I’m a firm believer that there is still room for another awesome photo sharing site, maybe a few. Flickr, Picasa, SmugMug all have their positives but none really take the biscuit.
That’s why I was delighted to come across Divvyshot, a YCombinator start-up. Despite the awful name, this is in fact one of the most beautiful photo sharing experiences I have come across online. It is rather mac-centric but unique enough to not feel as though it was created just for mac users. There are no desktop uploading tools and everything generally takes place on the site itself which has its positives and negatives. The site does link into Flickr so you can import your photos in from there if you’re desperate to use a photo uploader app.
![Picture 23 1024x739 photo Picture 23 1024x739 Divvyshot Might Just Be The Most Gorgeous Photo Sharing Site Yet. [Updated]](http://cdn.thenextweb.com/files/2010/02/Picture-23-1024x739.png)
So aside from its good looks, how is it different? Well to reiterate, its good looks to indeed separate it from the pack but it also features a couple of dead simple way of organising and sharing your photos…First up, “events”.
Nabbed from the iPhoto handbook, Events simply organise photos by occasion. Unless I’m mistaken, they can be photos that were taken months apart but are related on some level so you decide to add them to the same “event”.
Other features that help Divvyshot stand out include it’s privacy and contribution features. Your Events are either private or public which helps to keep things simple (I always though Flickr’s options were a bit complex) and you also create “contributor” Events that allow friends to insert their own photos into events (something that Divvyshot prides itself on).
![Picture 24 1024x729 photo Picture 24 1024x729 Divvyshot Might Just Be The Most Gorgeous Photo Sharing Site Yet. [Updated]](http://cdn.thenextweb.com/files/2010/02/Picture-24-1024x729.png)
There are features that I would love to see Divvyshot implement immediately. Vanity Profile URL’s are a must. At the moment you are just a number, I want to be “Zee” and to be able to share my profile URL out there without having to remember a number or visit Divvyshot to copy and paste it the URL (this is my URL, how cold is this: http://divvyshot.com/user/37427/).
Update from Sam Odio, Divvyshot’s co-founder:We’re planning on doing this both for users and events. We may also allow users to create vanity URLs for photos. If you want to track the progress of this feature go here.
More ways to send photos into Divvyshot is also a must. The upload tools are cool and I love that you can just drag and drop images to upload (only on HTML 5 supported browsers like Firefox 3.6), but I’d still love to be able to hand out an email address for an event to friends and family. Email would also come in very handy when on the your mobile and wanting to share photos immediately – although there is an iPhone app.
Update from Sam Odio, Divvyshot’s co-founder:
Here’s a little easter egg: we already do this. You can get the email address for an event by hovering your mouse in the top-right hand corner of the event. For example to add photos to http://divvyshot.com/event/beautiful-beaches/ simply send them to beautiful-beaches@dvsht.com
High resolution images is also be a must if it wants to take on the big boys. I want Divvyshot to store and allow me to download entire events in full resolution glory, much like the very underrated Phanfare.
Update from Sam Odio, Divvyshot’s co-founder:
We store all our images in the original resolution that they were uploaded in. You can download any photo on Divvyshot in full resolution by hovering over it and clicking “Download full-res photo”
You can also download all the full-res photos in the entire event as one zip file. Just click the “Download this event” icon on the page.
So yes, with its official launch only a week ago, Divvyshot still has some way to go, but its elegance should have you seriously considering its potential as your new photo sharing community.
Update from Sam Odio, Divvyshot’s co-founder, Regarding Pricing and Photo Sizes:
There has always been an un-enforced 5,000 photo limit on Divvyshot accounts (that’s effectively 4,800 more than on flickr!). We will begin enforcing that limit next week when we release our paid accounts.
Here’s the good news: If you sign up and use Divvyshot before 2/22 then you can effectively set your account’s photo limit.
That’s because we’re going to reward our users by “grandfathering” everyone once we begin enforcing the limit. We will set your limit to the larger of:
5,000 photos
The number of photos you’ve uploaded plus 1,000 photos
If you’ve uploaded 20,000 photos your free account limit will be 21,000. If you’ve uploaded 1,000 photos your free account limit will be 5,000.
A note about photo sizes:
Right now users can upload photos up to 30MB in size (Flickr’s limit is 10MB, Picasa’s is 20MB). This limit will change; we expect to increase it as camera resolutions increase.
Read More: CNet, Lifehacker.















Nice interface, I totally love the minimalist approach to user experience design.
Be sure to let us know when this thing allows you to upload full resolution photos so that it can act as a true photo back-up and sharing service.
Also, are there any limits to how much you can upload per month? Any fees, or pro accounts? Is it free?
Yep, veeery nice. One of the most beautiful webapps ever – and seems to be functional as well … will set up my account straightaway.
Agreed.
Zee -
Thanks for writing about us. Just a few corrections:
Email address uploads
=========
Here's a little easter egg: we already do this. You can get the email address for an event by hovering your mouse in the top-right hand corner of the event. For example to add photos to http://divvyshot.com/event/beautiful-beaches/ simply send them to beautiful-beaches@dvsht.com
High resolution images
=========
We store all our images in the original resolution that they were uploaded in. You can download any photo on Divvyshot in full resolution by hovering over it and clicking “Download full-res photo”
You can also download all the full-res photos in the entire event as one zip file. Just click the “Download this event” icon on the page.
Vanity URLs for users and events
=========
We're planning on doing this both for users and events. We may also allow users to create vanity URLs for photos. If you want to track the progress of this feature go here: http://divvyshot.uservoice.com/forums/12109-gen…
Hi Brad,
We just posted an article on our blog about account limits. Check it out at http://blog.divvyshot.com/how-many-photos-can-i…
Regarding full-res: we support that; see my other comment.
Beautiful!
Very nice. Looks like it's time I got crackin'. By the way, I see you're using Posterous. That's a pretty neat service too.
FFuuuuuuuu! Dude. I've been playing around with your product for a bit now. Uploaded some albums.
It is freakin gorgeous! I LOVE the interface. I love the design! I love the ability to PW protect, make public or keep private…
And if I ever get into that sort of thing having group “Events” where others can contribute will be great too!
Just a few more questions… Will photos be restricted to the site? Will there be embedding options, or “blog this” options? I'm just curious about how far you're going to go with the social integration into other services.
Regardless, as it is… you've just become my online photo storage of choice. Thanks for building a lovely product!
There's only three of us but deep social integration is planned. Help us prioritize on uservoice:
Blog embeds: http://divvyshot.uservoice.com/forums/12109-gen…
WordPress plugin: http://divvyshot.uservoice.com/forums/12109-gen…
Facebook sharing: http://divvyshot.uservoice.com/forums/12109-gen…
Facebook connect logins: http://divvyshot.uservoice.com/forums/12109-gen…
Or add your own suggestions: http://divvyshot.uservoice.com
Zee – this is just vanilla RSS syndication, right? It sure looks nice in Buzz!
Divvyshot Flickr import feature is just awesome! Snapped my 500+ pictures in less than a minute and the UI looks sexy!
Divvyshot just got acquired by Facebook. “No new accounts will be issued.” http://divvyshot.com/facebook/
very nice interface. It shows the designer capability.I will revisit all these pages in a free time.