Five Reasons to Create an Online Album

[Francis Hemingway]

Digital photo albums are one of the more popular features of today's
online photo sites.  Many users sign up for accounts on these
sites with no intention of ever ordering a set of prints.  Being
able to share digital photos with friends and family is enough of an
attraction by itself.  Here are five reasons why online albums
may be the right choice for you.
1.  Easy to upload your pictures.  Even people who are new
to using a computer should be able to understand how to sign up for an
account and upload their pictures to a photo website.  The
process is usually self-explanatory and most sites have a good
selection of tutorials to help guide you through each step.  If
you are still lost, there may be live tech support operators you can
speak to or chat with online to ask for help.
2.  Easy to share your pictures.  Once you have your
pictures uploaded, it is simple to use the site to share them with
friends and family.  Some sites allow you to set up a friends
list that has exclusive access to your photos.  This generally
requires that your friends and family sign up for their own account on
that same photo printing site.  Another alternative is to use the
"share this" option that some sites give you for emailing your photos
or albums to friends and family members.
3.  Protects your photos from damage or loss.  Unlike
traditional albums, photos stored on a digital site are safe from the
elements and from accidental loss.  Your album can be used as a
backup copy of your digital photos, allowing you to easily recover any
picture that may have been lost or erased from your computer's hard
drive.
4.  Convenient to organize your photos into projects.  If
you've ever been faced with a shoebox full of random pictures, you
know how important it is to sort and categorize your photos. 
With traditional film, this used to mean hours spent sifting through
photos and affixing them into photo albums.  Websites make it a
matter of just clicking each photo and selecting the correct online
album for it.  Many sites have a drag-and-drop interface that
makes it even easier to place each photo in the proper place. 
Some sites do limit the number of projects you can set up under a free
account, so you may need to upgrade to a premium account if you have
photos in a lot of different categories.
5.  You can edit or enhance your photos with special
effects.  Most digital photo printing sites give you photo
editing tools you can use to touch up defects in the image, such as
red-eye or stray background objects.  Also, there are usually
colorful themes or backgrounds that can be applied to your photos to
give them a unique style.  Some of the more full-featured sites
may have interesting effects that can be added, like a wind effect
that makes it look like there is a breeze blowing through your
picture.