Looking for an Image Hosting Site?
Many people place much value on their photographs as they are personal treasured memories of exciting experiences, amusing events, family occasions and happy times with old photographs becoming more important as time passes. Photographs can be mounted, printed and framed to use as ornaments or hung as pictures with many people keeping scrapbooks and photo albums to ensure all their precious memories are stored in one place. Today, with the invention of the Internet, there are many sites available to store your photographs and upload or download them accordingly. This eliminates the need for physical storage in albums and also keeps the photographs in the original format since old photos can fade and discolour over time. Many sites provide free unlimited storage which allows all the photos to be kept in one place and also provide tools for enhancing, cropping, enlarging and adding personal touches which improves the photo as well as increasing creativity. Professional and amateur photographers are using the sites as platforms to show their galleries and work and now many photographs can be shared as well as purchased online making it an easy way for everyone to view them. Below is a list of ten of the best sites for showcasing and hosting your photographs and images and many of them provide facilities for videos as well.
1. Shutterfly.com – http://www.shutterfly.com/
With Shutterfly.com you can share your photos, videos and video-grams with groups or privately as well as on social networking sites. You can create your own private website for your photos and email them to friends as there is free unlimited and safe photo storage. The site promises that photos will never be deleted and if you are not happy, then they will give you your money back. You can decide to make a share site for sports, family, classroom or events and celebrations and the platform is also available in an app.
2. Phanfare.com – http://www.phanfare.com/home.aspx
Phanfare.com offers you the chance to create your own personal video and photo website where you can display your images with slideshows and music. You can try the system for free for two weeks and delight your family and friends with your gallery. The system can be managed from your iPhone or Ipad with the plug-in and you can share all your memories on the major social networking sites. There is no advertising on your albums and you can have up to two GB of uploads in one file.
3. Smugmug.com – http://www.smugmug.com/
Smugmug.com has stunning photo websites for everyone including professionals with dozens of designs to select. You can create your personal site to best showcase your gallery to suit your style with collages and thumbnails amongst the options. There are design tools to help you with your creativity and all your photos are guaranteed safe storage with your own personal password. There are several payment options to select including for business and commercial use and full support is also available.
4. Photobucket.com – http://photobucket.com/
This is another great site to store, share and edit all your photos for free. You can select categories such as art, autumn, cards, families, love, nature, school, sports and travel to name a few and photo backup and photo editing tools are in place to assist you. You can upload your photos to share on the major social media networks and an app for your mobile is also available. There is a blog for contacting other members and commenting on the threads and help is available if you need assistance.
5. Flickr.com – http://www.flickr.com
Flickr.com gives everyone a free terabyte for storing their photographs, which is equivalent to over 500,000 photographs and you can share in full resolution. All photographs are displayed in their original quality and once uploaded can be sent to any device. Galleries can be explored as well as created and many photographs have permission to be used for commercial use under the creative commons licence. The site also provides a blog for contacting other members and commenting is permitted after signing up.
6. Snapfish.com – http://www.snapfish.com
Snapfish.com gives you 20 free prints with your first upload as well as unlimited free storage and sharing. You can create your own photo gifts and maximise your photos by placing them in book format with two-page spreads. Photos can be imported from social networking sites and there are sections for prints, photo books, cards, Christmas cards and home décor as well as special offers.
7. Webshots.com – http://www.webshots.com/
Webshots.com began life as a free wallpaper and screensaver software, but has now developed into a photo sharing site where you can upload your photos to share with your family, friends and the rest of the world. Webshots.com can be downloaded for free if you use Windows and photos from around the world can be viewed and showcased in such categories as animals, travel and nature and help is available on the site if necessary.
8. Imgur.com – http://imgur.com/
Images can be uploaded easily with this site and you can select to view them on your PC or share them with the world. The most viral images of the day can be seen and are sorted by popularity and you can select to paste URLs from the web or upload them from your computer. You can also make memes and see which are the highest scorers as well as view material by individual user.
9. Instagram.com – http://instagram.com/#
Instagram.com is the number one site for image hosting and is ranked at 40 in the world on Alexa.com. It is a fun way to share your photos and videos with friends and family and photos can be transformed and enhanced with filters before posting. The system integrates with the major social networking sites to facilitate sharing and is also free to use. The app can be downloaded from most app stores and support is available if necessary.
10. Tinypic.com – http://tinypic.com/
Tinypic.com allows you to upload pictures and videos to share with your friends and family. You can also email the pictures with many categories available such as animals, art, backgrounds, dance, graphics, holidays, icons, love, nature, photography, retro and sports to name a few. You can choose videos from the most popular or the newest selections or even opt for random videos. There is the facility to highlight the videos and photos that you like the most and singing up is necessary before uploading.
