Image Storage, Part 2 – Online

Online storage is a huge issue because there are so many different possibilities. For example, you can purchase exactly what the name implies – online disk space. PC World has a review of some storage sites. Some additional referrals to online sites are available from Daily Deals. As long as you have a high speed internet connection, the storage is simple, in fact it often looks like another hard drive connected to your computer. Not only can you store your images, this space is available for any data, including the back up of any of your computer files.

Another approach – use a web hosting service, and save your files as part of a web page. You can get 120GB of storage, a couple of domain names, mail accounts, etc for around $5.00 per month at places like 1&1. There are hundreds of web site host sites, both paid & free. A list of free sites is here. Most of the free sites include their own advertising and other limits, but you can’t beat the price.

Although building a web page is a bit more involved than renting pure storage, it does provide a way to share your images, links, and other information, including a travel blog.

There are a number of online sites designed for photographers. Some provide storage, some are designed as an opportunity to have your work critiqued, and some are designed to provide printing services. Before choosing an online storage site, think about how you plan to use it:

• Does the site alter your files? Some sites compress your files. This will reduce quality – they may still look great on a monitor, but will no longer print well, at least as a large image.
• Do you plan to use the site’s printing services? Some sites do not provide printing services, for others, printing is their primary service.
• Do you plan to link to your images? – this probably needs a bit of explaining. Many sites let you store images, share them with others, but do not allow you or anyone else to link to them from another web site. For example, if you wish to post images at rv.net, you need to put them online somewhere & link to them. Again, if this is something you wish to do, be sure the site allows linking. Some sites only allow linking to paying members.
• How much storage do you need? – Many sites provide a minimal ( 1GB – 2GB) amount of free storage & charge for more. What is the cost per GB of storage once you exceed the free limit? Depending on the file format & sensor size, a typical digital camera produces a 2 – 12MB+ file per image. It doesn’t take long before you exceed the amount of free storage offered by most sites.
• How secure are your files?
  • Are they Password Protected?
  • Are they backed up regularly?
  • Is the company reasonable reliable?
  • The worst case – your online site closes down. I had a number of images stored at Photopoint.com. Read the CNet article on their closing.
• Is the storage permanent or temporary? Read the sites information carefully. Some sites will only store your images for a limited amount of time unless you become a paying member. Others require you use their print services “X” times a month/year to continue storage.

It is worth restating “Is the company reliable?” All it takes to offer these services is a computer, high speed internet access and some disk storage. Unless you check carefully, you may be trusting your files to a kid running a PC in his bedroom. Unlikely, but unless you check for references, reviews, etc, anything is possible. Even with online storage, copies of your images should be kept on a couple forms of local storage.

Click on “Read the rest of this entry” for some links & suggestions.

To help decide which type of site you may wish to use I’ve included a couple of links to review sites as well as some of the sites themselves. These are subjective – there are many more sites offering these services. I have listed a few that I have either used or had recommended. Do a Google search to find others.
Reviews:

Cnet Reviews – Short descriptions of online image storage sites

• Snapshot Storage
  
• Pro Storage
• Printing Services

Top Ten Reviews – More reviews of photo storage sites

Prints:

I know that there are those that disagree with them taking over the retail world, but as far as inexpensive, real photographic printing, it is difficult to beat Walmart. After signing up for the service (free) they will make up to 8″ X 10″ prints ready to pick up in as little as one hour. The quality, at least at the stores I’ve used, is excellent. For the RVer, an added advantage of Walmart – As you change locations, you can use the “store find” feature to choose the nearest store and pick up your prints rather than having them mailed to you. They will store your images as long as you continue to use their printing services. Check their FAQ section for details.

If you are in a position to have prints mailed to you, check Mpix. They provide a full range of printing services including books, calendars, buttons, greeting cards and puzzles as well as mounted or unmounted prints up to 20″ X 30″. They are fast & the quality is great.

Prints & Storage:

There are many sites that combine storage with printing. Smugmug is popular, as is Fotki.

Critiques:

Want to find out how your doing? These sites are not for the faint of heart – although some members are kind to new posters, most tell it like it is. A great way to improve your images as long as you are willing to take criticism. Most are free for a limited number of images, and inexpensive for full membership. Most will compress & resize your image – be sure you use other sites or local storage for your originals.
Check Pbase, PhotoSIG, and Photo.net. Pbase offers the most flexibility (not free except for a 30 day trial) in that it is also a good storage site, offers display templates & printing services, but each site is different. They are inexpensive enough that you may want to join more than one.

Again, although online storage is a great way to add some insurance that your images won’t disappear, read the “Terms of Use” statement for any of the sites. All include disclaimers that they are not responsible for your data. You still need either local or multiple copies of anything you don’t want to lose.

One last caution – if you have salable images you might think twice about posting high resolution versions to an online site. Here is an example of the FOX network using an image from a Flickr storage site without permission. Even low resolution images may find their way onto other web sites. I found one of my thumbnail images from my waterfall web page selling real estate in a nearby community. I’m usually pretty good about others linking to my images, but when they copy the file & move it to their site without permission I’m less than pleased! By the way, it this happens to you, let the host organization know. They are usually very good about taking down copyrighted images from their servers.