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Guide to Free Online Photo Albums

Updated March 7,  2001

These days, there are a lot of ways to put photo albums on the web for free, or almost free.  The intent of these sites is to allow consumers to upload pictures, invite friends to view them, send photo greeting cards, and sell ancillary merchandise and services.

These sites vary in their restrictions on amount of storage and their promises of retention, but hey! they're free, so sign up as often as you like. And if you expect any of these sites to preserve your precious photos for ever, you are very foolish indeed.

The list is in approximate order of preference, but each site has special merits and demerits, so your preferences may differ.  If you're interested in their printing services, see  my notes on digital color prints.

Amid all these quite similar competing services, some sites have special features worthy of special note.


 
Club Photo
sample album
sample photo

sample unenhanced scanned roll

sample enhanced scanned roll

free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
inactive albums are deleted after 90 days yes
$1 prepaid mailers. 
less than 4kx4k browser, album manager, uploader application direct links to albums,
direct links original image.
thumbnails, medium size, original image.  Slide show. 4x6 0.45
5x7 1.49
8x10 4.49
print quality: good
A good site.  They have a good model for maintaining a private collection on your home machine, along with a parallel published version on the web.  Living Album, is good management software (free), with an inexpensive upgrade available.  Mailed-in film appeared on the web amazingly fast: 2 days after dropoff.  Scans are the usual 1536x1024 picture disk resolution, but appear to have been sharpened to the limit of acceptability, and other wise "enhanced", which may account for the strangely colored sand in the sample roll. Club photo offered to rescan the negatives without enhancement, so you can judge for yourself.   It's possible to download the scanned images one at time through their interface, or buy a CD for $4.69.  Some prints have a slight blueish cast, and macbeth chart yellow was curiously defective (just like shutterfly).
Ofoto
sample album
sample photo (medium size)
sample scanned roll

 

free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
unlimited Yes 10mb browser,
ftp-like
direct links to albums are possible.
direct links to medium size photos are possible.
thumbnails, medium size.
Original images are not viewable, but are printed.
4x6  0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
frames
print quality: usually excellent
Ofoto has the basics, and everything that is there works.  Their uploader application (Ofotonow) has some bulletin editing capabilities, including a very convenient redeye remover. Their print quality is usually excellent; among the best among those I've tried.  Color and resolution are usually excellent, but exposure  is a trifle over. One batch of prints from Ofoto came back alarmingly blue (see notes). They're also offering inexpensive film scanning;  I was notified that the film had been received a mere 2 days after I mailed it; the actual photos were online 2 days later.  Ofoto tools for rotating the scanned images are pretty inconvenient to use.  Ofoto has no tools for examining the full resolution of the images, so it's hard to evaluate the quality of the scan.
DotPhoto.com
sample album
60 Free prints as a promotion.
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
unlimited free, 6mb browser, email, snail mail direct links to albums thumbnails, small size. 4x6 0.29
5x7 0.95
8x10 2.95
12x18 9.99
print quality: excellent
This web site is a little harder to use, and lacking in some features most other sites have. They mainly seem to want to sell prints and enlargements; and their print quality is exceptionally good. If you're primarily interested in getting prints made from your digital photos, this might be the right place.  Besides free storage and pay-per-print pricing, they are selling what amounts to prepaid print service.  If you anticipate buying a steady stream of prints, it might be worthwhile. The other unique feature of this site is to store accompanying sound clips with photos.
FotoTime
sample album
sample image
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
unlimited yes, 3.49 per roll for developing, scanning and an index print. no apparent limit browser, album manager by invitation with registration, or open access to all public pictures. thumbnails, medium size, original image. 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
 

print quality: very good

This site is relatively uncluttered, and provides the basic services. Their online viewer is good. They're primarily oriented to maintaining a your site through their album manager, which has some problems (primarily, if you rearrange your hard disk, your web albums get deleted), but works.  Prints were generally very good.  Exposure is very carefully controlled, to the extent that some looked dull and lifeless.  Resolution is excellent.  Color is a little greenish.  Some scan irregularities occured in my tests.
PhotoAccess.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
accounts dormant 1 year may be deleted. no no apparent restrictions. Unaltered originals can be downloaded. browser, ftp-like. direct links to albums. thumbnails, small image, medium size image. 4x6 $0.45
5x7 $1.09
8x10 $2.95
print quality: poor.

35mm slide 3.95

slide quality: good

Their prints are lower resolution than other services,  poor (and inconstant) color rendition, and poor exposure control.  Think K-Mart!. Slides were rendered slightly yellow, and resolved about 22 lpm.
Album owners can download the original images.
Photoloft
sample album
sample picture
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
50 mb no no apparent restrictions browser,
ftp-like,
email,
album manager
direct links to albums, direct links to pictures scaled to various sizes. thumbnails, medium size,
full size, zoomable viewer
4x6 0.49
5x7 1.99
8x10 3.99

print quality: very good. 

Their viewer is the best for viewing single images, but is inconvenient if you want to scroll through images at larger than thumbnail size. Uploading can be done from a browser, email, or small ftp-only application, or using Compupic a more elaborate album manager application.  Their upload application is a little buggy, but usable.  Overall reliability of the site has been marginal.  Their prints are perfectly exposed, but their color is a little bluish and some prints were not as sharp as they should be.
Sony ImageStation
sample album
sample picture
50 free prints as a promotion
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
unlimited no 2mb browser, email, drag-n-drop plugin  direct links to albums,
direct links to original images.
thumbnails,  medium size, original image 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 3.45
prints by Ofoto
Sony has apparantly abandoned their earlier, proprietary effort and decided to buy into the business of offering free stuff.  Their album management is from Zing, and their prints from Ofoto.

Zing
sample album
sample picture
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
no advertised limit no 2 Mb browser, drag-n-drop plugin, email direct links to albums,
direct links to original images.
thumbnails, smarter viewers, plug-in slide show viewer 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
11x14 4.99
Zing has a rather nice "slide show" viewer.  You can submit photos by browser upload, email, or a drag-n-drop plugin. They'll sell you the usual photo doodads. They impose a 2mb limit on image size, but don't warn you until you have already exceeded it (and waited for the upload to complete).  They also impose a 10mb per message email limit, which you'll hear about only after you send the heavyweight message.  It's probably a bad idea to use email submission for large images anyway.
PhotoPoint
sample album
sample picture
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
no limit is advertised yes photos are normally, scaled to web size, but that can be overridden.
2kx2k maximum. FTP transfer always resizes.
email, browser, ftp, compupic direct links to albums,
deep links to individual photos (good for ebay!)
fit to various sizes 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
prints by shutterfly
Their online viewer is good. New photos arrive in an "inbox" album after an unpredictable delay for processing, and then must be be moved to other albums using a simple web interface.
The sign-up procedure is minimal - they don't even try to collect demographic info about you. 
Ememories
sample album
sample scanned roll
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
no limit is advertised
free, but their mailers are cardboard with insufficient glue and perforations.
See note.
no apparent limit browser direct links to albums thumbnails, medium size, full size 4x6 0.49
5x7 1.49
8x10 2.49

quantity discounts on prints from physical negatives.
print quality: good

Ememories is being aquired by PhotoWorks (formrly Seattle Filmworks), and as of Feb 24 their site should be regarded as unreliable until the dust settles.  I particularly don't advise sending film to be processed.
This site has only a basic viewer, and less convenient upload and album management.  Overall "less" here, but it works fine.  Ememories is running a promotion for free developing and scanning.  Lead time from mailing (to a relatively local address)  to scanning completed was 6 days.  The scans seem to be standard picture disk quality, with a max resolution of 1536x1024. Analog prints are standard "drug store" quality prints.  A trifle overexposed, but otherwise ok.  Digital prints appear to have been crudely histogram-equalized, which for some photos is just the right thing, but for others (especially those originally with low contrast) can be a disaster.  Digital color had a definite yellow bias.  Unique among all these sites, ememories makes it very easy to download images en masse.
Eframes.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no not stated browser direct links to albums thumbnails, medium size, full size. 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
11x14 4.99
also available framed and in combo pages with multiple images  in various sizes on a single print.
print quality: excellent
This site seems to exist to sell you framed prints, although unframed prints are available in standard sizes up to 11x14; and also in "gang" format with multiple prints of the same photo on an 8x10.  Uploading and ordering are a bit cumbersome for multiple photos. My test prints had a slight blue bias, but were otherwise  excellent.
Webshots
sample album
sample picture
25 free prints as a promotion
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no 1600x1200 browser, email, album manager direct links to albums, direct links to images. thumbnails, medium size, full size 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99

prints by Ofoto

Webshots features basic storage and viewing capabilities. This site is affiliated with excite.com.
Cartogra.com
sample album
50 Free prints as a promotion.
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
100 mb or 100 pictures no 5mb file size browser,
photo manager
direct links to albums.  Cookies required. thumbnails, zoomable slide show 4x6 0.49
5x7 1.99
prints by Ofoto
This site is associated with Hewlett Packard.  It seems to have the good set of standard features.  Their photo manager/uploaded is based on ACDSee.
Free sites:
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
varies, usually multiple megabytes no your choice ftp your choice your choice none

There are many places to get generic free web space these days.  They're not photo sites per se, but any web site could be a photo album with the right HTML.  I found a nifty free program called Albumatic that makes it really easy to create an "album" web site using any of these free services, or for that matter any web space you happen to have access to.  Albumatic automates the process of importing a batch of photos into an album, making thumbnails, adding captions, and exporting the whole shebang to the web site.
PrintRoom
sample album
sample picture
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
200 mb.  inactive albums are deleted after 6 months no no apparent limit browser, drag-n-drop plugin direct links to albums,
direct links to photos are possible
thumbnails, medium size, original image 4x6 0.39
5x7 0.99
8x10 3.95
print quality: good
This site provides basic free album upload and viewing capabilities, and would especially like to sell you prints at reasonable prices. Their print ordering service seems well organized.  All the analog characteristics of their prints are good; Exposure was precise, saturation a little low for my taste but within the range of preference (rather than error), and color just a shade bluish.  However, digital scan line and moiré artifacts were visible in large monochromatic areas, especially in large prints.
Shutterfly
sample album

25 Free prints as a promotion.

free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated Free no apparent limit browser, drag-n-drop plugin, desktop uploader registration required to view albums thumbnails, small pictures 4x6 0.49
5x7 1.99
8x10 4.99

print quality: very good.

Yet another site still under development.  The viewer is rudimentary, and the general site organization is confusing.  They have some interesting options to add effects to images.  Their prints are very good (not as good as ofoto) but have one consistent, flagrant flaw with yellows (see notes) .  Prints include text printed on the back, which some of the partners let you control.  Scanned images are the standard 1536x1024 scans, but beterrn the tiny viewing size and the inabilty to download, it's very hard to acess the quality or use scanned images for any other purpose.
Snapfish
(no sample album)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated.  Inactive accounts deleted after 6 months. yes not stated browser registration required for viewing thumbnails, medium size 4x6 0.59
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
Snapfish will develop, scan,  print and ship your prints and negatives  for a $3.98 per roll.  Not quite free, but the cheapest way I know to get prints and scanning. A sample roll sent to Snapfish, at a nearby location,  took 18 days to reappear as negatives and prints in my mailbox; and the online notification of the prints arrived the same day.  Apparently, some extra-ordinary delay was involved, because Snapfish automated communications (not in response to a complaint) apologized and contained additional freebies in compensation.  Print quality of the analog prints is standard "drug store" quality; a little uneven in exposure, but quite satisfactory color.  There is no way to get high res digitial versions of scanned photos.
OnlinePhotoLab.com
sample album
sample photo

site was offline at last check

free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
50mb no no apparent limits browser,
zip archive
direct links to albums are possible.
direct links to original images are possible
thumbnails, images zoomable to various sizes no
This site's album system is a little nonstandard, but works well.  They accept lots of different formats of image, and can accept batches of pictures zipped together in a single upload.  They also feature a large selection of image manipulation and special effects that can be applied to images.  Their viewer's default action when you select a thumbnail is to view the image at full size, which is not a good choice for large images.  Also, the site's support emial is nonfunctional.
PhotoIsland
sample album 
(password is ddyer)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
50mb no no apparent limit browser, drag-n-drop, ftp-like, compupic guest password required thumbnails, medium size, original image 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
This site provides the basic organizing, viewing, and photo gift features.  It has a particularly good set of upload options, 
GatherRound
sample album
50 Free prints as a promotion.
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
50 mb. Inactive albums are deleted after 1 year no By default, pictures are scaled to web size.  This can be overridden with ftp upload. browser, ftp-like direct links to albums thumbnails, larger thumbnail, medium size 4z6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
prints by Ofoto
This is another pretty basic site.  Pictures are stored at screen shot resolution, probably only about 50 in their basic free service level.  There is a free album manger that can upload groups of photos, but it is pretty slow when handling large images.  The online album viewer is primitive, but functional.
Fotki.com
sample album
sample image
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no not stated, but seems to store full res. browser, copy web URL, compupic direct links to albums, direct links to original image. thumbnails, web size, original image none
This site seems to be still under construction - no documentation of their policies or features is provided - but the essential features seem to be present and working. 
Nikonnet.com
sample album
sample image
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
unlimited no 3mb browser, browser drag-n-drop,email direct links to albums, direct links to original image. thumbnails, web size, original image 4x6 0.59
5x7 2.95
8x10 7.95
This site was built for Nikon by Zing, but seems to be inferior to zing's main site in most ways.
PictureTrail
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
10 mb yes scaled to selectable size, or unscaled. limit of 400K browser direct links to albums, direct links to individual photos thumbnails, uploaded size none
This site seems to be associated with Seattle Filmworks.  Their albums are basic and limited to very small image files, but the site is easy to use and works well.  This site was originally known as EasyFoto
SeeMeSmile.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no 500k file size browser direct links to albums thumbnails, small size not yet
New site with basic services only, so far.
Adobe ActiveShare
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no limit of 500k browser, ftp-like direct links to albums, links to individual pictures embedded in a page of stuff. thumbnails, full size prints by shutterfly
This site is sponsored by Adobe (of Adobe Photoshop), and comes with a free album management program.  ActiveShare, the program, is a fairly simple album management program, influenced by Picture-It and corrupted by Kai's photo tools.  It's heavy on concept, light on actual functionality, a bit confusing to use, and still has obvious bugs.  It does make it easy to upload images to the activeshare web site.   The activeshare images web site is part of a universe called  eCircles which has delusions of becoming the focus of your interactions with other people on the web, so there's a lot of stuff there, and image's aren't the main focus.
Fotango
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated Free no apparent limit browser two-click access to albums thumbnails, medium size. 4x6 £0.49
5x7 £0.99
8x10 £1.99
This site is based in the UK, with plans to expand into the rest of the EU.  Prices for full sets of prints from scanned images are substantially better than the single print prices.
PBase.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
unlimited no unlimited browser, single files or zipped collections direct links to albums, direct links to images thumbnails, medium size, large, original image no
This site is a quirky, personal effort.  It's also adamantly noncommercial, no banners, no products.  Pbase also gives you more control over the presentation than most sites.
PhotoASA
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
10mb no your choice browser, album manager direct links to albums thumbnails,  chosen size no
This seems to be mainly a demonstration site for the host company, hoping to attract customers who want similar sites.  Everything works, but it's all very basic stuff.
 Yahoo Photos
sample album
first print order (15 prints) free
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
15 mb yes your choice browser, any URL direct links to albums,
direct links to photos are possible.
thumbnails, full size. 4x6 0.49
5x7 1.99
8x10 4.99

prints by Shutterfly, quality: very good.

This site is developed for yahoo by shutterfly.  Everything works but there's nothing fancy here. Scanning service is by Photoworks (formerly Seattle Filmworks).
Imira.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
20 mb no 2mb.  Uploader defaults to an image reduced to web resolution. browser, ftp-like. direct links to albums, direct links to photos are possible. thumbnails, full size not yet
This site is associated with Ulead software.  It's very rudimentary at the moment.  Their uploader/browser, Ulead Photo Explorer, is mostly excellent, but insists on mangling photos upon upload.  Defaults produce web resolution images, and it's not possible to fully override the defaults.
Opholio.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no 1mb browser direct links to albums, thumbnails, small image no
This site seems to exist mainly as a demo site for a service to set up similar sites.  The basic design is clean, but the services available are pretty limited.  The unique feature of this site is to set up your own virtual site, with sub-accounts that can be created and managed independantly.
live.av.com
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
5mb no individual photos limited to 150k browser direct links to albums, links to individual photos thumbnails, full size none
This site is part of the AltaVista complex, and so is infested with all their ads.  Also note the small size of both storage and individual photos.
MSN communities
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
30 mb no no browser direct links to albums thumbnails, full size none
Microsoft's community web site.  Nothing special, but linked to their other services.
homepages.go.com
sample album
sample image
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no not stated, but probably 2mb or less. browser,
any url
direct links to albums,
direct links to photos
thumbnails, full size none
Another community web site.  Nothing special, but linked to their other services.  Their site features a lead-you-by-the-hand wizard for building various types of pages.
Photo Highway
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no 1mb browser direct links to albums
links to individual pictures.
thumbnails, medium size no
This site seems primarily intended to be an "digital information" site, but there's not much information compared to other sites.

NBCi
(no sample album)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no not stated browser no thumbnails, small size no
NBCi is a "virtual community" site, which seems to be among the better organized of the type, and which offers Photo Albums as one of their features, along with chat rooms, discussion groups and so on.  The albums are limited to displaying fairly small images, and the viewer is relatively featureless, but functional. They don't' seem to provide a way to provide a public link to albums, so to view you have to join
WebPhotos
(no sample album)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated no no apparent limit browser registration required to view albums thumbnails, original image no
Uploads to this site are strictly one-at-a-time. Their viewer downloads the full sized images in a medium sized space, so you wait to download the whole image, then get to see only a small version.  Dumb!
Photocountry.com
sample album
sample image
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated, approximately 25mb no no apparent limit album manager direct links to albums, direct links to original image thumbnails, original image no
This site is lacking many basic features, but is apparently still under development.
Geofoto
sample image
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
20mb soon 2mb browser,upload tool, email direct links to full original photos are possible. thumbnails, medium size,
Original images.
Yes, prices in Singapore $, checks only.
This site  is based in Singapore. interface is somewhat confusing, but works once you figure it out.  The upload tool is unresponsive to inputs while uploading, but works.
Photochannel
sample album
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
not stated yes 4mb browser, uploader plugin direct links to albums thumbnails, medium size, 800x600 4x6 0.49
5x7 0.99
8x10 2.99
This site seems to be generally at an embryonic stage.
Kodak
(no sample)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
pay for what you use yes
I have to mention Kodak, even though it is NOT free: you pay for the scanning, or for "blank rolls" of space. You pay again for long term storage. You pay again to download hires versions of your own images. However, they do have one outstanding advantage: convenience.  You can check a box on most any roll of film you have developed, and have your developed photos posted to Kodak's web site and delivered on a photocd, in addition to traditional developing and printing.
 LogUSinc
(no sample album)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
this site seems to be not yet operational, but someday they'll have albums, photo gifts, and high tech toilets (not a joke!).
InfoPics.com
(no sample album)
free storage scanning image size upload album links viewer prints etc.
6 images. no 100k (yes, 100K) browser no full size no
Not really useful as an album site due to the size and number of pictures they permit.


Scanning: Details will vary, but the basic deal is they develop your film, scan your negatives, and create an album from your roll of film.  You negatives are mailed to you, and they hope you'll order prints.  In some cases this scan-and-post service is completely free, but at most sites there there is a small charge; and you do get your negatives back.


Processing:  It's interesting to note that  Ememories, and Snapfish (and others?) are mailed to the same address, so while other details may vary, the film processing and scanning are clearly all being done by at the same organization.  The mailers all have the same list of alternate addresses, choose a city near you.


Original Image: Some sites recompress or otherwise reformat your image, which almost certainly involves some loss of quality, and also destroys the  JFIF information embedded in JPEG files by most digital cameras.  Where I say original image, I mean exactly that, the same bits as you submitted.    Most digital cameras record, exposure, date and other camera specific information about the image. Image browsing utilities that can show you the information embedded in your image include PIE, Ulead PhotoExplorer, and Thumbsplus. Exifread and Exifinfo are specialist freeware utilities that show exif information without frills.


Resolution:  Resolution is frequently quoted in "lines pairs per millimeter" (lpm)
35mm negative, (on a good day) 80-100 lpm
photocd master scan (3kx2k) of 35mm original 40 lpm
1600x1200 digital original 25 lpm (printed perfectly to a 35mm negative)



 
comments/suggestions (especially if you know of more sites I should mention) to:ddyer@bigfoot.com
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