A lot of our wedding and portrait clients are now opting to purchase the digital image files from their photo shoots. The question we often get asked though is “How can we share these images?”. Here are some of our suggestions. There’s one thing you need to do though before you start to share your images – and that is to Backup.

This is essential! Before you do anything else make sure your photos are backed up. Any digital file that only exists in one place is at risk of loss. What happens if you lose the CD or you drop your laptop? External USB harddrives are cheap nowadays, and recordable DVDs even cheaper. We’d also recommend you keep a copy of your images in another location (at work, a friend’s house, etc.) in case of a catastrophe such as fire or flood at home.

1. Online image galleries

Flickr (www.flickr.com) is a fantastic resource for sharing photographs. It’s free to create an account, and you can upload your images in different galleries. You can then send the gallery link to friends and family. You have the option of uploading full-size images too, making Flickr an alternative, offsite backup option. Viewers can also add comments to your photos – making it a great place to get feedback if you want.

2. Create a photobook

A fantastic way to present your photos is to create a book. There are many options available for doing this nowadays. If you’re a Mac user then Apple’s iPhoto has some great book templates available. Alternatively if you’re feeling creative take a look at Blurb (www.blurb.com). Here you can create any type of book you want – hardback, paperback, coffee-table, pocket-sized – and the print quality is comparable to books you’d buy on the high street. Best of all you can order a single copy or a hundred, it’s up to you.

3. Make prints of your images

It’s amazing nowadays how few images actually get printed. However with the rise of digital printing it’s easier than ever to get prints made for yourself, or to give to people. You can either take a memory card into a high-street printer, or upload your files to an online service such as Photobox (www.photobox.co.uk) or SnapFish (www.snapfish.co.uk). These online services also offer the options of printing your images onto various items such as mugs, mousemats and t-shirts. If you’re looking to get prints made from images taken by a professional photographer, make sure you ask the photographer for a Copyright release. This gives you the permission to use the images that they have taken.

4. Use Facebook

Believe it or not, Facebook (www.facebook.com) is now one of the most popular ways of sharing photos online. It’s been estimated that there are close to 10 billion (yes, Billion) photos on Facebook. The advantage here of course is that as soon as you add new photos, all of your Facebook friends will know. Make sure you’re careful about what you share with who though – sharing inappropriate photos with work colleagues is a danger if you’re friends with them on Facebook.

5. Your iPod

Newer iPods and iPhones have a fantastic photo gallery built-in, allowing you to easily flick through hundreds of photos and zoom in on ones you like with a gesture on the touchscreen. If you have the right cables, you can even connect them up to a TV for that big-screen experience.

6. Slideshows

It’s really easy to create great slideshows from your photos, and even add in fancy transitions and music tracks to add a bit of polish. Mac users have everything they need built in to iPhoto, which is included on every computer. For PC users we recommend Google’s free image organising software Picassa (picasa.google.co.uk). For the ultimate in slideshow production, including the ability to create DVD and BluRay discs, take a look at ProShow software from Photodex – it’s not free but is an amazing piece of software.

7. Digital photo frames

You can now pick up a really good digital photo frame for under a hundred pounds, sometimes half that. These are fantastic as you just insert a memory card containing a selection of your images, and the digital photo frame cycles through them automatically. They’re a great conversation starter when you have friends over! Take a look at Amazon (www.amazon.co.uk) or Ebuyer (www.ebuyer.com) for some good deals.

8. Screensavers and desktop wallpaper

Whether you’re using a PC or a Mac, you have the option to select a photo of your choice and use it for your desktop background. In addition you can select a folder of images on your hardrive and set the screensaver to cycle through these. To find out how to do this for a PC go here, and for a Mac here.

NOTE: We’re not paid to recommend any of these companies or software – we just think they’re great products that we use ourselves.

Do you have any other ways that you share your digital images? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below.