If there is a need to share photos of holidays or school year or parties and you need to collect various photos among people, there are several ways to do it. Until a few years ago, probably, the first way that could be thought of was to have everyone send the photos, then create a photo CD and, finally, make copies of the CD by handing them to the people concerned. This, however, as well as being uncomfortable, is also a rather laborious job, especially in the photo collection phase and in the hand delivery of CDs. Much more convenient, however, is to use the "Cloud", in the sense of uploading a shared album online so that people can view it online from the PC or smartphone at any time and then, if they want, download the photos and make themselves the CD. It would be even better if the photos in this online album were uploaded by various people, so that it is not just one who has to do the job, allowing everyone to participate and collaborate with one or more photographs and videos of the final album .
To create a type of album of this type, collaborative and shared, there are several sites and applications, including one that beats all because completely free and without limitations : the usual Google Photos .
READ ALSO: Google Photos Cheats and special options for images and videos on smartphones and PCs
The advantage of using Google Photos as a tool to create shared albums is not only that it is free for everyone, but also the fact that it is based on the Google account, which everyone should already have, without requiring you to register other accounts in lesser known sites . The only small flaw of Google Photos albums, it is worth noting immediately, is that there is no way to make albums truly private, even if it is almost impossible for someone to be able to see the photos without being invited.
Other than that, Google Photos makes it very easy to share photos and videos with other people and create an album that everyone (guests) can participate in and can be done both from the website and from the Google Photos app for iPhone and Android.
During the creation phase, you must first of all give a title to the album, then select the people who can participate (but these can also be added later) and then select the photos or videos . If we already have the photos to add, we can do it, otherwise it will be enough to add at least one photograph to start (you cannot create an empty album).
If you have activated the function of automatic recognition of people in photos, you can select the option that automatically adds to the album all the next photographs in which the faces of the chosen people appear.
Those who have been sent to participate in the album will receive an email with the link to open the created album and permission to add photos from their PC or smartphone to it. All the photos added will be visible to all those who have access to the album by invitation or even through sharing links. In the shared album, in fact, you can press the share button at the top to be able to generate a link to copy and paste in messages or emails. Whoever receives the link will be able to view the album without being able to add photos; those who are added via the + button under the title, where the facets appear, can also add new photos to the album . Only the creator of the album has the ability to delete photos.
Google Photos sharing is not based on permissions: if you invite three friends to participate in adding photos, they must log in with their Google or Gmail account, but if you send the link via message to show only the photos, anyone can open the album without needing a Google Account. The link, therefore, is public and visible to anyone, even if it is practically impossible to find it or open it by chance, since it is made up of random characters (for example //photos.app.goo.gl/PCX4zyCGDrDgfsrWEA ). The fact remains that it is not advisable to publish sensitive and very private photographs in Google Photos.
To find the shared album created, you can open Google Photos and its Album section at any time, looking for the title and the cover. Once you open an album, pressing the button with three dots in the upper right corner, you can find different options including:
It should be noted that the option that stops sharing, deactivates the link generated by removing access to the album from everyone except the owner and also removes photos added by other people and all comments. If you decide to reactivate sharing, a new random link is generated which will be sent to people again.
The creation of shared albums therefore becomes an ideal, easy and free solution to organize photos of a trip, a wedding, a party, holidays, school or even to keep an album of photos of children that mom can access and dad or other relatives. (see also the guide to share photos in Google Photos automatically with another person)
If you don't like it, there are other solutions listed in the post with the apps to share photos privately with friends and relatives
To create a type of album of this type, collaborative and shared, there are several sites and applications, including one that beats all because completely free and without limitations : the usual Google Photos .
READ ALSO: Google Photos Cheats and special options for images and videos on smartphones and PCs
The advantage of using Google Photos as a tool to create shared albums is not only that it is free for everyone, but also the fact that it is based on the Google account, which everyone should already have, without requiring you to register other accounts in lesser known sites . The only small flaw of Google Photos albums, it is worth noting immediately, is that there is no way to make albums truly private, even if it is almost impossible for someone to be able to see the photos without being invited.
Other than that, Google Photos makes it very easy to share photos and videos with other people and create an album that everyone (guests) can participate in and can be done both from the website and from the Google Photos app for iPhone and Android.
During the creation phase, you must first of all give a title to the album, then select the people who can participate (but these can also be added later) and then select the photos or videos . If we already have the photos to add, we can do it, otherwise it will be enough to add at least one photograph to start (you cannot create an empty album).
If you have activated the function of automatic recognition of people in photos, you can select the option that automatically adds to the album all the next photographs in which the faces of the chosen people appear.
Those who have been sent to participate in the album will receive an email with the link to open the created album and permission to add photos from their PC or smartphone to it. All the photos added will be visible to all those who have access to the album by invitation or even through sharing links. In the shared album, in fact, you can press the share button at the top to be able to generate a link to copy and paste in messages or emails. Whoever receives the link will be able to view the album without being able to add photos; those who are added via the + button under the title, where the facets appear, can also add new photos to the album . Only the creator of the album has the ability to delete photos.
Google Photos sharing is not based on permissions: if you invite three friends to participate in adding photos, they must log in with their Google or Gmail account, but if you send the link via message to show only the photos, anyone can open the album without needing a Google Account. The link, therefore, is public and visible to anyone, even if it is practically impossible to find it or open it by chance, since it is made up of random characters (for example //photos.app.goo.gl/PCX4zyCGDrDgfsrWEA ). The fact remains that it is not advisable to publish sensitive and very private photographs in Google Photos.
To find the shared album created, you can open Google Photos and its Album section at any time, looking for the title and the cover. Once you open an album, pressing the button with three dots in the upper right corner, you can find different options including:
- Slideshow, to see photos one after the other with transition effects.
- Download all, to download all photos to PC
- Edit Album, to delete photos from the album, to sort photos differently, to add text fields such as titles or descriptions above the photos, to add the location and to add more photos.
- Options, to activate the automatic addition of photos, to activate sharing (if you deactivate it, the album becomes private and nobody can see or use it anymore), to activate collaboration (if you deactivate it, nobody can add photos to the album ), to turn off comments and likes.
- Set the album cover .
- Hide the album from the Album list.
- Create a photo book printed with photos from the album
- Delete the album
It should be noted that the option that stops sharing, deactivates the link generated by removing access to the album from everyone except the owner and also removes photos added by other people and all comments. If you decide to reactivate sharing, a new random link is generated which will be sent to people again.
The creation of shared albums therefore becomes an ideal, easy and free solution to organize photos of a trip, a wedding, a party, holidays, school or even to keep an album of photos of children that mom can access and dad or other relatives. (see also the guide to share photos in Google Photos automatically with another person)
If you don't like it, there are other solutions listed in the post with the apps to share photos privately with friends and relatives
