There's a running joke on my wife's side of the family
when it comes to the digital photos I take at events and
parties. Like insects at the ``roach motel,'' photos go
in, but they don't come out.
My digital camera may be a lot more
high-tech than other family members' old film cameras,
but when they're finished with a roll of film, they take
it to a processing lab and get back a print for every
picture they take. The next time we get together, they
pass them around for everyone to see.
The pictures I take rarely get
passed around. Instead they're safely stored on my PC's
hard drive. Sadly, I don't always get around to the
time-consuming process of editing and printing the
pictures. As a result, no one besides me has yet to see
the pictures I took at a recent anniversary party or
that birthday party two years ago.
One solution, of course, is for me
to be more diligent when it comes to printing and
sharing photos. I always ``intend'' to, and sometimes I
actually sit down at the PC and start the process. But
there is always something that gets in the way. I'm
facing a deadline, I need my PC for something more
pressing, or I run out of photo paper. Cost is also an
issue. Photo paper can be expensive -- as much as $1 a
sheet. I love my relatives, but there's a limit to my
generosity.
Well, along with all the excuses,
there are also solutions.
You can save both time and money
by printing several photos per page. Paint Shop Pro,
PhotoShop and some other photo-editing programs have an
option that makes it easy to automatically lay out
several pictures on a single page. Windows XP has a
photo-printing feature built into the operating system
that allows you to select multiple pictures and then
choose whether to print one print per page or multiple
smaller prints such as 5x7, 4x6, wallet size or even
contact sheets. Sometimes I cut the paper to give people
individual sheets, but I've been known to pass out
collages of photos on a single 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet.
Although printer manufacturers
always recommend that you print photos on their brand of
glossy paper, I've found that generic glossy photo paper
-- which is usually cheaper -- generally works well,
too. I've also gotten pretty good results using plain
paper. One trick is to use good quality plain paper and
then put the photo behind glass or inside plastic
sheaths. The reflection from the glass or plastic gives
the photos a glossy look.
Of course, you can avoid paper
altogether by sending your photos electronically.
You can e-mail photos to friends
and families, but digital photos can take a long time to
upload and download. Even though I have a high-speed DSL
line at home, I try to be considerate of others who will
probably download the photos using a much slower
standard phone modem.
Another option is to post the
photos to the Web so that others can see them and, if
they want a glossy hard copy, they can order them online
and pay for it themselves.
There are a number of services
that let you post photos for free. They make their money
by selling advertising along with high-quality glossy
prints and, in some cases, specialty items with your
photos such as coffee cups, T-shirts and greeting cards.
Windows XP users also have the option to order prints
online directly within the operating system by clicking
``order prints online'' from any folder that contains
digital photos.
All the services support JPEG,
which has become the standard format for digital files.
If your camera or photo-editing software doesn't use
JPEG as its default format, it certainly will convert
them to JPEG. With some services you have to add the
pictures one by one using a tool within your browser.
Others let you download a small application that allows
you to drag and drop multiple pictures from your hard
drive. Services include
Ofoto, MSN Photos,
Shutterfly,
PictureTrail
and PhotoLoft
along with AOL's ``You've Got Pictures'' feature.
MSN Photos has an upload feature
that resembles the Windows Explorer, which is no
surprise considering that the M in MSN stands for
Microsoft. My favorite is Ofoto, which has an even
easier-to-use upload feature that allows you to drag and
drop photos directly from the operating system to the
Web site. AOL also allows you to upload multiple photos
at a time.
All the services allow you to send
an e-mail to anyone, inviting them to look at your
album, and some require friends and family members to
sign up for a free account before they can view your
photos. Setting up an account is free and relatively
easy, but it could be intimidating for some people
although it does add a level of security, allowing you
to restrict access to people other than those you invite
in.
Regardless of how you upload your
pictures, allow plenty of time. Even with my DSL modem,
it took about 30 minutes to upload 45 pictures.
Even though I have my own Web
page, I still use these services because it's easier to
upload and manage photos on these dedicated photo
services than to load them on to my Web site. To make
life easier for the people I want to share photos with,
I put a link to the photos on my Web page so visitors
don't have to remember or type in the long and ugly URLs
that the photo services assign for individual photo
albums. For example, the photos from my sister's recent
wedding are on Ofoto, but you can find a link at her
page,
www.carolmagid.com.
Before posting any photos to the
Web, consider the privacy implications, especially with
pictures of kids.
