+++ FREE, FREEE, FREEEE... +++. Review on Hpphoto

We can be found at https://urbanohermits.blogspot.in/

Recall the keyword that powered a huge number of the dotcoms before they went from boom to bust?

I was of course one of the sincere supporters of the FREE concept(like you guys) and still am('coz it doesn't cost me anything major)!

FREE - Just imagine!

It powered a major part of the internet revolution in the early 2000s! Of course, the magic could not last long. And most of the dotcoms died a sudden death! A death that I still keep regretting today.

This is the 2nd revu in a series on FREE Online Storage that I have penned. The 1st one was on Yahoo! Briefcase titled 'Online Storage.Reality Check!' Hewlett Packard!

The name brings with it an immediate recollection about the Computer Accessories major! HP is known for many things, but least of all - Online Storage! I mean, HP and FREE Online Storage? Aha! But, it is true! HP advertises this, but not too obviously! I was searching for something else, when I found HP Photo! Accident? I am happy with incidental and fortunate accidents that turn out to my general welfare;-)

Yahoo! Briefcase provides around 30+ MB of online storage, and accommodates all kinds of files. I rate the HP Photo online storage site as a bonus to Yahoo! Briefcase! Mind you, I am not making a comparison of either against the other! HP Photo* provides FREE online storage to the tune of.100 MB!

Yep! No hidden catches, no fine print, no nothings! Huh! A couple of them actually, but nothing really gigantic! For one, you have to go their website and sign-up for an account! The online storage account is completely free; so, it should not really count as a negative! The one that really matters is that the online storage account accommodates only pictures, and that too,  only .bmp, .fpx, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, and .tiff. And stop thinking about changing the file extensions names, ‘coz, unfortunately, that does not work! I tried that immediately, only to be rebuffed thoroughly:-( *

HP Photo - *What can you do with it?

To make the story short and simple, these are all the things that you can do. You may find that there are more things that you can do with it;-) You can experiment… *

*Create Photo Albums

Create photo albums or organise current ones based on categories. HP provides move and copy tools to move or copy existing photos from one album to the other. *

*Delete Photo Albums or Selected Photos

Find that you no longer need a particular photo album or certain photos? No problemo! Select the photo album or photos that you no longer want, and delete them. *

*Upload Photo Albums or Selected Photos

You have got the photos digitalized and stored on your hard disk. Now, you would like to upload them to the online storage, and be able to access them anywhere, anytime! No probs! You can do that through HP Photo, simple and easy! *

*Download Entire Photo Albums or Selected Photos

Want to download photos to your local system? Piece of cake! You can do that too thru’ HP Photo! *

*Share Photos & Photo Albums

Aha! Looking good in the photos that you just snapped? Want to show them off to your friends, and family members, and of course, that special person, eh;-) Through HP Photo, send eMail Invites with a link to your selected photos to your near and dear ones! *

*View Photos & Photo Albums

View your own photos? Great! My favourite pastime too;-) to view my own photos and marvel at myself:) HP Photo allows you to do all that! View photos full screen or actual size, and even run a photos slideshow! *

*Print Photos, Photo Albums, & Projects

This option works best if you have special quality paper! Even otherwise, you can still print your photos and projects(like photo greeting cards, ePost cards, and ready-to-go cards) on ordinary paper! Customise the print options, and then print them to your local printer. *

*Order Photo Prints

And have them delivered to Family & Friends! Of course, this will cost you! Ahem! Credit card ready;-) Order prints for the photos of your choice… HP will make prints for your selected photos, and deliver them to whomever and wherever you want them delivered to! It even analyses and applies adjustments to your photos to improve the exposure and colours to give the finest quality prints! *

*Create Auction Links to Photos

Professional photographer? No? Amateur photographer, then? Just an aim & shoot photographer? Gain recognition(and perhaps, a few bucks too) for your work by publishing a link to an auction site through HP Photo! May be, you have got the creativity and talent that you didn’t know you had in yourself;-) *

*Edit your Photos

Enhance and beautify your photos through HP Photo. Rotate your photos, adjust their brightness and contrast, flip them, crop them, and remove red-eye – all through the Photo Edit Tool! *

*Photo Greeting Cards

HP Photo provides sample greeting cards. Of course, you can use your own set of uploaded pictures to create photo greeting cards.  Customize your greeting cards by choosing the layout of the card(vertical/horizontal orientation), add standard greeting messages provided by HP Photo or ink your own, and change the colour, size and style, of your text. Finally, preview the greeting card before shooting it off to your family and friends! *

*ePost Cards

Create ePost cards from HP Photo. A similar process to creating greeting cards. Additionally, also choose from a variety of border options to decorate your card, before sending it family and friends! *

*Ready-to-go Cards

Use art-work provided by HP Photo to create ready-to-go cards with similar number of options, and preview them before sending them to family and friends! Save Projects You can also save all projects created by you like photo greeting cards, ePost cards, and ready-to-go cards.

Miscellaneous *

  HP Photo provides FREE desktop software(HP Photo Manager & the HP Printing Tool). *

  The HP Photo Manager simplifies uploading, viewing, and managing multiple photos from your desktop! *

  The HP Printing Tool makes the printing of photos that much more easier!

  Additionally, HP Photo also provides an online Address Book for recording eMail addresses. *

  If you have a scanner, then you can directly acquire the images by using the HP Photo Manager interface, and thereon upload them to your account! *

  HP Photo also allows you to convert certain image formats in JPEG while uploading your images, but I have not tested this option.

Pros *

+  All that I wrote about till now!

+  Additionally, HP Photo also adds periodically new art and greetings to the site.

Cons *

-  Net connectivity is a major factor.

-  Allows upload of images in only viz., .bmp, .fpx, .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, and .tiff.

-  When uploading images, max. file size is 5MB per file with a max. resolution of 10 mega pixels.

-  Merging of addresses from personal address books to HP Photo address boo