UC Davis Information & Educational Technology

Bits & Bytes

Got Digital Photos? Then Share 'Em!

Published in The Aggie on February 15, 2006

In a previous column, we mentioned a few tips and some campus resources to help you on your way toward becoming a top-notch digital photographer. Well, now that you've got some excellent photos uploaded to your computer, here's the lowdown on the next step: sharing them with friends and family, or getting some prints for your real-life photo album.

Share Those Photos!
Friend sites such as Myspace.com and Facebook.com often allow you to upload photos that other users can see by accessing your member profile. However, many of these sites require visitors to create an account before they can see someone's photos. Photobucket.com is one of the many free photo hosting sites on the Internet (some others are mentioned later). While Photobucket does not offer printing services, it allows you to create open photo albums anyone can access, or exclusive albums locked by a password.

If you have one of the newer iPods or media players with a color screen, you may be able to store and view photos on it. Check your owner's manual for instructions on how to find and use this feature. It's pretty easy to set up and some even allow you to connect the player to a TV so, at Easter, you can show off your pics on Mom and Dad's plasma.

Print Those Photos!
Many Web sites offer printing services in addition to free photo sharing. Such services range from single prints to all sorts of T-shirts, decorative photo mugs and calendars. Check each Web site for pricing and available products. Here are a few popular sites, along with some features that make each unique.

  • Shutterfly.com: Here you can edit photos by resizing them or removing effects like red eye.
  • EZprints.com: This site turns your photos into custom postcards you can send to friends and family.
  • Snapfish.com: Got a camera phone? No problem! Snapfish allows you to upload and print photos from your phone.
  • KodakGallery.com: A neat feature of this site turns your photos into background images you can download onto your phone.

Most drug or film processing stores offer services in which you can print from your camera's memory card. Check the phonebook for these shops in the Davis area. Many newer computers also come with software that links directly to photo-printing services (i.e., Apple's iPhoto), so dig around on your hard drive, and you may be able to order prints of photos stored on your hard drive with the click of a button.

Of course, you can also print these photos at home with your color printer and some photo paper. However, this really limits your printing options (unless you have a mug printer in your apartment), and the cost is often prohibitive: replacement color ink cartridges for many printers are crazy expensive. But no worries--with so many options for photo storage, sharing, and printing, you can often find high-quality services for inexpensive prices.

If you missed our previous article on digital camera tips and techniques, you can read it online at http://scg.ucdavis.edu/bitsbytes/020106.cfm.

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