So the holidays are over *sob* and like many of us, you’ve probably accumulated loads of photos. But what do you do with all those crazy, impulsive, memorable moments? You can file them somewhere deep inside your computer (read: never to be found again) or you can get organised and make them work for you.

This week we’re taking a look at some online image sharing, editing and printing solutions to help you find an answer to your image needs.

IMAGE SHARING

Flickr

Probably the most popular online image storage and sharing website. Upload your images, create albums, tag your content, view as slideshows and set specific privacy levels to control how much you want to share.

Your Flickr images are all linked to a specific RSS feed, which allows easy ‘push’ delivery of images as they are added. This means you could automatically import your Flickr albums onto your blog or Facebook profile (using the My Flickr application.)

Flickr is also a great place to find cool images. All that is needed to signup is a Yahoo account (free and easy to create.)

Visit Flickr

Similar photo storage & sharing alternatives:
Many people still find it easiest to create and share photo albums in Facebook
Photobucket
Zoopy (local)

IMAGE EDITING

Picasa

Windows users fell in love with this easy to use, free Google application some time back. Just last week the long-awaited Mac version was released (it’s in beta so is still a little wobbly.)

Download the Picasa application and you can retouch, crop, change colours, add effects, remove red eye…Picasa has all the basic photo editing functions you need. The Picasa web service also means that you can upload, store and share images online like with Flickr.

Visit Picasa to download the Windows, Mac or Linux version.

Skitch (Mac only)

Skitch is essentially an image sharing and editing application.
This fast and fun application also allows you to take and save custom screenshots quickly and easily. Snap a portion of a webpage - add quick notes or circle important info….copy and send via an IM chat or paste into an email. Your dedicated online Skitch URL also means you can save and share your images.
A must-have app for any mac user.

Visit Skitch to download

IMAGE PRINTING

My Photo Book

We’re all familiar with the usual way of printing your photos but to be honest the standard Jumbo print has become a little boring. Enter My Photo Book – now anyone can create coffee table quality books using your own pictures. Control what images go where, add captions and specify the size, cover type and length of your book.

An awesome gift idea – it sure looks slicker than a standard issue photo album.

Visit Myphotobook for more info and to download the software, also available on CD from any participating Foto First and Fuji film outlets for R40-00.

These are just a few of the apps we find useful. Leave us a comment if you know of any other interesting image sharing, editing or printing ideas.

Next week: We've interviewed some leading web/tech experts and will be chatting about some of the trends for 2009.