right for you.
Advanced options for premium users
Premium photo storage sites
Catering to a niche of pro photographers and the image-savvy, a handful
of Web sites offer more robust photo storage platforms that accommodate a
wider range of file types, sizes, and superhigh-resolutions.
Some
of these sites, like SmugMug, even allow you to sell prints and host
your photos in customizable image galleries that are pleasing to the
eye.
Topping the list of premium photo storage sites are: SmugMug, PhotoShelter, and Zenfolio. All three require paid memberships but offer free trials.
Host your own site
For tech-savvy people who want complete control over their photos
without any annoying limitations, a self-hosted site is the way to go.
The alternatives are endless, but in a nutshell, you can purchase a
domain name and a hosting plan, and install a service like WordPress. From there, you'd install a gallery plug-in and tweak it to your liking.
Here,
the advantages are obvious: you decide on the look, feel, privacy, and
organization of your photos. However, if you plan to go this route and
you don't have previous Web development experience, you'll spend many
(fun and challenging) hours learning how to host and create your own Web
site.
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