Like most people, you probably take lots of photos. What do you do with them? Here's where you don't want to be like most people. Most people stash their photos away on their hard drive, or if they shoot film, they stash them away in a shoebox, rarely if ever to be seen again. Make up your mind you're not going out like that. Photos were meant to be shared!



The first step in sharing your photos is to find an online gallery. Make sure they offer online photo printing, as printing will be a vital part of your plan. Look for an online photo gallery that offers unlimited free storage. Free unlimited storage is very important because photo files tend to be fairly large. If you shoot a lot of pictures, that limit that seemed astronomical will encroach on you rather quickly.

Once you have found an online gallery that offers both printing and unlimited free storage, upload your photos. If they are digital photos, this will be simple—just go to their website and follow the instructions. If you are still shooting film, or if they are old photos, then you will need to scan the photos. Good quality flatbed scanners are very affordable these days if you are inclined to scan your photos yourself. If you'd prefer not to, you have the option of sending them out to a service bureau to have them scanned. This often results in a higher quality scan, as the service bureaus generally have better equipment than the $20 scanner that is available in the office supply store—a lot better equipment. Not only hat but service bureaus tend to be skilled at scanning, so your photos won't turn blurry or develop a color cast from being scanned.

Once the photos are uploaded online, the next step is to print the ones you want to share. You could buy an inkjet printer and print them at home, but generally inkjet printers cannot equal the quality of the photo printers that most of the better online photo galleries have for online photo printing. Not only are the printers typically better, but they also tend to use high-quality, Kodak photo paper, just like the kind of paper used for printing enlargements from film negatives optically. Their professional grade photo printers will give you excellent quality and vibrant, clear, accurate color. Most services offer a variety of sizes to suit your printing needs as well.

You may want to edit the photos to enhance them. Most of the better online gallery services offer online editing tools so that you can enhance your photos. Most of these offer typical editing tools that are essential for photography such as cropping, color correction, sharpening and more. Next stop: sharing your photos with your friends. From there, you can order prints in a variety of sizes, in either glossy or matte, with an easy online form. If you're in a hurry, many online galleries offer express shipping and have them sent to everyone on your photo distribution list.