In a world of digital cameras and digital photography the face of photo publishing has drastically changed. No longer are professional photo labs and dark rooms required; anyone with a computer and a digital camera can create, develop and modify all sorts of photographs and pictures, then simply print them out on their home printer. Add in the Internet and there is a whole world to share your photos with just a couple of clicks of your mouse.

Online photo publishing has become exceedingly popular. Flickr is probably the biggest name in the world of online photo publishing and photo sharing but there are other services as well: MyPhotoAlbum.com, PhotoBucket, Yahoo! Photos, just to name a few. These allow you to create online photo albums that can be shared with family and friends as well as the world. You can also use these sites as storage in order to publish your photos on other web pages; for example your blog or web site.

With digital photography editing photos has also never been easier. Simple, easy to use programs allow you to remove red-eye, sharpen blurry photos, crop images and much, much more all with just a few simple clicks. Pictures these days can easily be altered and “photoshopping” has become common place on the Internet: altering photos in order to make funny pictures or to create funny editorial cartoons for a new, more sophisticated age.

So just how does one get involved with online photo publishing? One of the reasons for the popularity of the online photo publishing revolution is that most photo sharing web sites are absolutely free, at least for a basic membership (which gives plenty of features and storage face for most users). Simply fill out a brief membership form, then you are signed up and have become a member of the photo sharing community.

Once you have joined up with an online photo publishing outlet, you are going to need to start uploading your photos. Most formats for pictures are accepted. JPGs, being the most common image format on the Internet are almost universally accepted. To make things simple most online photo publishing sites use an in browser upload system: you simply click a button, find the file on your computer you wish to upload and then upload it. Couldn’t be easier!

When you have uploaded your images to your user page you can sort them into albums, create slideshows with your image and more. You have options with your pictures as well: you could choose to make them public, meaning anyone can see them, or you can make them private. If your pictures are private then only you and the people you specifically allow to see the images will be able to view them.

With your own online photo album the possibilities are endless. You can allow others to find your photos and check them out for themselves, you can use your pictures to make your blog or web site shine, you can enter them into special contests: the sky is truly the limit when it comes to the world of online photo publishing.