When it comes to sharing digital photos, there’s a seemingly endless supply of online vendors who are all too happy to offer their services to you. Facebook is certainly the most obvious choice since most of your loved ones are also already members -- but not everyone feels comfortable with the social networking giant’s privacy policies. Here’s a look at eight places we like to frequent -- and MacLife.com readers are encouraged to share their favorites in the comments!
Everpix
The newest kid on the photo sharing block is Everpix, currently a free beta service that promises to put “all your photos in your pocket.” The cloud-based host aims to make uploading and curation of your digital photos effortless thanks to Mac uploader software as well as a free iPhone app. Set your sources and Everpix will continuously add new photos to the service, organized by year -- and you can even connect services such as Instgram, email, Flicker and Picasa to add photos uploaded to those services, then share anything to Twitter or Facebook with ease. Since Everpix stores your photos on their servers, sharing images won’t eat into your data plan -- simply upload from your iPhone while on your home Wi-Fi, then share on the go with just a tap.
Perfect for:Those on the go, who prefer to upload everything and choose what to share when the urge strikes.
The social networking giant everyone loves to hate, Facebook is without a doubt one of the most popular places to share photos, especially for a younger generation of upwardly mobile users. Now that The House That Zuckerberg Built has done some privacy belt tightening, Facebook is indeed a fine place to share, especially when it’s so easy from the company’s official iOS app as well as a long list of others -- including a number of the services we recommend here. The bottom line is that it’s pretty likely your family and friends are already using Facebook, which means you’ll all enjoy looking at each other’s photos without spending a cent, and while saving a bunch of trees in the process.
Perfect for:Families and friends who are likely to already be using the service.
Flickr
These days, Flickr is about the only thing keeping Yahoo in the social, which the service calls “almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world.” Flickr touts two main goals: To help people make their photos available to the people who matter, and to enable new ways of organizing them. They mostly succeed, given that they rank a close second only to Facebook in terms of the number of applications -- mobile or desktop -- that tap into the service, which increasingly is about uploading video as well as images. Flickr is also a haven for privacy nuts, offering one of the most complete ways to upload content without sharing it with another living soul -- if that’s your cup of tea. While the basic service is free, Flickr Pro adds unlimited uploads, storage, sets and collections, access to original files, ad-free browsing and sharing, statistics and HD video uploading and playback, all for a mere $24.95 per year (or $6.95 for three months). Buy two years and save even more!
Perfect for:Privacy junkies, pro photographers, remaining Yahoo! fans and those who occasionally want to upload HD video.
Path
Despite the recent scandal over uploading users’ contacts without explicit permission, Path continues to be one of our favorite ways to share photos. Strictly a mobile-only affair, the iOS and Android clients can share images (as well as video, from iOS only) with up to 150 of your closest friends, who can then comment or love/smile/wink/etc. at your photos, which you can cross-post to Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or Tumblr. The only downside is your Grandma isn’t likely to ever upgrade to a smartphone to join your Path, but she can always tune in through one of the methods mentioned above. Path also offers a wide range of cool filters to apply to photos, which includes those in your Camera Roll as well as the ones you shoot inside the app. Don’t fall for the Instagram hype: Path is where the cool kids are hanging out these days.
Perfect for:Co-workers, those who shun Facebook and anyone who prefers to keep their sharing entirely mobile.
Phanfare
One of the earliest photo sharing services build around the iPhone, Phanfare still offers a comprehensive checklist of features for budding photographers. That said, it’s the only one of the services listed here that doesn’t have a free plan -- instead, users pay $29 per year to have your own subdomain with unlimited photos and videos in an ad-free environment. Phanfare isn’t shy about touting the fact it’s iOS friendly, and also offers plugins for Aperture, Lightroom, Picasa and iPhoto. Albums can easily be shared to Facebook or Twitter, and Premium or Pro packages are also available for $99/$199 per year, respectively.
Perfect for:Apple huggers, users who believe a paid service is better than free ones, photographers who want to share from their own subdomain.
Picasa
Hate iPhoto? Prefer Google+ to Facebook? Then you’ll probably love Picasa, the search giant’s combo desktop software and web-based photo service, which has become more intimately intertwined with Google+ now that Mountain View’s social network of choice can automagically upload photos and videos from mobile devices. Free users only get a paltry 1GB of cloud storage, but those Google+ uploads don’t count against it, sort of the way iCloud’s Photo Stream has its own separate storage online. Google offers one of the best deals around, with an additional 20GB costing a mere five bucks a year -- if you’re a high roller, you can even get your own 1TB space in the cloud for $256 per year as well. Best of all, that storage space can be shared between Gmail, Google Docs and Picasa Web Albums, so it’s not just all about the photos.
Perfect for:Lovers of the Googleplex, Android users, those averse to software from Apple.
Shutterfly
If you’re more interested in printing your memories than sharing them, Shutterfly remains one of the best ways to accomplish this task. With free, unlimited picture storage (sorry, no videos), Shutterfly pushes your full-resolution photos to the cloud using clients for iPhoto, Picasa, Facebook and iPhone or iPad apps as well as the company’s new Express Uploader for Mac or PC. Prints and photo gifts are decently priced and the company is extremely aggressive with emailed coupons and promotions. Their shipping costs might be a tad on the high end, but where else are you going to make that personalized iPhone case? Shutterfly also includes Share sites, their way to share albums or projects with loved ones, free of all the noise that comes with social networks.
Perfect for:Moms, parents or Grandmas, those who prefer printing to sharing.
SmugMug
Last but not least, SmugMug offers an alternative to Shutterfly for those who prefer to indulge in photo prints, while offering 50 gorgeous themes for sharing them online. Like Phanfare, SmugMug isn’t for freeloaders -- they offer Basic, Power and Pro packages priced at $40, $60 and $150 per year, with slightly more expensive monthly options available as well. The Basic package won’t let you do video at all, but it comes with a fairly substantial list of features just the same. SmugMug also offers a pretty slick iPad app as well as Camera Awesome! for the iPhone/iPod touch, which expands your horizons with sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others, complete with filters and features found on paid camera apps.
Perfect for:Power users looking for the best feature set, as well as those who want to customize their shared photos with themes.
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