Along with the growth of blogging, the Web has seen an increase in specialized hosting-like services, often available for free, that accommodate a very specific hosting need, such as photo storage.
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A photo hosting service enables users to upload images to the image host's servers, from which individual html coding is displayed to allow others to view that image.
There has been a surge of both free and fee-based photo hosting services in recent years to meet the needs of the millions of Internet users who do not have personal Web space. The growing popularity of blogs, forums and auctions has also led to the rise in photo hosting services.
Using the available form supplied by the photo host, a user can select photos stored on their own computers and select photos to upload to the photo host's server. Some photo hosts will allow users to upload multiple files simultaneously, transfer from URLs (to avoid bandwidth theft) or enable you to upload one ZIP file containing multiple images.
Image hosts will often provide a number of means for sharing images with others. The most common are linking with BBcode, or linking with HTML code.
Free photo hosting services normally place restrictions on the maximum image size allowed, or the maximum space or bandwidth allowed per user. Since bandwidth fees are costly, free services tend to offer smaller size limits per image compared to their paid service counterparts, while allowing users to hotlink their images.
Photo hosts generally offer a range of features, including tools for creating photoblogs or galleries, or viewing the photos in a slideshow. Some offer more advanced tools such as the ability to add notes to images, file uploading applications and browser sidebars. A few hosts also offer unique features, such as the ability to instantly reduce images down to a user-selected size.
There are many free photo hosting services, including Flickr (flickr.com), Photobucket (photobucket.com) and Kodak EasyShare Gallery (kodakgallery.com). Many of these services are supported by advertisements in order to make them available to the public for free. Some free hosts also offer optional paid photo hosting functions.
Several services, such as the Kodak EasyShare Gallery also incorporate mail-order functions for ordering prints of photos into their services.
If you're looking to host large images, you might consider purchasing a paid photo hosting account. The features and storage are usually considerably better with paid services, while the cost is still much less than the cost of purchasing a traditional Web hosting package.
Paid services offer other advantages; they allow password-protected albums, customizable skins, and customized sub-domains. Paid services tend to offer a variety of packages, with features and options varying according to cost.
C I Host, for example, (myphotowebsite.com) offers a paid photo hosting service it calls e-memories for less than $10 a month, and includes scrapbook, slideshow, calendar, recipe cookbook and family tree.
From the casual picture taker to the professional photographer, there is a photo hosting service for everyone. With a little research on what is available, you can decide which photo hosting service is best suited for your individual needs.
