We all know the importance of photos in our family history – both old and new. These days, most of our photographs are digital – including the old ones we've scanned or captured using tools like PhotoScan from last month's ‘Tech Tips’. But how secure are those photos? Have you had time to organise them properly? How easy are they to distribute to your family? And how do you document (and share) the stories behind those photos? If you're looking for the answer to any (or all) of these questions, then you'll find potential solutions online.
We've tracked down four services that between them cover all of these key areas: safekeeping, organising, storytelling and sharing. Each of them is aimed at family historians, and while none of them is completely free to use, they do offer free trials or cutdown tiers to allow you to test them thoroughly for yourself.
To help you on your journey, we've trialled all four services to see what they offer. We've signed up and installed any apps (either desktop or mobile) to see how they work, and road-tested all their key features.
What we've discovered is that there's no one perfect solution to the four areas we're interested in – some cover all bases, but none of them excels in all). Or maybe you're looking for a service that excels in capturing old photographs while offering additional tools that cover all four bases to greater or lesser degrees (try Photomyne).
