Advice for sharing photos online with family?

[Ashlotte]

Does anyone have advice on a site where I can share the huge amounts of old family photos I am scanning with family members online? I would want the pictures to remain private from the general public and would want family members to have the option of downloading or copying the pictures. And, of course, being a budget board person, cheap (or FREE) would be best. Anyone know of such a site? Thanks!

 

[motherduck101]

Facebook. All you have to do is be friends with the said family members.. It is easy and free

 

[shoney]

Facebook. All you have to do is be friends with the said family members.. It is easy and free

that's exactly what I was thinking!!! We have family members from 12 up to well...pretty old...they all love it!!!

 

[labdogs42]

Shutterfly. Free and they offer unlimited storage and never delete your files. Create a "share site" for your family and they can make their own photo books and download the full resolution files. Facebook shrinks all of your pictures, so they aren't really print quality any more. FB is fun for sharing, but not prints or downloads.

If you want something more sophisticated than Shutterfly (but not free), use Smugmug. I use both sites and they are fantastic!

 

[KarenAylwood]

Shutterfly. Free and they offer unlimited storage and never delete your files. Create a "share site" for your family and they can make their own photo books and download the full resolution files. Facebook shrinks all of your pictures, so they aren't really print quality any more. FB is fun for sharing, but not prints or downloads.

If you want something more sophisticated than Shutterfly (but not free), use Smugmug. I use both sites and they are fantastic!

Ditto. I use both sites as well. Smugmug is my main backup site and the pictures show in much higher resolution and quality. You can download entire albums for free if you lose them for some reason. I think it's $40 per year but well worth it for me. You can share with anyone you want, and even password protect certain albums for more privacy.

Shutterfly would be the option if you didn't want to pay. Their prints are cheaper I think.

 

[worm761]

We love Shutterfly. We shared the site with the family and created a very generic password that we use for all shared sites. Works fantastic!

 

[dizluvah]

Picasa - through Google - you just need to sign up for a google email account then you can upload/store/share photos for free with picasa - you can set privacy so that anyone you give the link to can see the pictures - ie give link to your family or you can tell them your password - you control security - much better than facebook for mass amounts of photos that you want control over.....

 

[JandJ]

I was going to suggest Picasa through Google as well. I've used that and Shutterfly and found Picasa much easier and faster because you don't have to "upload" your pictures. If they're on your computer you just download Picasa (free) and tell it to find the file your pictures are saved to and it will do the rest. Then just link it to your Gmail account (also free) and you're done.

I also wanted to say, good for you for scanning your family pictures and wanting to share them with your family! My daddy did the same thing and I have the hard copies as well as a CD of all the pictures, as do my brother and sister and it means a lot to have those family memories!

 

[bumbershoot]

Shutterfly Share site.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

I used a shutterfly share site to do this. You can restrict the site to only invited email address. (They will set up their own log in.) As said, too, with a share site, people can download the full resolution pic. (Just make sure to upload the full size not the "quick" shutterfly option.)

Nice thing, too, people could comment on the pictures- who they recognized in the photo/location/etc.

 

[trip]

OP, what scanner are you using? I am planning on doing this and am trying to decide on the best scanner to use.

 

[21hearts]

Shutterfly. Free and they offer unlimited storage and never delete your files. Create a "share site" for your family and they can make their own photo books and download the full resolution files. Facebook shrinks all of your pictures, so they aren't really print quality any more. FB is fun for sharing, but not prints or downloads.

If you want something more sophisticated than Shutterfly (but not free), use Smugmug. I use both sites and they are fantastic!

When I read the OP I thought of Shutterfly's Sharing Sites. You can keep it private but add people to the group. My family has used a Shutterfly Sharing Site for a few different family events now. Everyone loves it because you can download the pictures & they look much nicer then when you download them from Facebook.

 

[labdogs42]

I was going to suggest Picasa through Google as well. I've used that and Shutterfly and found Picasa much easier and faster because you don't have to "upload" your pictures. If they're on your computer you just download Picasa (free) and tell it to find the file your pictures are saved to and it will do the rest. Then just link it to your Gmail account (also free) and you're done.

I also wanted to say, good for you for scanning your family pictures and wanting to share them with your family! My daddy did the same thing and I have the hard copies as well as a CD of all the pictures, as do my brother and sister and it means a lot to have those family memories!

If you want to share pictures with family members, you still need tp u[pload them if you use Picasa and Picasa Web albums. Also, Google charges for additional storage, while Shutterfly does not. I have Picasa Web albums as well, but I like Shutterfly the best for what OP seems to be looking for (although Smugmug really is my favorite)

 

[mdrob214]

I used a shutterfly share site to do this. You can restrict the site to only invited email address. (They will set up their own log in.) As said, too, with a share site, people can download the full resolution pic. (Just make sure to upload the full size not the "quick" shutterfly option.)

Nice thing, too, people could comment on the pictures- who they recognized in the photo/location/etc.

Our family uses Shutterfly share sites. I love it because I can save the full-res photo to my own Shutterfly account and print if I like. I set it up and invited the family via email. They had to create their own Shutterfly account (it's free and they store the photos for free, too--which is nice to know you have back-ups!)

 

[marthachick]

We use Facebook just for browsing but for ordering pix we use Shutterfly. When you order from them the are good about sending discount codes to you. Just ordered a photo book for my parents' 50 anniversary pix. Normally $34.99, on sale for $27.99 & I had a $20 off Thank You code. Shipping was $8.99 or so. And you can stack codes.