How to Create a Free Photobucket Account: The Best Way to Access Your Pictures Online

My brother lives in Scotland, and he just got his first digital camera. We would be chatting online when he would try to send me a picture of a castle or something, and it would take like 10 minutes to download one picture! After about three of these, I'd had enough. "You have to start a photobucket account," I told him, and luckily for me, he did. Now all he has to do is copy the location "Tag" into an instant message, and I can click on the picture and see it in seconds! This is because photobucket stores your files in cyberspace. Now I can go to his library and view all the pictures, but only download the ones I want.

Starting a photobucket account is a must for anyone who uses the internet. You can save picture files and access them from anywhere! Ever been at work and wanted to show someone a picture of your new baby nephew? Now you don't have to worry about carrying your pictures around with you wherever you go and letting people get big thumbprints on them, just pull it up on the internet! You can save your own picture files as well as images that you find on the internet. This is especially useful if you have a blog account like myspace.com that allows you to post pictures on your own or someone else's wall.

By now you are so excited you can barely stand it, thinking... I want to start my account RIGHT NOW! How do I do it? Lucky for you, this article will tell you everything you need to get started in a simple step-by-step guide.

1. Go to the website, www.photobucket.com.

2. On the top left side of the screen, there is a button that says, REGISTER NOW! Click it. You are on your way!

3.You will be prompted to enter a username and password. When you come up with one that is not already in the system, they will take you to the next page.

4. Once you have picked your username and password you will be asked to enter your first and last name, a valid email address, gender, birthday, country, zip code, and a prompt type in some random letters for security purposes. It says right under the box where you enter your email address "No spam! We hate that stuff," and they mean it. I have been a member for over a year and have never recieved ANYTHING from them in my email account.

5. They may have an advertisement next that asks you to enter info, but DON'T DO IT! Photobucket doesn't send you spam, but since it's free the ruthless ad wizards will try to get you. Just click the word "here" where it says, "Thanks for registering for photobucket. Click HERE to go to your album."

6. When you get to your album, there will be a box on the left side of the page that let's you browse your library for pictures you want to upload. The maximum image size is the size of a 17 inch screen (1024 X 768 megapixels). If your picture is larger than that, you can size it down with a free program like Irfanview or other photo editing software.

7. When you download pictures off the internet, or save them from a digital camera, make sure they are all going into the same location, such as your folder entitled My Pictures if you use microsoft. (They probably go there automatically). That makes it easier when you browse for pics to upload.

8. You can upload one picture at a time, or many more. If you download a lot at once, it may take a few minutes, though, so be prepared to leave the screen alone while it works. Pictures should be in jpg format. (The filename will say .jpg after it. You can convert other file types with editing software like Irfanview.)

9. Downloading one picture of average size usually only takes a few seconds, and then it will show up in your album, which consists of a page by either a page view of up to 20 pics at once, or you can select "view all". Once you get your pictures uploaded, the fun begins!

10. Under each picture, it will list three boxes with codes in them that you can cut and paste. The first one is the URL, or web address where the picture can be found. This will show up as a link people can click on. The second one is the HTML Tag. This is what you want to use if you want to post the picture directly onto a website, blog, or myspace. The picture will show up instantly instead of the link. The last one is the Image Code.

11. Once you get all the images you want, you can even create slide shows in different fun formats and add graphics and animation to them! Just click on "Slideshows" on your album page.

12. If you have any trouble, there is a full help menu in the top right-hand corner that includes tutorials, FAQ, and even a place where you can practice using HTML.

You are now all set to be an image wiz on the internet... Good luck, and happy photobucketing!