Shared Photo Albums Made Simple – A How-to Guide
Lots of us think that there are only two options for sharing photos with friends and family; either we distribute them individually via instant messaging, or we put them up for the whole world to see on social media.
There is a third way that’s much more akin to how photo albums were created and showcased back in the days of analogue photography. So if you’re interested in creating a shared photo album that’s only accessible to a select group of people, read on for the lowdown on what you need to do.
Pick a Suitable Platform
There are quite a few different providers out there that offer shared photo album services, so it’s worth comparing the options available to you.
Price is probably a deciding factor for many, and there are affordable and even free platforms out there. For instance, if you don’t want to pay a cent for this type of service, you can get started at Memento and make high quality shared albums that all your loved ones can enjoy.
Select the Snaps You Want to Upload
Once you’ve got a shared album service in your sights and you’ve created an account, you can start uploading images to it.
To ensure that the pictures you share are of the highest quality, it’s best to upload them directly from the device that was used to capture them.
For example, if you’ve got photos stored on your smartphone, send them to the shared album in their raw form, rather than re-downloading them from any instant messaging or social media app you may have shared them on already. This is simply because these third party services tend to apply a great deal of compression to keep file sizes down, which of course compromises quality.
Create Separate Albums Along Specific Themes
While you can bundle every photo on your camera reel into the same shared album, it’s better to set up separate spaces that are themed according to the types of pictures they contain.
This could be for a specific event like a wedding or a birthday party. It could be for a particular family vacation or city break. It could even be for a given time frame, whether that’s a week, a month or a year in your life.
Whatever the case, it’s easier to make a shared album that’s logically laid out and enjoyable to flick through if you build good organizational habits from the get-go.
Decide Who You Want to Share Your Album With
The primary reason to set up a shared album which has restricted access is so that you can keep your memories private and only let in the people who you’re closest to.
All good platforms in this market will let you set specific access controls, putting you in charge of who can take a peek at your special memories.
Allow Others to Contribute
In some cases you’ll want to make a shared album which accepts contributions from other uploaders. This is especially useful if you want to gather together lots of different photos from the same event, such as a wedding.
Rather than asking attendees to send their files to you separately, you can just give them the link to a shared album where content can be added in a cohesive and convenient way.
The one thing to note here is that it’s probably worth setting up a review and approval process for third party uploads. That way you can give the go-ahead to what’s added to the album, rather than letting friends and family have free rein in this regard.
This will help to avoid any mischief, and also let you filter out snaps that aren’t up to the quality standards which you’ve set.
Consider Adding Video Clips as Well
Another perk of good shared photo album platforms is that they’ll also support multimedia files, including videos. After all, they say a picture paints a thousand words, but a video clip can spout an entire novel!
Don’t Forget to Make Hard Copies of Cherished Photos
At a time when we consume most of our content digitally, it’s possible to forget about the appeal and meaning that comes with having a tangible copy of a photograph which you can add to a physical album or display in your home.
So as well as setting up a shared photo album which is accessible online, take the time to get professional prints of the snaps which connect with you.
The Bottom Line
There’s definitely a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to setting up shared photo albums, but once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll be able to use this skill time after time, and also help others in your social circles get involved as well.
