How to Use Photobucket

• by Jason W

Introduction

• Photobucket is one of the easiest and most convenient photo-sharing sites on the Internet. You can also store videos, create slideshows, and search for media in other users' albums or just browse randomly. You can then display your photos and other media on your blog, your MySpace page, or on eBay. Best of all, most of the site's functionality is available for free, so there's no reason not to get started with Photobucket today!

Step 1: Register for a Photobucket Account

• To get started on Photobucket, you'll need to open an account. Don't worry, they're free and easy!

1. Go to photobucket.com. Make sure that your browser accepts cookies from the site.
2. Click on the “Join Now” button in the upper right of the home page.
3. Select a username and password and click on “Next Step.”
4. Fill in the requested personal information.
5. That's it! Your account is active! From now on, whenever you go to photobucket.com, you can click on “My Album” to go directly to your album.

Step 2: Upload Photos and Videos to Photobucket

• Now that you've got a Photobucket account, you can start uploading your photos and videos to share on the Internet.

Upload From Your PC

1. Select the “Albums & Upload” tab on your main account page.
2. Select “Images from my PC.”
3. Click the “Browse” button and find the image on your computer. (If you have a lot of images to upload, you might consider using the bulk uploader, below.)
4. Add a title to your image. If you don't do it now, you can still title your image later on.
5. Repeat this process for every image you want to upload. Click on the “add more” link if you have more than three images to upload.
6. Once you're done selecting all your images, click on the “Upload” button. It may take a while to upload your images, depending on how big they are; be patient!
7. You can now add titles, descriptions, or tags to your images. Again, if you don't do it now, you can do it later.
8. Finally, select “Save and Continue.” Your images have been uploaded!

Use the Bulk Uploader

• If you want to upload a lot of images from your PC (like a whole folder full of your vacation photos), you may find it easier to use Photobucket's bulk uploader.

1. First, you'll have to create a folder in your Photobucket account (see below) and be in that folder.
2. Click on the “Use Our Bulk Uploader” button. This will bring up a screen with multiple windows.
   

   Use the Bulk Uploader
3. In the “Choose a Folder” window, you can browse on your PC to select the folder that contains the images you want to upload. The images in that folder will appear in the “Click to Select Photos” window.
4. Click on whatever photos you want to upload, or choose “select all.” The selected photos will appear in the third window.
5. You can add descriptions and titles to individual images if you want, or do it later.
6. You can choose different folders (going back to the first window) and images and you can delete photos from your upload batch by clicking on the red minus sign next to them.
7. When you're ready, click on “Upload” to upload all your photos. Again, this may take a while, so be patient.
8. You can now add titles, descriptions, or tags to your images. Again, if you don't do it now, you can do it later.
9. Finally, select “Save and Continue.” Your images have been uploaded!

Upload videos from your PC

• Photobucket's also a great way to share your videos (maximum five minutes, 100 MB), which are just as easy to upload as photos.

1. From your album main page, click on “Video.”
2. Click the “Browse” button and find the video on your computer.
3. Add a title to your video. If you don't do it now, you can still title your video later on.
4. Click on the “Upload” button. It will probably take a while to upload your video, depending on how big it is; be patient!

Upload images directly from the web

• If you see a cool pic online you want to have in your album, you don't need to download it from the web to your hard drive. Photobucket lets you input URLs directly and upload the images to your account!

1. From your album main page, click on “Web URL.”
2. Copy and paste the URLs of the images you want to upload into the spaces provided. Click on the “add more” link if you have more than three images to upload.
3. Add a title to your image. If you don't do it now, you can still title your image later on.
4. Repeat this process for every image you want to upload. Click on the “add more” link if you have more than three images to upload.
5. Once you're done finding all your images, click on the “Upload” button. It may take a while to upload your images, depending on how big they are; be patient!
6. You can now add titles, descriptions, or tags to your images. Again, if you don't do it now, you can do it later.
7. Finally, select “Save and Continue.” Your images have been uploaded!

• 

  Upload images directly from the web

Upload images from your mobile phone

• Finally, you can upload images directly from your mobile phone to your Photobucket account. You can read Photobucket's full tutorial by following this link.

Step 3: Organize Your Photos and Videos

• Right now, you've probably got a bunch of photos and videos all lumped together into one big mess in your album's main folder. But it doesn't have to be that way! With a little time, you can organize your photos and videos into albums (similar to folders on your PC) for easy reference and storage.

Create and Navigate Albums

1. From your album's main page, find the “Add a new album” text box on the left side, just under the main navigation bar.
   

   Add a new album
2. Select a name for your album (like “Family” or “2007 Summer Vacation”) and click “Save.” Your folder will be created and you'll be put into that folder.
   • Note that you can always keep track of where you are in your albums by looking at the “Album:” header just below your main navigation bar. For instance, right now it should read “Album: YourUserName > NewFolder,” Where “YourUserName” is your user name and “NewFolder” is the name of the folder you just created.
3. You can create more albums, or even albums within albums by repeating these steps. To go to the main page for your album, click on the YourUserName link. To upload photos and videos to a specific folder, just go to that folder before uploading.

Move Items Between Albums

1. To move a photo or video from one album to another, simply click on the “move” link above it. If you want to move multiple files, you should click the check boxes below the items (or choose “Select All” if you want to move everything in the album) and click on the “Move Selected” button at the bottom of the page.
2. You'll be given a choice of where to move the item(s). Select the album you want to move it to and click “Move.”
   • Note that moving an item will break any external links you might have to it (from your blog, for instance). You should only move something if you're sure you don't mind having to re-establish the links later or if you haven't linked anything to it yet.

Delete, Rename, and Tag Items

• You can also rename your files, add new tags, or delete them altogether.

• To delete a file, simply click on the “delete” link above it. If you want to delete multiple files, you should click the check boxes below the items (or choose “Select All” if you want to delete everything in the album) and click on the “Delete Selected” button at the bottom of the page. A warning box will pop up; select “OK” to continue and your item will be deleted.

• To name an unnamed item, click on the gray “click to add title” link above it. Fill in the name and click the “OK” button. If you want to rename the item, just click on its title, enter the new name, and click “OK.”

• Tags are like descriptive keywords for your images. They let you categorize your images, even across different albums, so you can view them all at once. For instance, you might have a “Mom” tag for all images that include your mother .
  

  Add tags to your photos

1. To add a tag to an image, click on the “tag” link above the item.
2. You can then type the name of your tag in the box provided or, if you already have defined some tags, choose from a list.
3. You can also enter an e-mail address (such as mom's e-mail when you tag a picture of her) to let someone know they've been tagged. They'll receive an e-mail that contains a link to the tagged image.
   • You can also drag the box around to highlight certain elements of the picture. Then, when people search for your tag on Photobucket, they'll see what you highlighted!
4. Click “Save” once you've picked a tag. You can then click on the “click to add tags” link under your image to add more tags.
5. When you're done adding tags, click on the “Done Tagging” button above the image.

• Once you're back in your album, you'll see the “all my tags” window on the left-hand side. You can click on any of the tags to view the images with those tags.

• Alternatively, to tag a bunch of items at once, click on the “tag friends in this album” link in the “all my tags” box. This will let you enter tags (as well as titles and descriptions) for all the images in the current album.

Step 4: Share Your Photos and Videos on the Internet

• This is what Photobucket was made for! In no time at all, you'll be sharing your photos and videos on your blog or social networking site, sending them via e-mail, posting them on message boards, or using them to enhance the salability of your items on eBay. All of these posting solutions require code, usually in HTML. Fortunately, Photobucket makes it easy for you to obtain the code you need.

Share Your Photos on the Internet

1. Click on the check box below the item you want to share and click on the “Generate HTML and IMG code” button at the bottom of the page.
2. Click on the box of text whose header best matches the site you want to share your pictures on (LiveJournal, MySpace, Facebook, eBay, message boards, etc.). This will automatically copy the text to your clipboard.
3. Create a new post or listing on the site you want to post your media to.
4. Paste the code from step 2 into the appropriate location (such as the body of your post).

• To send a link to your image in e-mail, select the last choice (“URL's for email…”). Alternatively, you can copy the text in the “Email and IM” box directly underneath your picture.

Use the HTML and IMG code to post to your favorite site

Share Your Photos on LiveJournal

• Additionally, if you have a LiveJournal page, you can use the tools provided by LiveJournal to add pictures and videos while creating a post.

1. Start a new LJ post.
2. Select “Insert Image.”
3. A new window will open. Select the “Photobucket” tab.
4. Search through your albums to find the image you want and choose “Paste Media.”
5. Continue editing your post or save it. Your pictures will be automatically added to your post.

Share Your Slideshows and Remixes on LiveJournal

1. Go to your Photobucket account and choose the slideshow or remix you want to embed in your post.
2. Click on the text in the “HTML Code” window. This will copy the text automatically to your clipboard.
3. Start a new LJ post.
4. Select “Embed Media.”
5. A new window will open. Paste the HTML code you copied earlier and choose “Insert.”
6. Continue editing your post or save it. Your video will be automatically added to your post.

Post Your Photos on eBay

• A good photo is important if you want to sell your item on eBay and other online marketplaces. Fortunately, Photobucket has already provided a great tutorial on how to link your images to your eBay postings, and you can read it here.

Step 5: Explore Other Ways to Share Your Photos

• Photobucket includes a few other tools you can use to share your photos in interesting and daring new ways!

Create a Slideshow

• A slideshow is a compilation of your photos that cycle through automatically. They're fun and easy to make, thanks to Photobucket.

1. Click on the “create slideshow” link in your album's main navigation bar.
   • You'll be presented with two selection windows. The left one contains images in your album, and the right contains different style you can use to spruce up your slideshow. Also, you'll see a window between these, which gives you a preview of your slideshow and a window below all of them that shows the order your images will be displayed.
2. Select the images to include from the left window by clicking on them. You can explore your other albums by clicking on the “back to YourUserName” link above them and selecting different albums.
3. If you want to change the order of the images, you can drag them around in the window beneath the preview. You can also click on the red X next to them to remove them from the slideshow. (Don't worry, that won't delete them from your album.)
4. Next, choose a style from the options in the right-hand window.
5. When you're happy with your slideshow, click on “Save Slideshow” to name and save your slideshow.

Create your own custom slideshow

• Now your slideshow exists as a video clip in your album! Like any other item, you can move or rename your slideshow. You can also change its contents or style by clicking on the “edit” link above it.

Create a Remix

• A remix is similar to a slideshow, except that the pictures are set to music!

1. Click on the “create remix” link in your album's main navigation bar.
   • You'll be presented with two main windows. The left one contains images in your album The large central window offers you a preview of your slideshow, and the one below it is where you'll input your images and options for the remix.
2. On the left-hand side, you'll see the images in your currently selected album. Drag them, one at a time, to the boxes in the input window (below the preview screen). You can select images from other albums by clicking on the YourUserName link above the images.
   • To change how long an image will be viewed in your remix, click and drag the blue line beneath the preview pane.
3. Next, choose “Add Text or Stickers.” You can add any of the listed options by dragging them over the images in your input window or directly into the preview screen. You can move, resize, or delete the various elements directly in the preview window. There are a lot of choices, so feel free to experiment!
4. Click on “Add a Border” to add frames to your images. As always, drag the borders to the images either in the input pane or the preview pane. The same border will be attached to all images in the remix.
5. Click on “Add Music” to add one of the many selections to your remix. There are lots of categories, and lots of tunes in each category. Drag your selection to the preview pane.
6. Click on “Add Transitions” if you want to add transitions between the different images, such as fades or flashes or other effects. Drag each transition to the space between the images in the input window (the double-arrow spaces).
7. Click on the “Preview” button to sample your remix. If there's anything you don't like, just select one of the steps above and re-do it!
8. When you're happy with your remix, click on “Publish” and give it a title.

Create a remix

• Now your remix exists as a video clip in your album and is ready to share just like any other video! Like any other item, you can move or rename your remix. You can also change its contents or style by clicking on the “edit” link above it.

Step 6: Upgrade Your Photobucket Account

• You get quite a bit from a free Photobucket account: a full gigabyte of storage capacity, 100 GB of bandwidth monthly, and, of course, the ability to upload and share your photos online. But you can get more with a Pro account, for just pennies a day.

• To upgrade, click on the “go pro” link at the top of your album page (or click here). You'll see a side-by-side comparison of features and will have the option to upgrade for $3/month or $25/year. Click on “Upgrade Now” to increase your maximum storage capacity, image size, slideshow link, as well as other great features.

Resources for How to Use Photobucket: Basics and Beyond

• CNet: Photobucket launches mobile Web site (January 15, 2008)
• JQ's Life: Photobucket Tips (December 4, 2007)
• Webware: Photobucket's new tagging feature takes a hint from Facebook and Flickr (November 7, 2007)
• Mashable: Photobucket is World's Biggest Photo Site (June 22, 2006)
• Photobucket Tips & Tricks: Share your camera phone pics with friends
• Wikipedia: Photo Sharing
• Mahalo: Mahalo's Photobucket Page

Photobucket Resources

• Photobucket home page
• Official Photobucket blog
• Photobucket search
• Digg on Photobucket
• Photobucket help center
• Photobucket tagging tutorial
• Photobucket forums

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