Posted by People who are new to the Internet world ask this question a lot, and in this post, I want to show you how you can share your images with your friends and family on the Internet. But before that, let me explain two terms that are used in this field: download and upload.
Download
It’s used for transferring a file from the Internet to your computer and most of the times you see it as a down-facing arrow in the Internet (as shown in the image below):
Upload
The opposite of download is called upload which means transferring from your computer to the Internet. The symbol of upload is an up-facing arrow (as shown in the image below):
Well, it’s now clear that when we want to share an image online, actually we’re uploading that image. Now the question is how we can share (upload) an image online.
How to Share an Image Online? Step by Step Guide
You should know that files are saved in the Internet just like on your own computer. The place where your files will be saved in the Internet is called server. So, to share your image, you just need to find a website which lets you upload your file on its sever. Google free upload website – and you`ll see thousands of websites which let you upload your files on their server totally for free. But let me introduce you some of the best websites in this field.
I would recommend tinypic. It’s one of the most famous and trusted uploading website and it has #150 ranking among thousands of other similar websites. imgur and upload.photobox.com are two other well-known websites for uploading files. So let’s see how we can upload and share our images at tinypic. (Please note that I’m going to explain the process on tinypic website, but the steps are very similar at other websites and you can follow them using other similar uploading sites).
Go to tinypic.com and you’ll see a box (as shown in the image below) on the main page which includes Choose File button as well as Files, Tags, File Type and other sections.
By clicking on Choose file button, a new window will open which will let you select a file/image from your computer.
After selecting your file, fill out Tags section with related words and select File Type (image in this case), you can also change the image size or share it via e-mail. Now, you just need to click on that beauty green UPLOAD NOW! button and… done! Your image has been uploaded to Tinypic and it’s ready to be shared with anyone you want.
But there’re some important things that you need pay attention to. Each file has a specific address in the Internet (like your home address), and everyone who has this address will be able to see your uploaded image. The file address in the internet is called Direct Link and it means it’ll redirect others to that specific image or file and each direct link ends with a dot and an extension.
Let’s take a look at the example below. In the photo you can see links for the image I’ve uploaded. On the top you see Links to Share and then a list of links. The most important link is the last one (Direct Link). As I’ve mentioned before, it ends with a dot and file extension (.jpg) which shows that it’s a direct link.
Now, to share your image, you should send the direct link to anyone you want to share image with, and then they will be able to see your image just by clicking on that direct link. This was the whole process which shows how easy sharing an image online can be. But let me mention several important notes at the end of this post:
- The first field is HTML for Websites shows the code which you can use in your blog or website. It means, if you want the image to be shown on your blog or website, you should copy the code and paste it on the page or post of your website/blog where you want it to be shown.
- The second field is known as BBCode. Imagine you want to share an image in Internet forums, then you should put this code (which is written in IMG Code for Forums & Message Boards field) in your post when you want to publish it in a forum, and then others will be able to see it.
- And the third field… Let me explain more about this section.
Generally, hosting websites prefer not to give direct links to users because it’s not profitable for them. Why? Because if you share a file or image through a direct link, most of the times, people who see that image won’t see the server where it was uploaded (because it’s important for them to see what you’ve shared first). In that way hosting websites won’t be able to promote themselves.
But if you use a non-direct link, they’ll be able to show ads on that page and this is profitable for them. Now you understand why Direct Link field is placed on bottom of the page! Tinypic gives you both direct and non-direct links, so if it doesn’t matter for you and you want to help them keep their service free, you can use non-direct links (URL for E-Mail & IM) for sharing your images.
You can see direct and non-direct terms in the Internet a lot. Keep in mind that a direct link is always better and of course, it may not be free while a non-direct link is free most of the times and it has some limitations and ads.
- The next thing is that if you want to upload your image in the Internet and keep it there for a long time, don’t rely on unknown hosting websites because they may remove your image from their server after a while (which makes them able to provide service for other users!). If you’ve used that image in your blog or website, it won’t be displayed anymore and your post becomes incomplete.
- Tinypic lets you upload video files too, but personally, I prefer YouTube for uploading my videos.
- If you register on Tinypic, you’ll have access to more options which let you manage images better. You can perform tasks like editing, removing, etc. in your Tinypic account.
- And finally, here is a list of the best image hosting and sharing websites which are trustworthy and have been serving users for years:
>> Click Here if you want to know one of the best application for photography <<
I’ve tried to explain everything in detail, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask or if you know any other reliable image hosting and sharing website, share it with others in comments below!