Which online photo storage provider should I use?

22 Apr Which online photo storage provider should I use?

That is a question we get asked A LOT!

And there is no one simple answer. There are a number of popular cloud storage providers for photos and many variables that influence which solution is best for each individual.

Online photo storage has the benefits of:

• Peace of mind: that our photos are safe in the unfortunate instance that we lose or damage a device
• Accessibility: in being able to access your entire digital photo collection on any device at any time (as long as you have internet access!).
• Sharing: online photo storage allows us to easily share photos with others.
• Space saving: it allows us to free up space on our phones and other devices so that we don’t get the dreaded ‘out of space’ message!

Some things to consider when looking into online photo storage services:

• Cost: most providers offer an entry level free account for a small amount of storage. If you have more than around 1000 digital photos (of course we all do!) then you are going to want to compare the cost for different storage plans.
• Do you have a Mac or Windows computer? If you are an Apple user, iCloud is an obvious choice. If you are a Windows user, and you are paying for an Office 365 subscription, you may have 1TB of cloud storage available with Microsoft OneDrive. There are also several cross-platform options such a Dropbox.
• What are your inputs: where are you capturing your photos? Is it mostly on a phone or do you use a digital camera as well?
• How many users are adding photos to your online photo storage? Just you? Or other family members as well?
• Terms and conditions of using the service: it is important to read the terms and conditions of an online photo storage service before signing up and uploading your photos, especially around privacy and ownership of your files.
• Does the service have a file size limit? If you have large files such as TIFF format or large video files, they may not be able to be loaded into the service if there is a file size limit.
• What features do you want in the service? E.g. Facial recognition, keyword tagging, online editing, etc
• How does the service sort your photos? By capture date? Into month folders?
• How does the service work? Is it a sync or is it a backup service? For more information on the difference between a sync and a backup, read our blog post on this topic.

Once we have gathered this information in an assessment session, we can then recommend the best online photo storage provider for an individual to invest in.

Some of the online photo storage providers we regularly use are iCloud, OneDrive, Google Photos and Dropbox.

If you are interested in booking in for a digital photo organising assessment or one-on-one coaching session, please reach out: info@thefilingfairies.com.au. We would love to help!