Free Digital Photo Storage

Digital cameras have become very popular and a new kind of free service has emerged for this new breed of photographers. Free digital photo storage and sharing seems to be THE new free online service. Just like free email, free calendars, free Web pages, and free file storage, this new market has attracted quite a few players.

All of them offer something a little different, but most have a core of services which include storage anywhere from ten megs to unlimited space, sharing of your pictures with invited guests, and public Web publishing of your albums. Many also allow you to send electronic greetings created with your photos -- a nice touch.

The majority of the free photo storage sites have an alterer motive. They would like to sell you photo printing services which range from 4x6 prints, and enlargements to mugs and T-shirts. This is a brilliant move which shows that these companies recognize that digital photos are the new photographic media and people are going to want easy ways to get prints from some of their shots.

Some of the big photo processing firms are getting into the act. So far I have been very disappointed with Kodak's offering. They only give you 30 days of "free" storage when you have them process a roll of standard film. You can buy space for uploading your digital photos for $5.99 for 30 days of storage for 36 photos. When you look at what many of the other firms are offering like unlimited free storage it appears Kodak is missing the mark by a wide margin.

Seattle Filmworks has a similar requirement that you need to have your regular film processed by them to get them stored online for free. At least there is not a 30 day limit and at this writing they will process your first roll for free.

Some of these sites also have attractive free offers to build their user base. Some have offered 100 or 150 free prints and one plans to offer free processing of your standard film. These offers may not be ongoing, but I suspect that we will see more of these kinds of offers as sites compete for users.

If you would like to check out some of these sites yourself, you can find them on the Free Digital Photo Storage Net links page. The links page will be updated and modified as new sites appear and offers change so be sure to bookmark it. I think you will find at least one of these services that will greatly enhance your enjoyment of the new digital media.