Guide
How to make an online photo album
From a camera roll full of photos to an album people actually look through, in five steps.
Updated
1. Choose fewer, better photos
The hardest part of an album is leaving photos out. An album of 40 strong photos gets looked through; an album of 400 near-duplicates gets scrolled past. Go through your photos once and keep the ones with a clear moment, a face you care about, or a detail that tells the story.
Remove near-identical shots and keep the best of each burst. If a photo only makes sense with an explanation, it is either worth a caption or worth leaving out.
2. Put them in an order that tells the story
Most albums work best in time order: arrival, the main moment, the details, the people, the end of the day. Start with one photo that sums up the whole event; it becomes the cover that people see first and that shows in link previews.
3. Pick a layout that suits the photos
The layout changes how an album feels more than any colour or font does.
- Grid: even rows, good for any mix of photos.
- Masonry: keeps portrait and landscape photos in their real shape, good for travel.
- Story: large photos in sequence with room for captions, good for weddings.
- Slideshow: one photo at a time, good for showing on a screen.
4. Add a title, date and a few captions
A title and date make the album findable in someone’s messages months later. Captions are optional, but three or four short ones at turning points (“First dance”, “Grandma’s speech”) help people follow along. Alt text, a short description of a photo, makes the album usable for people who rely on screen readers.
5. Decide who can see it, then share one link
Before sharing, decide on privacy: unlisted (anyone with the link), password-protected, or private. Then share a single link in your group chat or email, or print it as a QR code. One link that you keep updating is better than sending photos in several batches.
With ImageAlbums you can do all of this in the browser, free and without an account to start: upload up to 100 photos, choose one of ten layouts and a cover style, and share the link or QR code. Location data is removed from every photo automatically.