10 ways to share your pictures

No doubt as soon as you got back from your holidays you were impatient to import your holiday pics into Windows Photo Gallery. However, once you’ve played around with them, it’s a real shame to leave them just sitting on your PC. Using Windows Vista we’ve found 10 ways you can share your snaps, and make sure those summer memories never die.

1. Account sharing

When you import your photos to Windows Photo Gallery members of your family with different user accounts won’t be able to see them as they’ll be saved on your profile. Let them join in by sharing the folders (see right).

2. Shared folders

To share your snaps with people who don’t use your computer, try Windows Live Messenger. In a conversation look at the toolbar, click Share Files > Open your sharing folder and drag and drop any files or folders you wish. These will transfer to your friend’s PC in seconds.

3. Windows Live Spaces

If you’re using Windows Live Spaces, you can post your snaps online where everyone can view them. Just go to your space and click the Share Photos link. This takes you to a page where you can upload your favourite snaps, and your friends can view slideshows of your summer excursions.

4. Email

Emailing photos used to be a pain, especially as pictures can easily be 3MB a time. Luckily, Windows Vista makes it easy. If you’re using Windows Mail or Microsoft Office Outlook just click email and choose the size you want to send the picture at, and everything is done for you.

5. Facebook

One of the main reasons for the success of social networking phenomenon Facebook is the unique way it lets you share photos. Instead of just forcing your friends to view your snaps, it lets you ‘tag’ any of them captured in the shot, and the photo will then be added to their gallery. This makes it a great way to accumulate personal photos.

6. Izimi

Izimi is a service which allows you to post your photos online with a unique web address, which is ideal for using your pictures in blogging services such as Blogger or Wordpress. Best of all, there is no compression or deterioration of the quality of your image.

7. Flickr

Flickr allows you to upload photographs to your account, then offers you total control over them. You can choose to only allow friends or family to see them, or allow the entire Flickr community to stumble across your snaps and marvel at your photography prowess.

8. Snapfish

Shapfish offers a great place to store your photos online, with unlimited space for members. You can then share your photos with other Snapfish users, or get them printed out and share them the old-fashioned way.

9. Make a DVD

Using Windows DVD Maker you can make slideshows and burn them to disc, so your friends and family can watch your escapades from the comfort of their living room. Alternatively, making a photo DVD is an excellent way to get photos off your hard drive, and still enjoy them when you want to.

10. Slideshow

If a DVD player is a little too old-school for you, try using Windows Media Center for a fantastic slideshow. By using a media extender you can view this on your living room TV for ultimate comfort.