The Download Blog

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Just about anybody with a little computer experience can put a bunch of photos together onscreen and print them out. But what if you want something a bit more exciting? Maybe something that gives you the flexibility to control the layout, add captions, and upload your work to the Web so your friends and family can enjoy it. JAlbum, for both Windows and Mac is one of my long-time favorite programs. JAlbum just got a major upgrade, so if you're looking for a way to get your photos out to family and friends, it's definitely worth checking out.

Browse skins using JAlbums instant previews.

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JAlbum helps you make snazzy photo albums from premade templates, giving you a professional-looking album in just a few clicks. What's great about JAlbum is that everything is customizable, letting you resize thumbnails to fit your desired specs, write captions the way you want them, and set the overall look of the album to fit your photos. You can even add different file types to your albums--such as sound and movie files--to add spice to your project. Did I mention the interface is completely drag-and-drop?

Get more skins and layouts at the JAlbum Web site.

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Once you have your album laid out to your specs, JAlbum lets you share your creation in a number of ways. Using the integrated FTP client, you can upload your album to your Web site or you can use the integrated Web server to serve your album from your computer. You can even create an account at the JAlbum Web site to get free hosting for your albums. So all your friends and family will need to do is point their Web browser at the link you send them, and your holiday photos will appear onscreen without the need for extra downloads.

Make quick edits to your images with the new image editor.

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The folks at JAlbum sent a press release today to tell me about the latest version, so I reacquainted myself with this great software and got a look at some of the new features. One welcome addition is the integrated image editor that adds plug-ins for common tasks such as red-eye removal, image cropping, and color adjustment, and they also added a few simple image filters for more drastic effects. There are only a few skins included in this version, but it's easy to add more using the huge skins section at the JAlbum site. While you're there, you can also check out other user's albums for more ideas.

If you've been looking for a new way to post your photos, JAlbum is a great choice with an extremely easy-to-use interface and plenty of options to create the perfect album.

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I take a lot of pictures with my digital camera at birthdays, family gatherings, and other events, so I'm always on the lookout for new ways to share the photos. As new programs hit the scene and older programs evolve over time, my favorites change because of various factors like ease of use, number of features, and of course, the king of all reasons: price.

One of the best ways I've found to share pictures with friends and family is to make them as accessible as possible by creating Web albums. With the right software, you can lay out your pictures any way you want, create a template to fit the theme, and write in your own captions. When you're done, simply send a link to your personalized Web album.

There are plenty of paid offerings to choose from in this category of software, but I've found several free programs that do the job nicely. The best Web album software provides ways to host your work on the Web so all you'll need is some creativity and your already honed photo-snapping skills.

The step-by-step process makes it easy to create simple albums.

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Photozig Albums Express offers a step-by-step process so you can design your project from start to finish. Big button icons with descriptions make it easy to start your project and select the preferred output for your images including sending in e-mail, burning to a CD, or uploading to a Web site. The finished product is a basic layout of thumbnails that you can click to enlarge, but you'll have no skins to choose from with this one. The Photozig Web site requires you register with an e-mail address, but you'll be able to display your albums on the Web for free once you're signed up. For basic albums, this is the one to choose.

A clean-looking interface and several themes make album creation easy.

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Web Photo Album is another simple free album creator offering several nice (if sometimes cheesy) templates. A nice interface layout makes it easy to find the pictures you want and quickly create a simple album. It offers basic editing functions like red-eye removal and picture rotation, and you can add captions to each picture. The finished product comes out as a page of thumbnails and once you click on a picture, you're given a close up with the ability to navigate to other shots across the top of the page. Though there are a staggering number of themes to choose from to match your pictures, your overall layout is unchangeable. Web Photo Album lets you sign up for the free Photo hosting service, or you can save to a folder to burn to CD or post to your own site.

With numerous skin and layout choices, JAlbum is tough to beat.

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JAlbum for both PC and Mac users is one of my long-time favorite free Web album programs. It doesn't direct you through the process like Photozig, but a quick look through the menus will be enough for you to get started creating great Web albums. There are several great-looking templates and skins to choose from, with more skins available at the JAlbum Web site. An integrated FTP program makes it easy to post albums to your Web site or blog. The JAlbum site also lets you post your projects to their Web hosting service for free, but as with the others, you'll need to register with a name and e-mail address.

With spring weather returning here in the Northern hemisphere, you're going to have a lot of chances to snap some great pictures. Use one of these free Web album programs to turn your pictures into a nice project that's easy to share with anyone.