Tutorial: Where to host my photos?

A very common question is how to post photos or where do I host my photos?

EDIT:
PHOTOBUCKET DOES NOT ALLOW FREE HOSTING.
Photobucket has changed it's Terms of Service & free hosting will no longer allow you to link images.
More info here:
Photobucket Goes Rogue
Plus Subscription Pricing & Info
===============
RE-EDIT 6/10/18
Photobucket now says that they've revised their pay structure back to more user friendly levels. More info here:
https://photography-on-the.net …showthread.php?​p=18627254
===============


Embedding images means that you provide a link to an image, surround it with
[IMG][/IMG] tags, and the image will be inserted to the post. Many hosting sites provide BBCODE EMBEDDING text, which you can paste to the post. You can find the addresses and bbcodes manually (each hosting site is a bit different in where the info is), but there is a dedicated tool in post editor for making embedding easier:

"EMBED IMAGE" tool

With Flickr and many other major image hosting sites, the easiest way to embed is to copypaste the gallery URL to post editor's "EMBED IMAGE" textarea, and press "FETCH". This fetches also gallery name and links to that gallery page and owner.

Gallery URL: the address of a gallery page, like https://www.flickr.com/photos/​33402110@N07/374570005​81/

If above does not work, paste the image URL to the "EMBED IMAGE" textarea, and press "FETCH".

Image URL: address to the actual image without any web pages or extra content. Image URLs end in .jpg or .jpeg, like
https://photography-on-the.net/stuff/IMG_8884​_small.jpg

The EMBED IMAGE tool also checks that image is valid. When image is OK, just click the thumbnail to insert the image in the post.

When you submit the post, all images in post are checked for EXIF data.



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Using this method You can embed more than 2 photos in a post. However the POTN staff ask You to be considerate to fellow members and restrict the number of photos embedded. If You have many photos You would like to show then select a few of the best and then link to a gallery. We have seen some members embed as much as 43 photos and latest a member embedded 132 photos which is absolutely over the limit and posts like that are subject to be edited by the POTN staff.

Also it is a good idea to choose a creative and inspiring subject as well as writing some information about the photos. For example where they were shot, did something funny happen or do You have some information about the subject that might interest other members. These threads tend to get more views and comments from fellow members than threads with a "boring" subject and no text but just a link.

Here is a list of the most suggested sites where You can host photos. Some are free. Some are pay sites. If You know other sites please post them. But please only post real photo share sites. No need for links to "do-it-yourself-host-sites". Also if You have an sampel url like the one for photobucket please post it so I can add it under each site.

I have verified that all the links work and I have verified that embedding works with Photobucket. I will test a few of the others too but only the free sites. Obviously I know that a lot of the others do work as I have seen them being linked so the date below is just an indication when I personally have tested that particular site.

* links provided below in the LINKTEXT line are sample links. Do NOT use those they are only provided to illustrate how the links should look like for the different hosts.

Free Photo Hosts with confirmed direct linking feature.
http://www.photobucket​.com/ (Tested 25/4-06: imbedding works with POTN)
LINKTEXT: [IMG]http://i66.photob​ucket.com/albums/h244/​tommykjensen/SAMPLE.jp​g[/IMG]

EDIT by PhotosGuy: See post #104 for info on setting up PhotoBucket.
EDIT: Photobucket has changed it's Terms of Service & free hosting will no longer allow you to link images.
More info here:
Photobucket Goes Rogue
Plus Subscription Pricing & Info

http://www.fotopic.net​/ (Tested 25/4-06: imbedding works with POTN)
LINKTEXT: [IMG]http://images.fot​opic.net/?id=28487358&​noresize=1[/IMG]

http://imageshack.us/ (Tested 25/4-06: imbedding works with POTN)
LINKTEXT: [IMG]http://img68.imag​eshack.us/img68/1295/s​ample3wo.jpg[/IMG]

http://www.flickr.com/ (Tested 25/4-06: imbedding works with POTN) (actually a part of Yahoo)
LINKTEXT: [URL]http://static.fli​ckr.com/46/135016342_2​56ba21f54_o.jpg[/URL]

http://www.bytephoto.c​om/ (Tested 27/4-06: imbedding works with POTN)
LINKTEXT: [URL]http://www.bytephoto.com/phot​opost/data/578/2289Har​risHawk.jpg?1443[/URL]

http://www.photo.net/ (Tested 27/4-06: imbedding works with POTN)
LINKTEXT: [URL]http://gallery.ph​oto.net/photo/4387931-lg.jpg[/URL]

http://www.thelensflar​e.com/ (Tested 27/4-06: imbedding works with POTN, but photos need moderator approval before it become viewable)
LINKTEXT: [URL]http://www.thelensflare.com/l​arge/sample_24073.jpg[​/URL]


Pay Photo Hosts
http://www.pbase.com/ (direct linking not possible with free account)
http://www.smugmug.com​/ How to link
http://www.fotki.com/ (direct linking not possible with free account)
http://www.fototime.co​m/
http://www.my-expressions.com/
http://www.onlinephoto​graphers.com/gallery/i​ndex.php
http://www.photoshare.​co.nz/
http://www.photoshelte​r.com/

Other (pay or free)
http://www.imageevent.​com/
http://www.myphotoalbu​m.com/
http://www.kodakgaller​y.com/
http://www.zoto.com/

Uncategorised
http://www.coolbrowse.​com/
http://www.betterphoto​.com/
http://www.photozo.com​/
http://www.photoape.co​m/
http://www.shutterfly.​com/

Other usefull links:
Tutorial: Thumbnails with link to external image
Tutorial: How to attach photos to a post
Tutorial: Creating An Avatar in Photoshop & Paint Shop Pro

Tommy -
I don't see www.imageevent.com on the list above. I've been using it for years.
Elie

Is it a free service or a pay service? I will add it to the list regardless but if it is free I might test it myself next week like other services I have tested.

http://www.myphotoalbu​m.com/

http://www.kodakgaller​y.com/

both have free and paid services.

myphotoalbum lets you send the url to people. Kodak is only an email link. I have tried Kodak and it was easy to use but I do not like email notification.
I am just starting to use myphotoalbum, it's not always user-friendly.

http://www.photoape.co​m/ never tried it.
http://www.shutterfly.​com/ never tried it.

Very nice Tommy. I might have to give one of these sites a try. I had planned on setting up my own site but could use one of these until then. Thanks.

Great idea and nice job Tommy. I've been uploading images to the web to share with family since 1998. My first pages were hand written in notepad then I migrated to html generators such as ThumbPlus (cerious.com) and JAlbum (jalbum.net).

I finally got smart and now use an on-line service that specializes in image hosting. My two favorites are flickr and smugmug.

The reasons are plain and simple
1. Both sites read the IPTC metadata (captions, keywords, etc.) that I embed in all of my images.
2. I can store originals that family/friends can download (unlike most sites that are predominantly set up for photo printing).
3. On smugmug, I have multiple levels of settings that let me decide to what level I want to share the images. I can even sell images at a profit (pro acct only).
4. On smugmug, I can customize the look and feel of the web pages.
5. Both sites have great resources to help understand their use (smugmug's community is at dgrin.com).

People should try several to figure out which site is the best for them. In some cases, that might mean more than one site.

Zoto - http://www.zoto.com This is another good hosting site.

Here is another FREE site that you can host your photo's...

http://www.ImageVerse.​com

They have both free and paid accounts.

Pretty clean, quick and no ad's

I use them as well as others.

Cheers!

Dave

looks like Picasa (google's entry) is looking to join the party of on-line photo-sharing.

narlus wrote:
looks like Picasa (google's entry) is looking to join the party of on-line photo-sharing.

They are still new, so most people won't have access, so its hard to recommend at the minute. However, if you use their albums and get access, it defintely is easy to upload.

actually, i am shifting gears to zenfolio; the trial version works pretty damn well and it allows hot-links (my main beef w/ picasa web albums). nice interface too. it's not free, though.

hi
please do me the favour and add http://www.yourep.com - its free and is similar to flickr
I posted about it here: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=199490

thanks

I enjoy zenfolio also. I shifted from smugmug...

What is the benefit of using a photo hosting service? I have used the space provided by my ISP and an FTP program for years. It is easy and there are no real restrictions.

I did a tutorial on another forum with screen shots. I would be glad to repost it if anyone wants to see it.

The benefit of the photo hosting services is that many of them provide more space than the ISP do. Usually the space provided with the "free" websites that come with the internet connection is small.

Another benefit is that you don't have to do any coding yourself.

I have my own website where i host my photos.