Photo hosting

[doctor Bob]

So having lost imageshack and photobucket to charging, who do you all use now.
I have images of a years worth of work to post!

 

[MikeG.]

I use Imgur.

 

[Chris152]

I've kept a blog for several years, often posting regularly and nearly always with a photo. You get to show pics and write something if you want, but you don't need to. I use Blogger and Wordpress.

 

[AndyT]

I too lost early posts using Imageshack then stuck with Photobucket as its software got more frustrating, only to have the rug pulled out when the deal was arbitrarily changed. That's the trouble with any free service. It can go bust or be withdrawn at any time.
So I went for a basic starter option from a hosting company and my own domain.
It's no more technical than using File Explorer on your own PC.

If the hosting company goes bust or raises its prices too much I can transfer my content to another provider and all my photo urls will stay the same.

 

[nev]

Just a quick test of google photos, free, unlimited storage with a restriction on maximum size of image being 16Mp. You can store larger but then you pay
https://support.google.com/photos/answe ... 1?hl=en-GB

this ones 3.1mb pic right click and copy image address and pasted between the IMG tags.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Dropbox .. Just right click, copy dropbox link and change the dl=0 at the end to raw=1 ie

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wyqp47k4v9tt ... g.png?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wyqp47k4v9tt ... .png?raw=1

 

[Cordy]

Imgur for me; very easy and quick to load
Not sure how long it will last

 

[thetyreman]

I have always liked and used flickr

 

[monkeybiter]

Previously used flickr, now upload to UKW but store some copies online in google drive.
Having seen nev's post I might start using google photos as the storage is unlimited, whereas free storage on google drive is 15Gb.

 

[doctor Bob]

Hi,
Ok went with imgur. thanks everyone

 

[nabs]

can I just say thanks to nev for pointing out that it is possible to link directory to images stored on Google photos . I have been doing this for a while but have used a rather convoluted method that involves using a 3rd party website to convert the standard url into a url that points to an actual image file (rather than the Google photo web app).

Now it seems I can simply right click on the image and use the link directly . Either I have been missing something rather obvious all along (doh!) or the recent forum upgrades have made this possible. Either way it will save much clicking and copy pasting, so many thanks! Random image to prove it works.

 

[AES]

This is a genuine Q from a PC numpty, honest! Why use a picture hosting service at all? I haven't counted but I must have MANY (very many) pix. All are stored on my hard drive on my laptop (and it's not even half full yet) and I also back everything up to an external hard disc. So apart from the service/s that were free of charge and from what I see here, now charge, what are the advantages (or disadvantages) of such a service? At least I have all mine under my own control, and it costs me nothing.

I would agree that posting pix to this site from my own hard disc is (still) a bit of a laborious process, but once you get the hang of it it isn't too bad (if I can master it anyone can)! So why please? Am I missing something here?

As said, this is a genuine Q.

AES

 

[nabs]

hosting services make it convenient to link to high resolution images (no need to resize images) .

Assuming you trust the service provider, it is also one way to back up your images and make them available on multiple devices, share them with other people and so on.

The disadvantage of course is that if the service provider goes out of business or changes their terms and conditions (as happened with photobucket) then links will stop working whereas images uploaded to the forum should be available as long as the forum continues to exist.

 

[porker]

This is a genuine Q from a PC numpty, honest! Why use a picture hosting service at all? I haven't counted but I must have MANY (very many) pix. All are stored on my hard drive on my laptop (and it's not even half full yet) and I also back everything up to an external hard disc. So apart from the service/s that were free of charge and from what I see here, now charge, what are the advantages (or disadvantages) of such a service? At least I have all mine under my own control, and it costs me nothing.

I would agree that posting pix to this site from my own hard disc is (still) a bit of a laborious process, but once you get the hang of it it isn't too bad (if I can master it anyone can)! So why please? Am I missing something here?

As said, this is a genuine Q.

AES

The main issue is that the pictures on your HDD are not accessible all the time to the board. If you turn off your machine the pictures cant be accessed. They need hosting somewhere on the internet to be accessible.
As people are now finding with Facebook there is no such thing as free. All of these services ultimately want something from you, usually your data. I worry that I am so hooked into Google now if they decide to charge for their services they've got me over a barrel.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Seiken]

This is a genuine Q from a PC numpty, honest! Why use a picture hosting service at all? I haven't counted but I must have MANY (very many) pix. All are stored on my hard drive on my laptop (and it's not even half full yet) and I also back everything up to an external hard disc. So apart from the service/s that were free of charge and from what I see here, now charge, what are the advantages (or disadvantages) of such a service? At least I have all mine under my own control, and it costs me nothing.

I would agree that posting pix to this site from my own hard disc is (still) a bit of a laborious process, but once you get the hang of it it isn't too bad (if I can master it anyone can)! So why please? Am I missing something here?

As said, this is a genuine Q.

AES

The main issue is that the pictures on your HDD are not accessible all the time to the board. If you turn off your machine the pictures cant be accessed. They need hosting somewhere on the internet to be accessible.
As people are now finding with Facebook there is no such thing as free. All of these services ultimately want something from you, usually your data. I worry that I am so hooked into Google now if they decide to charge for their services they've got me over a barrel.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

I think what AES is saying and what I do is just resize the picture file and insert it into the reply no hosting to be held hostage by or access to computer or server needed for the image to be seen. I store all my photos on a NAS drive, my PC and periodically add to CD files so three way backups.

 

[AES]

Thanks for the replies nabs, Seiken, & porker. Porker, correct, that's just what I was (trying to) say. Nabs, understood, thanks.

Sieken, please correct me if I'm wrong, but with respect I don't think that what you've said is correct. When I upload a photo from my hard drive to this Forum, then in fact 2 copies of that pic actually exist, No? (1 still on my hard drive, the other on some server/s somewhere that drives this Forum)?

Of course I can't check if, with my own PC is turned off/off line, my photo is available to others, but AKAIK, once I've uploaded a picture to this Forum (for example) then it's there and available to anyone visiting this Forum regardless of whether my own PC is online or offline?

So if I'm correct in the above, then the only "advantage" of a picture hosting service for me would be that my picture is stored somewhere else (in addition to my own "copy" still on my own hard drive). This would allow me to see that hosted pic on other devices, even if my own PC was turned off, correct?

As I don't have any other devices apart from my laptop PC (my "smart" phone isn't any more since Swisscom stopped supporting Blackberry) then I conclude that with my own "storage systems" as per my original Q, I do not need a hosting service, correct ?

Thanks all, and BTW, I'm definitely NOT "sniping" at anyone who does use such service, but just wondering what, if anything, I'm missing.

AES

 

[Seiken]

AES, Sorry I obviously was not making was not making myself clear, we agree, once the image file is placed in a reply it then exists on the server the forum runs on, if I delete it from my system it is still visible on the forum.

 

[AES]

OK, thanks for clearing that up.

Cheers

AES

 

[monkeybiter]

I use google drive as NAS, I retain my 'originals' on PC/hard drives but using the google server allows me to access content from other machines, such as laptops, work PC etc.

 

[AES]

Understand now monkeybiter, thanks. Doesn't apply to me 'cos as said, I only have one laptop, nothing else that will send (or receive) pix.

AES