What to Look for When Selecting a Web Photo Album Program

Not all things are created equal and web photo albums and online photo galleries are no exception to the rule. If you’re interested in creating your own albums then spending some time finding the right program is important. Here are a few things to look for;

Ease

How easy is the program to use? Can you upload multiple images at one time or can you only add a single image at a time. If you have many pictures than having a bulk upload option is going to save you a lot of time and hassle.  You’ll also want to know how easy it is to share your images and get the images out of the albums for things such as printing or sharing on social media.

Cost

This is the bottom line for many people. Before deciding understand all of the costs of a program, even if it’s free. Is it truly free or are you given a certain amount of space for free and then required to purchase more space. This might not be a problem for some but for other people this may not be desirable.

Limits

How many web photo albums are you permitted to create and what is the maximum number of pictures that can be in any album? Having a small number now may not seem like an issue but when you’re trying to save your 1000 holiday images and only allowed 500 it can be a big issue.

Security

What types of policies does the company have in place to protect your photo galleries? Read the agreement very carefully to make sure that it is completely in line with how you want your images to be accessed and potentially used. If you have any questions call before signing up and adding your pictures. You’ll also want to know what kind of backup policies they have so that your pictures and information aren’t lost. 

Visual Trends Not to Ignore

Digital marketing is important for every business and every year it becomes more and more important. A large part of a good digital marketing strategy is having amazing visual content. This is nothing new. Remember the adage, “ a picture is worth a thousand words,” well it’s still true! People tire quickly of line after line of text – especially when a single image can convey the same thing. Some statistics show that;

• images on Facebook receive 53% more Likes, 104% more comments, and 84% more click-throughs on links than text alone. (Kissmetrics)
• images on Twitter increases retweets by 150% and click-throughs by 18% (Buffer)
• Research on the human brain shows that almost half of it is involved in visual processing. Not only that but we can interpret a visual image in one-tenth of a second.
• Images are shared more often and appeal to a wider audience than text alone. 

It’s pretty evident that the power of an image not only makes a difference with digital marketing but in general!

There are constant improvements being made with visual images – that means plenty of ways to beef up your web photo album! Some general trends to consider;

• Let personalities show through
• Consider using infographics to convey information that would otherwise be presented in standard text
• Use editing tools to create the best quality and most appealing images possible. 
• More and more people are accessing information via tablets and mobile phones where reading is more difficult – this makes the power and need for visuals even greater. 

Social networks are placing more and more emphasis on images, increasing sizes and giving them more weight. Be sure your images are resized to make the biggest impact. Don’t forget to keep fully loaded online photo galleries so that you or your social media manager can access all of the images that are available for use in your web photo album.

8 Ways for Parents to Use Online Photo Galleries

While most people think that photo albums are just a place to dump and drop all of the images saved on your camera it can be so much more! If you’re a parent (and even if you’re not) here are some other ways online photo galleries can be maximized to make the most of them.

Keep Kids Artwork

You know how your kids’ folder comes home at the end of the week crammed full with art projects, drawings, and other accomplishments. You probably wonder what you’ll do with all of those papers. It seems wrong to just throw them away but…. Now you don’t have to! Scan or photograph your favorites and upload them to an album. Title and date it so that you can remember how old your child was. You can even add other information so that when you recall it years down the road you’ll remember the story behind the project.

Keep Track of School Pictures

Every year children have their portraits taken at school. These are great gifts to hand out to grandparents, aunts and uncles. Make sure you also scan one and add it to your web photo album. Keep one album that’s just for school pictures and by the time your child graduates you’ll have every picture there at the click of a mouse.

Birthday Albums

When birthday time rolls around, don’t miss a moment. Capture the party, events during the day, and other details that make that birthday special. You might include a photo interview series with your child on their favorite things- don’t forget to include pictures of them!

Vacation Memories

Vacations often yield hundreds of pictures and left on their own they simply take up space. But if you create an album dedicated to each vacation and make sure the right images go where they belong you’ll have a nice reminder of the time you spent.

Identity 

There’s nothing more frightening than the thought of a child going missing. To be prepared have photo galleries for each child featuring a recent image (that you regularly update), scans of their finger prints, and pictures of any identifying marks they have on their body (within reason). If something ever were to happen you have the information ready immediately and can provide it to the proper authorities.

Share Special Events with those Far Away

So many families are spread all around the world so rarely is it that everyone can get together for special events. Instead build a web photo album for your special event and share it with everyone! Encourage other family members to do the same things so you can enjoy their events too.

Learning Activity for Kids

There are hundreds of ways kids can use photo galleries to learn. Whether it’s creating their own stories, researching a project, or learning to read the options are endless.

Creating Holiday and Birthday Lists

Do grandparents always struggle to find the things that your child wants for the upcoming holiday? Even if they’re given a list chances are they won’t know what half the things on the list are. Have your child find pictures of the things they would like and create a visual wish list to make shopping easier for everyone. 

4 Ways to Use Online Photo Galleries in your Office

You’re familiar with having picture frames and maybe even albums in your office, but what about web photo albums FOR your office? There are lots of web sharing options and apps available for every purpose but sometimes all you need is a simple way to share images across the office. This is why using online photo galleries can be so powerful. Today’s companies are spread over large spaces, and often include many people who telework from home. They need a way to share without having to come into the office.  Here are a few ideas.

Share Project Documents

How many times have you been working on a project with another team or even a single individual and needed a piece of information or an image that they have on their computer. Today more and more people telework making it much more difficult than just walking down the hall to retrieve the image. Create a web photo album for each project you’re working on and upload the shared documents there. This way both people have easy access to the information.

Create an Image File for Social Media Manager

Your social media manager plays a pivotal role in your organization. The role often needs input from all of the different departments, not just one. In order to provide them with stories and information to share, there needs to be a central repository to gather information. Create separate photo galleries for each department or team and be sure to keep it loaded with fresh images and information that they can pull from. This will make everyone’s job easier and keep the public and potential clients excited and interested in what is going on at your office.

Employee Directory

Do you have a large office this is spread out either on different floors, in different areas, or in different geographical locations? People don’t often have the opportunity to meet those who work with the organization. If they had a place to get to know people, or search for those with the skills they need for a project it might make the business run even better. Create an employee directory using a web photo album! Each person can share a brief biography in the comments and provide a contact email.

Integrate into Presentations

Studies have shown that more and more people gravitate to visual images instead of text. For your next project build up photo galleries to illustrate your points and highlight your findings instead of relying on a long-winded written report. Images can make any report stand out and have a bigger impact. When materials are available for everyone it makes creating these visually appealing components of a presentation easier.

These are just a few of the ways that businesses can use web photo albums to make their businesses work better. Whether you use a remote service or one that is only accessible via a private intranet connection, sharing means more than putting together photo galleries of your latest vacation. They truly can make day to day operations run more smoothly and effectively.

Tips for Parents on Split Schedules

In today’s world many parents work on a split schedule, with one working during the day and another working at night. In their off hours they care for the children. While this reality is not always easy on a relationship it can be the only cost effective way for parents to raise their children without paying huge amounts for childcare or trusting their children to someone they don’t know well. Technology has made it easier than ever to keep in touch and share day to day life. One way to do this is by having a web photo album.

Maybe you and your spouse like to text images of your children to each other while one parent is at work. Why not upload those images to a web photo album instead? That way the images are preserved in one place and you can call up the images anytime you would like!

You could also create an album that is dedicated to shopping. Upload pictures of your favorite brands or varieties of things so that your partner knows exactly what you want when they are doing the shopping. This can save both of you a lot of time and stress. You’ll get exactly what you want and your partner won’t have to worry about what they’re looking for – it’s right there!

Of course working on split shifts also means one parent will likely miss out on some of the kid’s events. Online photo galleries are the perfect spot to upload all the images from that event so that both parents are able to enjoy them, even if they weren’t able to be there in person.

These are just a few ideas to make online photo galleries work for you and your family. What other ideas do you have that can make the struggle of working split shifts easier?

You’ve made a web photo album…now what?

You’ve been diligent about keeping your online galleries updated with images and descriptions and have created a wonderful gallery that you’ll be able to enjoy for years to come. But, what else can you do with these images and photo albums?

Share Them!

You may want to keep these images all to yourself but you surely have family and friends that would like to see them as well. Send them an email and share the link to your web photo album so that they too can see what you’ve been up to and how the kids have grown!

Gifts

Use your images to create personalized gifts. You can design your own photo book and have it printed – be sure to include lots of text and personalization as well so that the recipient has all of the back story of the images.  You could additionally include quotes that you like or scripture verses – whatever speaks to you and you know the recipient would love. Calendars are another great way to use photographs that you have taken. They don’t have to be of people, they could be landscapes you loved or food that you made. Select high quality images in a high resolution that will print well in a large size.

Start a Business!

Do you take excellent pictures? You could have them printed onto paper, t-shirts, key chains or other items that can then be sold at a local market or art shop. There are many places online that also offer a space to sellers who want to sell their artwork. You may need to invest some money to have items made before they’re sold but if you start small you may soon begin to see a good profit!

Whatever you do don’t let your web photo albums lay idle! Make use of them so that everyone can enjoy your hard work. 

Great Image Editors to Help You Enhance Your Online Photo Galleries

Few of us possess the natural talent to consistently take amazing photographs. Even the best professional photographer’s user editing programs to make their images even better. There are many different programs for all levels of comfort with digital editing and what you want to accomplish. Take your online photo galleries from good to great by using one of these programs.

PicMonkey

This is a free service available online. You’ll be able to upload only a single image at a time and it has basic services like resizing, recoloring, and retouching. You can overlay text onto the images, include frames, and “stickers” to make your pictures enhanced even more. Even those brand new to image editing will be able to easily use the program. It also offers a royale option for a small fee of $4.99 a month for even more editing tools and options.

Canva

Many people who want to do more than simply edit their images but add an additional dimension to them such as posting the image and text online, or creating a brochure or other type image enhanced item like canva.  This program is also free but there are some paid templates and options included. The program still has a few bugs but is a good option.

Adobe Photoshop

This program is not online, making it a good choice for people who want to edit photos without needing to be online. The downside is that it does have a fairly steep learning curve and a high price tag. While some people find it easy to use and quickly learn how to make it work best for them, others struggle with the terminology and plethora of options. If you simply want to do basic photo editing this program is probably overkill – not to mention you’ll have to purchase the program, it’s not free. However, if you want to do a lot of retouching or are interested in learning how to retouch photographs this might be an option worth considering.

GIMP

GIMP is a free, open source photo editing program that is similar to Photoshop. You download this program directly to your computer and do not need to be online to use it. Just like Photoshop there are a lot of options with this program and it has a steep learning curve. The plus side is the program is free so if you don’t like it, you aren’t out any money. If you want the options of Photoshop but aren’t ready to make the big purchase give GIMP a try.

Apple Aperture

If you’re a Mac fan then Apple’s editing software should be of interest to you. This program integrates into the Apple suite easily and costs much less than Photoshop. The plus sides of this program is the quick loading and editing times, and that it efficiently organizing your images until you are ready to upload them to your online photo galleries.

Whichever program you select, spending a little time touching up your pictures for your web photo album will be worth it in the long run.