HP Photo Gallery

1. 76

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Like probably most of us, I have thousands of images I took myself that would be useful in hubs.
   
   Not necessarily my own, as I have more photos than I could possibly use.
   
   Instead of all of us having to go searching for images on the web we can legally use, what about have our very own Hubpages gallery where we can source photos to use in hubs?
   
   Is that a mad idea, or not?
   
   There must be thousands of us, and if we all uploaded photos that are clear images of something or other, surely between us we could share our photos?
   
   I'm not a professional photographer, so don't mind sharing images that are legally mine, but why go to Flickr or where-ever to upload them when we could upload them here.
   
   Just a thought...

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   1. 73

      jacharlessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It would be nice for Hubbers to swap photos to use on each-others hubs.
      How-weaver, there is the only problem I see with this idea:
      Photos, on HP, are edited//sized//renamed and//or not thoroughly optimized for search enhancement. If you note the name of any image, it reads : http://   s2.hubimg.com/u  7277317_f496.jpg which means absolutely nothing to a search engine, nor enhances optimization for articles {nor the images themselves}.  Images should not only enhance the pretty of the Hub, but also  relevance//connectivity to the Hub itself. This is one reason I started building the optimization solution specifically for images. Nearly half of all searches are image, video and audio related. The other half is content//informational and product.
      
      James.

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      1. 76

         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I hear you.
         
         But you know, even if photos were unnamed, they could be made searchable to us hubbers, if not the whole world wide web.
         
         Again, what do I know? It just seems a shame to have to spend hours searching the web for suitable and legal photos to use, when someone we are chatting to on the forums could have the perfect photo sitting there doing nothing on their hard drive. (and would be happy to share them).

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   2. 70

      CrisSpposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think this is a great idea. I'm sure there are lots of hubbers who could contribute whether pro or non-pro. Do we need to vote for this for HP to approve? (:

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      1. 76

         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         There is no vote because this is not our site
         
         We just have to wait and see if HP staff respond or not.
         
         It may not be physically possible for them, I don't know.
         
         Thanks for agreeing this is a good idea.

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2. 82

   Peggy Wposted 12 years ago

   Wow IzzyM!  What a great idea!  If HP users would attribute the photos like they are supposed to do with other images...it would be a win-win for everybody concerned!  I like your idea.  How could it be set up?

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   1. 76

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have no idea how it could be set up because that would be something for Hubpages staff to work out.
      
      I suppose you would just name your photo, and a category to put in it, and it would be searchable.
      
      If HP have enough space for videos, they must have enough for a photo gallery?

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      1. 89

         Jean Bakulaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That sounds like a great idea. I have lots of beach photos from my trips to Jamaica, and many other nature ones from the two times I drove across the US to visit the West Coast. If HP lets us, and it's not too hard to set up, I would contribute.

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3. 81

   Patty Inglish, MSposted 12 years ago

   I like that idea, too! If we have enough photos, it will work well, and I think quite a few people would contribute.

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   1. 76

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Will they, won't they?
      
      It's great to see support for this idea, so thanks!

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4. 89

   Sherry Hewinsposted 12 years ago

   I have plenty of pictures I would add. Super idea!

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5. 82

   Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years ago

   It's a great idea, Izzy. Sorry to be a party pooper but I suggested it to HP about a year ago and they said they would put it on a list of potential future updates because there was a lot on the go at the time. The problem I have (big time!) is that this computer is on its last legs and I am about to lose thousands of images.

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   1. 76

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Gordon, get yourself an external HDD right now. Amazon UK have a special offer - a 300Gb one for something like £30.
      
      Copy ALL your important files over, then when the one on your computer goes, you have not lost them.
      
      Maybe HP will re-consider your original idea for a communal photo gallery, especially now that all photos have to be correctly attributed (and most aren't).
      
      Edit: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002 … =590987031

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      1. 82

         Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Izzy! I've actually booked a guy to come and look at computer on Wednesday afternoon. Saving this link. Appreciate it - will let you know how it goes. (Via smoke signals, if need be!)

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         1. 76

            IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I hope my affiliate code wasn't on that link, that was not my intention. If it was, just take it off, no worries.
            
            Just a note to everyone really.
            
            BACK UP YOUR DATA.
            
            Computers fail, HDDs fail. Don't depend on them to save everything forever, because they won't.
            
            The good thing is that computer hard drivers are getting bigger and bigger, so each time you upgrade your hardware, copy over your whole My documents folder so that you don't lose it.
            
            And anything else you have. Most text or jpeg files use next to nothing in terms of space, not when you can buy a 2TB hard drive for a fraction of the price compared to even just 10 years ago.
            
            Gordon, probably all your photos will fit on a USB flash drive, if you have one, or any memory card.
            
            What is wrong with your computer? Symptoms...

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            1. 82

               Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Hi, Izzy. Slow loading, mainly - and needing constant reboots to get it to work. I know there are things called defragging and whatever - problem is, I don't know what they mean. Hope to be better settled Wednesday night!

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               1. 76

                  IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Something isn't healthy, that's for sure.
                  
                  Constant freezes are a bad sign, worse even than slow loading.
                  
                  It could just as easily be a software problem. Just as well you have someone coming to look at it.
                  
                  Defragmentation of hard drives is mostly automatic since Windows XP I think. The program runs every so often itself.
                  
                  It's under Accessories > System Tools, if you want to run it.
                  
                  If its any consolation, I get a lot of freezes on my laptop because Chrome and Windows have an issue with an Adobe Flash file.
                  
                  Luckily, Windows 7 is quite good at coping with it so I don't have to restart. It's a pain all the same.

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                  1. 82

                     Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks,Izzy.
                     
                     Unfortunately, I don't have an option with browsers other than to use Firefox. It's a condition of my main job and I'm told that switching between different browsers can create a problem in itself.
                     
                     Will see what the guy says Wednesday.
                     
                     Cheers.

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                     1. 76

                        aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Gordon, you can download (for free) Advanced System Carewhich is about the best program I have found for keeping your computer freed up to work properly.
                        
                        I run it every night, and it;'s great and if you decide to by the Pro version, its about $20 so not exactly expensive for a great product (OK testimonial over, and no I am not an affiliated or owner of the company! they just have a good product).
                        
                        Izzy, it strikes me that we (collectively) could simply upload our photos to Picasa albums and make them public, or allow other hubbers access as we wished, i.e. if I added a Picasa album link on my profile, anyone with the link would get access to my images. (and Gordon, your images are also protected by being online with Picasa, because even if your rig crashes and burns, your images are still up there, stores in Picasa)
                        
                        So one simple upload  and link would solve that problem, I will do that with one on my albums and put the (non html) link on my profile, and see if it works!
                        
                        If HubPages wanted to adopt the policy, they could simply enable us to put out Picasa albums links on profiles, or we could add one to hubs we publish anyway.
                        
                        I just added a 'HUB' circle to my Google circles and added HUB to a Picasa album SHARE command, so it should be visible to either any hubber in my Google circle or possibly to anybody (can't remember if it's set to PUBLIC) anyhow, try the link!
                        
                        https://picasaweb.google.com/1150680401 … n673_f3DFA
                        
                        If thta works, problem solved, we just upload to Picasa and share it either as public or via Google circles, with whoever we want to share with, and if we did option two, then we could also use Circles to communicate as well!
                        
                        John

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                        1. 76

                           IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Wow! You have some beautiful photos!
                           
                           I was thinking about what you said all day, but have come to the conclusion that what you suggest won't work, simply because hubbers don't want to to go off-site.
                           
                           If this photo album was available through HP, hubbers would use it.
                           
                           Otherwise, they won't.
                           
                           Every single one of my photos are several megabytes in size, so I have to reduce them to use them on the web.
                           
                           Even using picasaweb would mean reducing the photo sizes to upload them, which is why I prefer to keep them on my hard drive, until needed.
                           
                           I am certainly not going to go to the effort of re-sizing them to put them on a Google-owned property, but I would do it for HP seeing as I have already invested so much of my own time here.

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                           1. 76

                              aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              No need to resize them Izzy....
                              
                              Picasa has an option to upload in original sizes or 'best for web sharing' and you can upload straight to Google+ (Circles).
                              
                              So in effect all that would be required would be an online Picasa account that everyone (invited) could log into, upload or download photos and use them, you could even make it public for viewing and downloading then anybody could browse the folders.
                              
                              Obviously the folder would be best if accurately described as to what it was.
                              
                              HP could do it simply by using Picasa as well, but there are probably legal considerations and I would think Getty Images would get pissed off if we started giving away photos!
                              
                              Anyhow, good idea Izzy, let's see if others want to get behind it.

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                              1. 58

                                 Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                 Pretty sure you could not trust most people to actually own the pictures they uploaded either.
                                 
                                 Nice pictures by the way.
                                 
                                 You might like these as well - http://wp.me/p2Jz2C-a0

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                                 1. 76

                                    aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                    Good photography Mark, but not my style... too much money on the walls, not enough on the street!
                                    
                                    If the pickys only came from Picasa albums, and fellow hubbers, I would guess most would have enough sense NOT to upload others photos, but you could be right!

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                                    1. 58

                                       Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                       Too much of a risk on HP's part in any case.
                                       
                                       Yeah - amazing what you can do with unlimited funds. Having said that - anything was going to persuade me across it would be the Sistine chapel ceiling.....

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                                       1. 76

                                          aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                          I was 'stuck' in Rome in about 1986, having delivered 'rushs' to a film company; then got held over with an airline workers strike, had five days (expenses paid) and so visited the Vatican then, but at that time it just made me puke at the ostentation and opulence on display, and when I saw the Papal Decrees on sale in gifts shops nearby, I knew what it was that turned me off religion!
                                          
                                          Eating at a restaurant near the Vatican, I came across a group of Vatican guys (all dressed in black vestments) and overheard their conversation, which was full of 'market spreads' - 'penetration' (apt for priests!) and 'population density' remarks, they were obviously the marketing division!
                                          
                                          That was end of story for me as far as the RCC religion went!
                                          
                                          But yes, the Sistine chapel ceiling is a sight that could stun anyone into faith!... may be it was the graphic images that started me on the road to faith! 

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                                          1. 58

                                             Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                             It certainly helped me on the Road to Reason when I understood the history behind it. This tour was guided by a friend of a friend tipped to be a future Pope. But - like all politics - he will not rock the boat/gravy train. And religion=politics.
                                             
                                             Naples or Lourdes are far worse.

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                                 2. 76

                                    IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                    What stunning photos!
                                    
                                    Well, the photos were of amazingly artistic rooms in the Vatican.
                                    
                                    What is it with nudity and the catholic church? All those priests sworn to celibacy having to look at naked bodies all day?

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                                    1. 58

                                       Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                       Hypocrisy?

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                                       1. 76

                                          IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                                          I did notice the men were (cough) feeling cold while they were being painted.
                                          
                                          Dear God - they had NOTHING to write home about lol

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                        2. 82

                           Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Hi, John
                           
                           Thanks very much for that information. I'll look in to it after I get the diagnosis Wednesday.
                           
                           Cheers!

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                           1. 76

                              IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              Gordon, you could also tell us here some specs of your computer.
                              
                              Is it a laptop or a desktop? What operating system/memory/HDD size/processor?
                              
                              I bet between us we can sort it out, or give you some pointers.
                              
                              I used to love Firefox, but then it got too top heavy and was causing system crashes...

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                           2. 76

                              aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              Gordon, if you download it and run it before you get the diagnosis (and the bill that comes with it) you may not need the diagnosis!
                              
                              Keeping a computer working well is actually a simple thing if you have the right software programs installed and run them regularly to get registry and malware problems solved.
                              
                              Plus Izzy and I do not charge for our free advice (good deal huh!)

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            2. 86

               gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               TELL ME ABOUT IT,  I am about to backup all my photos NEXT WEEK.  Computer acted up two weeks ago and I lost my photos; fortunately, Hubpages has ALL of my photos so all weren't lost!

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6. 52

   janderson99posted 12 years ago

   This may not be relevant but ALL????  your images are listed in your profile - click on Recent Images (there are 3 but when clicked it shows heaps).
   
   I can see 1902 images on your profile
   
   One weird thing is that HP considers images as "Author Content"  - -see TOS

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   1. 82

      Gordon Hamiltonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi,
      
      I'm not sure whether this comment is directed at me, or not. I'll answer anyway.
      
      I am actually referring to the images stored on my PC, only a tiny fraction of which have ever been added to HP. Most of them have never been added to HP or indeed any other site, for the simple reason I have never had the time/cause/opportunity to include them in any piece of work.
      
      I thank you for your comment but am wholly confused as to why you are referring me to TOS...???

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      1. 76

         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm being referred to because I have 1902 images under my profile.
         
         They are hub photos. Not my personal ones.

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7. 65

   theherbivorehippiposted 12 years ago

   Izzy I think this is a brilliant idea!!

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   1. 76

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, hun! There does seem to be some support for it, but the lack of feedback from staff kinda says it all really.
      
      Shame.

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8. 61

   Ruby H Roseposted 12 years ago

   I agree that would be super awesome, since I too have many photos.  Most of mine are on iphoto though.  Makes it super easy to set up photos on most sites.  I LOVE the idea, and would put many of mine out there to share too.

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9. 60

   Melisa Hunterposted 12 years ago

   Hello,
   I am new to HubPages, but I think your idea is a great idea.

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10. 76

    Aficionadaposted 12 years ago

    I wonder if there might be an intermediate solution?
    
    One of the issues we face in choosing photos is that of having an adequate search function - being able to locate a photo that is appropriate to the subject matter. We have seen from experience that HP's search box has limited value, at best. In order for a photo gallery in any location to be useful, the photos would need to have the right tags or labels that would enable a search function to find a selection of photos that fit the search terms.
    
    Soooo, what about starting off with simply dedicating a forum thread to requesting specific photos and responding to those requests? For example, Hubber A states, "I need a picture of a baby elephant taking a bath." Hubber B reads the request and replies, "I saw a photo that might fit the bill on Hubber C's Hub 'XYZ'; you could contact her to see if she would give you permission to use it."
    
    Yes, that would be a clumsy solution, but perhaps no clumsier (right now, at this time) than asking someone to scroll through thousands of unlabeled photos to find the right one, or asking photo owners to label their thousands of photos.  I really only mean my suggestion as a means of getting this idea underway, since there are so many photos stored here on HP.
    
    I really do think it's a super idea to share photos, and I'm glad you have suggested it, Izzy.

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11. 99

    mary615posted 12 years ago

    I think it would be wonderful to be able to share photos with each other!  I would be happy to share any that I have.  I try to use my own photos on my Hubs, but there are times when I remember seeing a photo on another Hub that would be perfect for mine!
    I'm all for sharing photos.

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12. 70

    brakel2posted 12 years ago

    Anything would be an improvement. I have used Morguefile.com forever, but now the search feature for a specific type of photo is gone. Maybe the site doesn't like us any more. You have to search through all the photos to find what you want. Thanks Izzy and Afficionada.

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    1. 76

       Aficionadaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       You're very kind to mention me, brake12, but I can't take any credit. This is definitely Izzy's idea, and I'm all in favor of it, however it can be worked out. I hope the staff see it soon.

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13. 58

    Mark Knowlesposted 12 years ago

    Not sure why you need Hubpages' involvement. Just set yourself up a Picassa web album and allow multiple users:
    
    http://picasa.google.com/
    
    That way when some one steals a photo and uploads it and you use it - you will be liable instead of Hubpages.
    
    Who will be responsible for making certain uploaded photos belong to the one doing the uploading?

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    1. 76

       IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I actually downloaded that program a few weeks ago, but haven't got round to looking at it yet.

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       1. 58

          Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Well - in the time you have spent waiting for HP to answer you could have got this setup. I doubt HP will be prepared to risk allowing users to upload photos and then offer them to other users as "safe" to use.

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          1. 76

             aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             As a point of interest... how can anyone be sure who owns a photo unless they buy it from Getty or the like?
             
             Often you see photos in a search and find that it's on a heap of other sites already, so how do you track who owns it?
             
             It strikes me that unless a photo has a watermark on it, it's more or less impossible to track who owns it.
             
             Just curious
             
             As to the point in question, I guess as we would be uploading our own photos, the accreditation would go back to the person who uploaded it, and although I can imagine that some idiots would upload photos they don't own, most intelligent hubbers would not... or is 'intelligent hubbers' an oxymoron? 

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             1. 76

                IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                I see Picasa has a button to insert a copyright on the photos. This could be a watermark, your name, website etc.
                
                Unfortunately, HP does not allow any of those options.
                
                It is impossible to track down the owner of photos that have been shared/stolen all over the place. Guess that is why HP are beginning to insist that all photos come from sites like Flickr that properly accredit photos that are free for use.
                
                The only way I would see it worth a hubber's effort to steal and upload photos would be for monetary gain.
                
                For that reason alone, there should be no great advantage to hubbers uploading and sharing their own photos, except to make it easier for us all to have legally acceptable photos in our hubs.
                
                A backlink would have been nice, but I guess that would encourage the less savoury characters to steal photos.
                
                LOL @ intelligent hubber/oxymoron. Could be right!

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             2. 58

                Mark Knowlesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Well - I know the photos I own myself because I took them and can prove it. I have had stolen ones removed from the sites concerned.
                
                There are "unscrupulous" hubbers who would steal photos - yes.
                
                I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for checking who owned what - no.

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                1. 76

                   aguasilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   Exactly, frankly as I don't earn a living from photos, I would not care if anyone used my photos anyway, but I can understand that folk who take photos for a living would!
                   
                   And trying to trace an owner after it's been used a dozen times on the web illegally???? -  forget it!

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          2. 76

             IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Picasa is still importing my pics - there are literally thousands of them. This could take all day.
             
             Meanwhile, I am pleased to note that they automatically re-size photos for the web if I press the export button (not ready to do that yet).
             
             This is going to be a huge time-saver for me.
             
             Currently I open pictures in Windows Photo viewer, from there open them in Irfanview (free prog), and click on individual photos to 'save for web' after cropping/adjusting them.
             
             The save for web feature involves at least 3 button presses, then there is the saving and naming of that photo.
             
             With Picasa I can apparently take a whole album, and expert them in the one go, and they all get resized at once.
             
             I'm hoping when they are all imported, I can set up new albums by subject matter, not date, and get them all ready for using online at once.
             
             We'll see after that..

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