Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...how to better organize and store!!!

[veccster]

I have a phone and a tablet. I use both to take pictures (mostly the phone) and I'd like to organize these photos into albums and have them shared across devices and stored in the cloud.

I use QuickPic to create folders on my phone and all of my pictures are organized.

I use Picasa to auto-upload the pictures into the cloud.

Picasa also puts the pictures into ONE folder on my tablet.


Is there a better way to do this? I hate that the pictures are not organized on my tablet or that I need to recreate the folders on each device and organize the pictures manually. I also hate that Picasa stores them in one very long list of photos online (sorted by date).

The only other thing that worries me....if I ever lost the pictures on my phone, is there a way to download them from Picasa?

 

[chanchan05]

Use Sugarsync as cloud.

If setup, once you take a picture, it automatically uploads to cloud AND your PC. On your PC, set up the Pictures folder to sync to Sugarsync. Then on both your devices, sync the Pictures folder from cloud to your device. If you arrange the contents of your Pictures folder on your PC into subfolders, these subfolders will sync with BOTH of your devices and will appear in your galleries as albums. Any changes made in one device (PC, tablet or phone) regarding these folders (such as adding pictures or deleting) will reflect on all three.

Regarding backups, if the devices get formatted, the sync folders will not be affected. However actually deleting the files from the device will delete the file from the synced folders on both PC and second device as well. Sugarsync however has a "deleted files" database accessible on their PC client, from which you can restore any deleted file, so they won't really be lost (unless your sugarsync account got filled up and there isn't any more space for deleted files to be kept on archive).

A couple of catches however. Syncing this way will force the albums into the internal SD of your Android, inside the MySugarsync folder. You cannot have them in another place. So if your phone has a small internal SD, you're sort of screwed. But I see you have a GNex, so you don't have any other storage anyway. Also, If you make changes using your phone or tablet, this will not affect the "mobile photos" folder in your PC, and this will cause duplicates of photos on your PC ONLY, one in the mobile photos folder, and one in the album folder that syncs.


EDIT: It doesn't have to be actually the Pictures folder you sync. Sugarsync allows you to select ANY folder on your PC for syncing, so you can make a folder named Android Photos or something and use that for syncing.

 

[Parshooter]

I use Dropbox. Love it.

 

[veccster]

Use Sugarsync as cloud.

Sounds awesome! I'm setting this up right now and will give it a try.

Yes, GNex has no external SD card so no worries there. Thanks for the info and I'll let you know if it's a successful solution to my problem.

 

[Crashdamage]

Dropbox will do as chanchan05 described but *will* do instant photo uploads from the MicroSD.

 

[chanchan05]

Sugarsync also does instant photo uploads from the MicroSD. What Dropbox can't do is select a specific folder on your PC to handle the sync. He would have to keep the photos on his Dropbox folder, separate from the rest of the pictures on his PC. Which is what I don't like about Dropbox. Pretty unorganized. I just have it for sending and receiving files.

 

[GPSJoe]

I just use Google+ to make backups of all my photos. You can tell it upload as soon as the photo or video is taken, only on a wifi network, or only when charging if you care to manage it in these ways.

It doesn't do a great job of organizing the photos - it does it by the day when the picture or video was taken. I also have no experience with using different devices with the same account, but I assume it will organize all photos under the day they were taken irregardless of device they were taken on.

You can download all photos from your Google+ account.

 

[veccster]

Sugarsync also does instant photo uploads from the MicroSD. What Dropbox can't do is select a specific folder on your PC to handle the sync. He would have to keep the photos on his Dropbox folder, separate from the rest of the pictures on his PC. Which is what I don't like about Dropbox. Pretty unorganized. I just have it for sending and receiving files.

Well...I looked into Sugarsync and it looks good but it also costs $5/month or $50/yr. I'm trying to be resourceful and looking for a free solution.

I am working with DropBox right now. I have 3.5gb and have it synced with my main pictures folder. Unfortunately, it only auto-syncs that folder.

So I found DropSync on the Android market. This app lets you select specific folders and link them with specific folders in DropBox. So basically, I could go into DB and recreate all of the folder titles I have. Then link each folder with the folder on my phone. When new photos are added to that folder, Dropsync tells DB to upload them. Boom...organization. I am still researching before I buy b/c Dropsync is $5. Maybe I'm cheap...or maybe I'm just smart about $. Want to make sure it works before I commit.

 

[veccster]

OK...this looks like my perfect solution = DropBox + DropSync.

I am only using one folder because I have the free version but I'll buy the app and set up the rest tonight.

If I create every folder I have on my phone in Dropbox, I can use DropSync to sync them all individually. Any changes made to that folder will be made to the DropBox folder as well. This includes adding new pictures, deleting pictures, even renaming them. The only downside is remembering to set up new folders I create and setting up the link with DropSync.

This is great!

Now I just need more DropBox space. If anyone wants to try it, give me your email address and I'll invite you. We'll both get bonus space that way. Send me a PM if interested.

 

[Crashdamage]

Dropsync is very good. But I switched to Foldersync because it's also good but works with Dropbox, Google Drive, Sugarsync etc. Dropsync only works with Dropbox. I use Dropbox + Google Drive.

 

[chanchan05]

Well...I looked into Sugarsync and it looks good but it also costs $5/month or $50/yr. I'm trying to be resourceful and looking for a free solution.

I am working with DropBox right now. I have 3.5gb and have it synced with my main pictures folder. Unfortunately, it only auto-syncs that folder.

So I found DropSync on the Android market. This app lets you select specific folders and link them with specific folders in DropBox. So basically, I could go into DB and recreate all of the folder titles I have. Then link each folder with the folder on my phone. When new photos are added to that folder, Dropsync tells DB to upload them. Boom...organization. I am still researching before I buy b/c Dropsync is $5. Maybe I'm cheap...or maybe I'm just smart about $. Want to make sure it works before I commit.

Sugarsync is entirely free. I have a free account that has 38.5GB of available storage.

Dropbox is unorganized on the PC side. Everything syncing on Dropbox MUST be inside the Dropbox folder. However I want my Pictures in the WIndows default Pictures folder, and my Files in the Documents folder, not some place else. Which is why I use Sugarsync for this.

 

[veccster]

Sugarsync is entirely free. I have a free account that has 38.5GB of available storage.

Dropbox is unorganized on the PC side. Everything syncing on Dropbox MUST be inside the Dropbox folder. However I want my Pictures in the WIndows default Pictures folder, and my Files in the Documents folder, not some place else. Which is why I use Sugarsync for this.

Your right...my apologies. I was only looking at the additional plan options: https://www.sugarsync.com/plans/.

They do start you with 5GB. How the hell did you get 38.5?

 

[jessOTR]

I just downloaded SugarSync. I created a new folder in my Pictures folder on my PC to sync. Thanks for mentioning it. I think it is exactly what I was looking for!

 

[chanchan05]

Your right...my apologies. I was only looking at the additional plan options: https://www.sugarsync.com/plans/.

They do start you with 5GB. How the hell did you get 38.5?

Referrals. For every friend you refer who actually signs up and installs Sugarsync on their computer, you get an additional 500mb. Note that they have to use a referral link you sent them. To get your referral link, there's a button near the upper right of your Sugarsync web page that say's "get more space". Its somewhere there.