SmugMug, the world’s leading image website for professional photographers today launches a new consumer service for the UK public to store and share their pictures securely, present them beautifully and keep all of their best and most important memories in their own special place in the cloud.
SmugMug is a cloud based photo album for a new generation of amateur photographers – you and me. Technology has driven a photo Tsunami; an enormous surge in photos taken, shared and stored, on smartphones, iPads, digital cameras, CDs, DVDs, laptops, work terminals and home PCs. In a recent UK survey* it was discovered that Brits take over 600 million photos a week** and almost a third (28%) of Brits who take photos during an average week admitted to not backing up their photos, but what happens to those precious memories if a device breaks or is lost? At SmugMug we aim to become the ultimate destination for life’s captured moments – safeguarding them for the future whilst displaying them in beautiful fashion.
Security – you have the control
For both still and video images, SmugMug enables you to keep your memories completely private or share them with your loved ones. You choose the level of accessibility and security your photos receive. Photos and galleries can be password protected and non-searchable. You can right-click protect, watermark or unlist your photos individually.
Store your photos safely
SmugMug is trusted by professional photographers all over the world for its safety. We protect every precious image with Amazon Web Services, the leader in safe online backup. Now amateurs can keep their images safe from the perils of an unreliable PC, a dropped tablet or a stolen phone. Whatever they’re taken on, wherever they’re currently stored, they’ll be safe at home with SmugMug.
Gorgeous designs
Photo-sharing services have traditionally given users a standard template, so that everyone looked the same. The new SmugMug offers dozens of beautiful designs, with each one completely customisable.
Customise your site to suit you
Easy to create and customise, your SmugMug site and individual galleries can be bright and colourful for baby’s first year of life or clean and sophisticated for your collection of stills from that trip to Paris. The site enables you to reflect your personality or mood of the images in your own customised design – there are no limitations on adding your own touch and personality depending on where the mood takes you.
High quality
Images are stored on the site at full resolution for ultimate quality and wherever and however you want to view your favourite shots; they will look beautiful on any device thanks to advanced rendering and responsiveness. You can also enjoy your photographs on a full screen size enabling you to really take in every detail and memory.
Amateurs become Pros
The beauty of SmugMug is that you can use the site the professionals use, allowing you to enjoy a range of advanced tools to take your photography to the next level. You can choose from four different account levels: Basic, Power, Portfolio and Business, varying in costs and features to suit your needs. As your photography skills evolve the opportunities on SmugMug expand to your needs and you can choose to upgrade to a Pro Package. With SmugMug Pro Package, you can easily showcase your photos and price them for sale.
It’s easy to share
You can share your videos and photos on the site with your friends and families in a number of different ways, choosing to publish them to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or send them via email. You can also embed them on blogs and forums. It’s easy to label an unlimited amount of photos with keywords and anyone, even non members, can search images on the service by typing in keywords (depending on your privacy settings). It’s also easy to use your mobile devices to share your shots and videos as there are mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android.
See SmugMug in action!
Consumers can visit www.smugmug.com for a free 14-day trial. Membership starts at $5/month.