Sharing photos online

Pictures are like memories: They’re better when you share them with someone else. And people are sharing their memorable photos more than ever, using online albums and personal weblogs. With so many easy-to-use hosting services available for free, it’s a snap to start your own online diary or photo album. We’ll introduce you to a few of the ways you can share your pictures online, and we’ll show you how HP Instant Share can help.

The world of weblogs

Weblogs, or blogs, are sites that contain short, frequently updated posts arranged in a journal-like style. Most weblogs let you share personal thoughts and links, as well as photos. They have become so popular that an entire online blogging community has been born, complete with its own lingo. There are hundreds of build-your-own software tools that enable people to share their weblogs quickly and easily. Clearly, online sharing has hit the big time.

Sharing made simple

Online photo albums are another popular, and definitely the fastest, way to share your pictures on the Web. And the innovative HP Instant Share technology makes it easy to post pictures online for your family and friends to enjoy, whether they’re across the room or around the world. You can even make your images available via e-mail without sending huge file attachments. Let’s see how it works!

Pictures in an instant

Using an HP Photosmart digital camera, you can take photos of anything, from vacations or birthdays to a new home or baby. Then you can use the HP Instant Share feature on your camera to download, organize, e-mail, or post your pictures on a web site, and more. Even before you get back from your vacation, you can share your favorite poolside snapshots with the world, any way you want.

When you set up an online album at http://www.hpphoto.com, you can choose to send pictures directly to the site. Just take the photo, pick a destination, and watch the magic happen when you dock your camera. You can also save the pictures directly to your PC so you can post them to your own web site or weblog at your convenience.

If you’re thinking of e-mailing those pictures to friends and family, here’s a twist: Instead of flooding their inboxes with huge files to download, you can send them an e-mail with thumbnail images of your pictures. The e-mail can contain a custom message you’ve written as well. When you connect, the e-mail is sent automatically.

All the recipient has to do is click on the embedded link to see your pictures at http://www.hpphoto.com. (They’ll need a web connection to do it.) But it gets better: Your loved ones can print and save your pictures, or order professional prints online right from the site, including high-resolution pictures. Now, that’s instant sharing!

Sharing everywhere

Using HP Instant Share with your HP Photosmart digital camera makes it easy to share your pictures online. You can automatically print your photos without even using a PC. Just choose which printer you want to use, right from your camera. Plus, you can view your pictures on your TV so your whole family can enjoy a slide show on the big screen.

The simple-to-use features of HP Instant Share aren’t just limited to HP Photosmart digital cameras. Other HP products that now feature HP Instant Share capabilities include HP Deskjet printers, HP Scanjet scanners, HP Pavilion desktop PCs, and selected HP all-in-one devices.

All of these new products have HP Photo & Imaging software that lets you select photos and use HP Instant Share to send them to the location you want. Simply choose your pictures, click “Instant Share,” and compose an e-mail message to go with them. So even if you’re not using a digital camera, you can use the flexible features of HP Instant Share with scans, logos, or any other kind of image.

One of the best things about digital photos is the fact that you can take as many as you want, as long as you’ve got enough memory. That’s great when you’re trying to capture the perfect photo. But when you’ve got 50 or 500 shots, it can be a little overwhelming.

That’s where HP Photo & Imaging software can help. You can catalog and organize your photos into a logical order, so you can find the pictures you need when you need them. No more flipping through dusty boxes of snapshots to find that perfect image: Getting organized has never been easier.

Flexible format

Digital photos can be shared in unique ways. Using the tools on the hpphoto.com web site, you and your friends can create online albums to share with one another. The album templates are easy to set up and use. Plus, you can include captions with every picture to really bring your albums to life. You can also create and send e-postcards and order your own professional prints online.

So the next time you take a picture, think about all the different ways you can share it with the world. Then make it happen with a little help from HP Instant Share.

Visit the HP Digital Photography Centre