Anyone use Dropbox to share photos...

[andyoxon]

I've just downloaded it - to share some photos... but,

Do I share a folder or a link to it, and what happens if some some of the people's email addresses I add do not have dropbox..?

[Jaded]

For photos it is easier than sharing a DropBox folder.

You put the photos into a folder within the Photos folder of your DropBox folder then (I, on a Mac) right click on the folder and there is a menu item saying get a link (or similar) that opens the folder in a Browser and you can invite people by email, or get the link

Such as this

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4wp01qloopo3un7/p7JEuVBuWy

[andyoxon]

Thanks Jaded so if I share a link to the folder, do the email contacts need to be members of dropbox to download the original from the web page?  Or, is is only if you share the folder itself  that people have to sign up to dropbox?  So I could access your pics, but did you make them 'public', by putting them in the 'public folder' in dropbox?

[Jaded]

No, its the photos folder, not the public folder. However, they are effectively public, if you have the link.

[Wombat]

Only of course if any of the intended recipients are on a corporate system, any dropbox URL will probably be blocked...  I do find dropbox slightly heavy going, with what you have to download and install, and the annoying little thingy taking up space in the taskbar thingy.  Fro photos I usually put them in a Picasa album, and luckily that isn't blocked here or my previous workplace (just as long as it was stills, not video).

[Charlotte]

Most of the models and make up artists I've worked with like Dropbox because you can share a whole bunch of proof photos with them really quickly.  Everyone seems to use it and it's free at a basic level. 

[LEE]

I use it and distribute to relatives.  All works as expected.

[Wombat]

[idiot question alert]

I had my first go at sending a dropbox link to someone last night, and I'm a bit confused.  When the person opens the link, where actually are the photos in question?  Are they on a dropbox server, as I was unaware of any upload process going on?  It was a folder of 12 photos of about 5Mb each (and a word file as well), and thats not going to upload in seconds without me seeing something happen, surely?

'cos if its meant to be a direct link to the contents of my PC, its not going to work, is it...  (PC is definitely not left on)

[hopefully end idiot mode]

[L CC]

[idiot question alert]
Are they on a dropbox server, as I was unaware of any upload process going on?
[hopefully end idiot mode]

When files are added to the dropbox folder on your PC it does synch with the same folder on a dropbox server. You can see this happening because the symbol next to the folder becomes a blue circle thing. When they're synched the symbol is a green tick.

ETA: I had a webby hunt for pictures as they tell a thousand words, and apparently if you're on some dodgy Apple OS you may not get the synching symbols.

[andyoxon]

I put a 1960s 8mm->video (via Jessops a few yrs back) ->DVD wedding video file (280Mb) of my parents into the dropbox folder earlier and it's taking an aeon to synch...

[Jaded]

https://www.dropbox.com/help/5/en

I found a large file didn't sync. If it is in a shared folder (not the Photos folder) then the files take up allowance on all the sharer's accounts too.

[drossall]

It seems that you can share photos by accident...

At church, we quite often get large PowerPoints and video files for use in services. They used to get emailed round to a bunch of people, which was a bit silly. Now we have a Dropbox account with folders shared with the interested parties, and files are either dropped or emailed there. The Dropbox client is installed on the projection PC, and used to collect the files to set up the services.

The other week, I found that a large collection of images had appeared in the account. I could guess whose they might be from the content, but no-one had any knowledge of putting them there.

I've finally figured out that Dropbox, by default, offers to synchronise images from any USB sticks inserted into the PC. Someone must have used a stick to transfer one file to the PC, and accidentally added 5 years of holiday snaps for everyone to enjoy.

No harm done, but it doesn't seem to be made very clear to the user what's happening...

[andyoxon]

Yes, I noticed that after installing dropbox, it wanted to import images from my camera SD card directly into the dropbox folder (normally Picasa), so I changed the 'autoplay' settings in the dropbox prefs menu.

[drossall]

That's what I've just done, but not in time to prevent the incident I mentioned. It's obviously not clear to every user what's going on, or we wouldn't have had the pictures uploaded.

[Jaded]

I wonder how many 'P' drives will end up there...

[andyoxon]

I sent my dropbox link to photos around the family a week ago.  Not heard a thing - no replies at all.  I suppose that's the thing with email...  Anyway, can one see how many photos have been downloaded/viewed I wonder?

[Jaded]

We all thought they were great, except the eleventh one, which was a bit blurred.

[andyoxon]