Discussion Post - Topic: Image Hosting for Fan-Artists

[goss]

This is a Discussion post for a topic many Fan-Artists are currently concerned with: Image Hosting. (thanks to mekare for highlighting the issue)

Poll #18579 Free Image Hosting

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 19

View Respondents

Are you satisfied with your current Free Image Hosting Service?

View Answers

Yes
6 (33.3%)

No
3 (16.7%)

Somewhat satisfied, but on the lookout for a better Free Image Hosting Service
7 (38.9%)

Photobucket SUCKS
10 (55.6%)

Which Free Image Hosting Service(s) do you use? Tick all that apply.

View Answers

Livejournal
2 (11.8%)

Dreamwidth
8 (47.1%)

Photobucket
6 (35.3%)

Imgur
7 (41.2%)

Flickr
2 (11.8%)

PostImage.org
0 (0.0%)

Google Photos
0 (0.0%)

500px
0 (0.0%)

Dropbox
0 (0.0%)

FreeImageHosting.net
0 (0.0%)

TinyPic.com
2 (11.8%)

ImageShack.us
0 (0.0%)

ImageVenue
0 (0.0%)

Other free image hosting service, which I will tell you about below...
7 (41.2%)

If you selected Other, please tell us about it here:

View Answers

...and then feel free to use the comments sections to elaborate on your choices, post questions, suggestions, advice, and any other discussion dealing with the topic.

Comments

[mific]

Ok, so I use Mediafire, and am moving all my pics there from LJ. I never used Photobucket much.
You can use Mediafire free but it won't generate direct links for embedding that way. The paid account is pretty cheap, though (called a pro account). It's US $33.75 a year, if you pay once a year, and $45 if paying monthly.

With a paid account you get 1T(1000 GB) storage, direct links, a bulk uploader, and ad-free use and downloading. Files can be streamed as well, which I use for the occasional podfic I record. It's easy to make and rename file folders to organise your stuff, and (UNlike LJ) if you reorganise your folders the link to the embedded pic isn't broken. Pics are named by the filename you gave them, not a code no., which I prefer, and there's a small thumbnail. You can view them as a list or as larger thumbnails. There are mediafire versions for iPad and Android, with different functionality (can upload pics from the device but can't copy a direct link from that interface.) You can get a "share" link for downloading as well, also from the ios and android versions, but you can't embed those, they only download the file. If you upload the same artwork a few times as you've been tweaking it (like I often do with digital works) it asks each time if you want to replace the old version or have both versions, and adds a (2) etc.

Getting the direct link for embedding takes as many steps as LJ used to require.
- upload pic
- click on pic filename to open it
- R-click on open pic to copy the direct link.
So that's not too bad.

If you share a direct link it'll be open to all who have the link, so visible to all once embedded. But no one can backtrack from that (coded) link to the rest of your pics. You can also make links private so all & sundry can't see them. Mediafire is for storage, not intended for social photo-sharing, so there's no "search all of Mediafire" function - i.e. people can't chance on your NSFW stuff randomly. It's cloud storage, so you can use it to store and back-up any files, not just art (most people use it for other stuff).

So not free but cheap, and pretty good for what I need in an art storage site.
ETA: oh, and it works for animations and gifs.

[amberdreams]

Oh that's useful to know - I hadn't realised mediafire has that embedding facility. I honestly don't mind paying for something if it's going to be permanent, flexible and supports everything I need. I'm not keen on mediafire for file sharing because it opens advert windows and occasionally mackeeper (which is a horrible pain in the arse) but I assume if I had a paid account that wouldn't happen to me any more.

Thanks for this info!