Kim Komando
I have used Yahoo! Photos for years. I just learned that they are shutting down. They will transfer my photos to Flickr, Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Shutterfly, Snapfish or Photobucket. Which one has the best free service? I want to be able to share my photos with other people by sending a link.
Before I talk about the other photo-sharing sites, let me address what’s happening with Yahoo! Photos.
Yahoo! will begin closing Yahoo! Photos in June. It will focus on Flickr, a photo-sharing site it purchased in 2005.
This is sure to frustrate a lot of long-time users of Yahoo! Photos. But Yahoo! will help its members transition to a new photo-sharing site.
Obviously, Yahoo! would prefer to switch members to Flickr. But, it will offer several other options. You can also select Snapfish, Shutterfly, Kodak EasyShare Gallery or Photobucket.
You must create an account with one of the other sites. Once you verify your Yahoo! information with the site, it transfers your photos.
Now, the move could take some time. This all depends on the site you choose. Your photos will be put in a queue for transfer. The more people transferring, the slower things will be.
Yahoo! says that it will officially close in the fall. So you have some time to choose a new site. But don’t wait too long. When Yahoo! Photos closes, everything will be deleted.
I recommend that you start downloading your photos onto your computer immediately. But you already have them on your hard drive, right?
There could be hiccups with the transfer of your photos to another site. I wouldn’t want to run the risk of losing all of my photos.
Okay, now on to choosing a new photo-sharing site.
Choosing a new photo-sharing service will be a difficult task. They all have different features and restrictions. One isn’t necessarily better than another. It’s a matter of preference.
But it helps to know what you’re getting into before you make the switch. All of the services offer free accounts. I would sign up with all of the services now so you can test them.
The way they work will differ from Yahoo! Photos. But some may be more intuitive to you than others.
I’ve assembled information to help sort out features of the different sites. Keep in mind that this information refers to the free membership option. Many offer a paid service with more options. All of the sites let you invite others to view your photos.
With Flickr, you can upload up to 100 megabytes of photos each month. This refers to bandwidth, not storage; deleting photos won’t increase the amount you can upload.
File size is limited to five megabytes. Only small images are accessible. However, the originals are saved in case you upgrade to Flickr Pro. Also, you’ll only see your 200 most recent photos; if you upgrade your account, you’ll see the rest. Your free account will be deleted after 90 days of inactivity.
Flickr has a strong sense of community. Its users like to comment on others’ work. The photos also have more of an artistic bent.
Shutterfly gives you unlimited storage and no file size limit. It says that it has never deleted a photo. You can create slide shows and add captions to your photos. Of course, Shutterfly promotes products such as prints and calendars.
Snapfish also gives you unlimited storage. High-resolution images are kept for three months so you can make large prints. Then the photos are converted to a lower resolution, suitable for small prints.
Snapfish sells prints and other photo-related products. If you don’t make at least one purchase a year, your account is deleted.
Kodak EasyShare Gallery gives you unlimited storage. It does not specify a limit on file size. Like Snapfish, it deletes your account if you don’t make a purchase once every 12 months.
Photobucket is different from the other photo-sharing sites. It is designed to host images for blogs and auction sites.
Photobucket gives you one gigabyte of storage. You also get 25 gigabytes of bandwidth per month. If your photos are viewed a lot, they may not be available for others to view. Your photos are limited to one megabyte in size.
I hope this information helps. I have more photo tips on my site that you may find helpful:Remember to check out my Web site for free photo-editing software. And if you'd like, visit my scrapbook to see some of the photos I have online.
Kim :)
