There are a ton of very cool gallery tools that
photographers can use to create portfolios, galleries, exhibits,
or "just-for-fun" shows for clients and friends. If I
have missed a favorite of yours, send me an email and I will add
it.
Here we look at some of the ones we like a lot,
and you can maybe find one or two that will work for you. In all
cases they are free or nearly free. I am not posting any solutions
over $50. They are in no particular order, so don't look for any.
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BananAlbum:
I love this little guy. Free
version with a tiny logo and a logo-free
version for only $20.
REQUIRED:
Site Code Access
Text editing for adding images
FTP and knowledge of uploading |
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Lighting
Essentials Special: Gallery Tools for Photographers ( back )
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Flickr
Embed:
A very slick little gallery that you control from
your Flickr account. Just create a Flickr Set, add it to the code,
cut and paste. Nicely done and easy enough to maintain. Free at
the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Site Code Access |
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flickrshow:
Another simple Flickr feed. Very easy interface,
similar to the Flickr Embed above. Simply use your Flickr images
or sets, cut and paste and that's it.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Site Code Access
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FormatPixel:
A beautiful display of your work in a book format.
This clever and simply administered tool uses a simple online editor
to allow you to create your gallery, then host it on their site.
Simple, easy and fast.
Free at the time of this article,
with additional plans for
those who need more space.
REQUIRED:
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Gallery
2
For those who are into a bit more hands-on and with
some experience in coding, there is the very powerful Gallery 2.
You can customize the code and presentation in many different ways.
One of the more complex of the galleries presented here, it is
also one of the most robust.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Site Code Access
CSS Editing Knowledge
FTP and knowledge of uploading
PHP and serious coding skills.
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Scooch
This is a fun little gallery tool that allows you
to create slideshows, share the shows and even allow conversation
about the shows you create. It has a totally adminstratable back-end
and you don't have to touch code after installation.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
PHP and Server Requirements
Your ISP should be able to set it up for you.
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CarbonMade
Create an account, set up your galleries, upload
your images. You're done. You can link directly to your gallery
and the display tools are fun and easy to use.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
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Lightbox
2
This is a very easy to implement tool that allows
for minimal footprint galleries. Instead of wasting real estate
on large image / thimbnails, it allows the large image to be displayed
over the top of the page. You see it at work here on Lighting-Essentials.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access
to site code.
FTP access to site.
Some knowledge of CSS.
Text editing to add code.
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Minishowcase:
Probably one of the most complex tool shown here,
Minishowcase has lots of power. The combination of AJAX and Flash
make the galleries pretty cool. You should be an experienced coder
with some skills to consider this one.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to site code.
FTP access to site.
Serious knowledge of CSS and html code.
Text editing to add code.
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Slideroll:
Fun, that's what this little guy is. And it is so
easy to use anyone can do it. You drag and drop your images, sort
them on the screen, and publish your gallery. You can even download
a free app that lets you make them and use them on your site, blog
or whatever. Or you can simply host it at slideroll. That's nifty.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to site code if you want to use it on your own site.
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SlideshowPro:
The shows and galleries created by this tool are
as diverse as you can create. Music, captions... everything you
need. Of course it is a bit heavier than most here in specs and
requirements. The tool is a Flash Extension, so you must have Flash
to create. Documentation is clear and concise and even Flash neophytes
should have no problem setting up a simple show.
Cool Factor: Director.
This additional software allows the photographer to maintain and
build galleries anytime they want.
SlideshowPro: $25
Director: $25
REQUIRED:
Access to site code.
Flash MX or above.
Knowledge of server installation.
PHP / MySQL.
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Slimbox:
Similar to the Lightbox 2 gallery tool above, this
iteration allows a different set of tools including links and text
page additions. It is also a little smaller in size for installation.
Same nice small footprint for gallery.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to site code.
Knowledge of CSS.
FTP upload.
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SoundSlides:
This is one of the easiest tools I can imagine for
a photographer to use to create slideshows. The tool gets the most
use from Photojournalists who combine images, text, sound and music
to make multimedia shows. It is a downloadable app and has Mac
and PC versions. After you create the show, you simply upload the
folder it created to your server.
$39 at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to site code if you want to customize the page view.
FTP upload.
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FlashRelief:
Simple to use XML / Flash gallery tool. You can
customize the display in many different ways, and it is easy to
do. You create images, and then a simple text file is edited for
the display. Easy to cut and paste code into blogs, sites... anywhere.
$24.95 at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to site code.
Knowledge of text editing code.
FTP upload.
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XML
Flash Slideshow:
If you know Dreamweaver, this could be a great little
tool for you. It is a simple to use extension that you load up
into Dreamweaver. Add your images, complie and paste. Very simple
to use. You have to edit the xml file in a text editor, but the
documentation is easy to follow.
$29.95 at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Dreamweaver MX 2004 or above
Access to site code.
Knowledge of text editing code.
FTP upload.
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Airtight
Interactive:
This great little viewer is used in lots of places
and is very easy to use. You create the gallery, modify the XML
code (text) and upload the folder to your site. You can embed it
in a page, or simply use the page as it's own gallery.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to site code.
Knowledge of text editing code.
FTP upload.
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Galri
for Picasa2:
Windows only: This little plug-in goes straight
into your Picasa template folder. Then just choose to create a
web from a folder of images. That's it. Load the folder and you
have a gallery. You can modify the html to inlcude your look and
feel if you have that ability.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Knowledge of text editing code.
FTP upload.
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Plogger:
Another XML gallery, this open-source solution is
quite robust and offers a lot of customization tools. You should
be fairly experienced with code, html and the ability to upload
to your server.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
CSS / XML familarity (moderate).
Knowledge of text editing code.
FTP upload.
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Porta:
Porta is a drop-dead easy way to create a gallery
with a lot of punch. You can add comments to each image, and determine
if you want an additional very large image to be displayed. Simply
download Porta, choose a folder and press create. It is extremely
fast as well. PC only I believe.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
CSS / XML familarity (low).
Knowledge of text editing code.
Download the small app.
FTP upload.
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Turning
Gate:
If you are an Adobe Lightroom user, check these
out. Looks like you simply copy into a folder and then choose them
from the drop down when making a gallery. I think you will need
to know some CSS / XML as well, but not sure as I do not at this
point use Lightroom. May in the future though.
(He has several available, this one is useing the
Slimbox referenced above. Also used are
the Airtight Interactive tools.)
Free (donations) at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
CSS / XML familarity (low).
Knowledge of text editing code.
Adobe Lightroom.
FTP upload.
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JAlbum
Open Source gallery tool. You will need to have
some code skills, as well as a some design abilities to make it
your own. However there are a great many "skins" you can use to
make your gallery. You could then modify the skins for even more
customization.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to your site code.
Code and design ability.
FTP upload.
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photofolio
PHP combined with Flash makes photofolio very
powerful and flexible. You will have to be able to understand how
to modify the Flash to customize it, and you will be editing some
text files at the code level. This is one of the more complex shown
here, and considerable skills will be brought to bear. You could
hire a coder to implement this fairly easy, then take over and
maintain it.
Free / Donation / Paid Pro Versions at the time of this article.
($25 / $50 respectively)
REQUIRED:
Access to your site code.
Code and design ability.
Adobe Flash.
A knowledge of PHP (low/medium).
FTP upload.
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Mono
Slideshow
Monoslideshow is a Flash® slideshow to view
your images in a web page. It can be placed on every website, in
whatever size you want and filled with whatever content you like.
It's designed for maximum flexibility, whether you want to have
a professional looking portfolio, or just an image rotator on your
website.
$25 at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Access to your site code.
Code and design ability moderate
FTP upload.
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Satellite
Satellite™ is an all in one photo gallery
website that takes advantage of Yahoo Flickr's image hosting and
management tools. You can upload and manage your images using Flickr
and host your portfolio on your own server via Satellite™.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Flickr Account
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Photofront
Photofront aims to fill the gap between Flickr's
photo sharing and social networking with a more professional look
and feel. Photofront offers the feel of a photography portfolio
with the ease of your flickr account.
Free at the time of this article.
REQUIRED:
Flickr Account
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