Hey fellow CW rockstars! I normally host my cw files for linking on photobucket, but lately a client has been having difficulty saving them and uploading them to the cw submission system - she gets errors when doing so. I've been resorting to uploading the files to tumblr for her to save from...but that doesn't seem like a longterm, viable solution.

So! I'm curious, what image hosts do you all use? Free with the ability to create private folders would be suuuper convenient for me! Thank you! ♥

Maybe you all can weigh in for me?

I use imgur or puush

When I get my CW's from she sends them over with Dropbox. All I have to do is download the items. :)

imgur or dropbox are great options (dropbox especially because if they have one too they can just save it to theirs and the files stay up online for them as well as having a spot on their computer to upload from).

Thanks for your input!! I use dropbox for other things, but I think I can open a separate dropbox just for cws. That would make my life simpler! Great suggestions!

Its one of the easiest ways since it saves the files nicely :)

heya! Like said, I use dropbox to send all my files! People only need to click on the 'Download as zip' on the top right corner to get everything correctly.

When it comes to previews -- if people do it themselves (via the files they saved onto their desktop), I've seen mostly puush or imgur.

If I upload previews myself, I usually use imgur! The only downside of imgur is having to copy/paste the url somewhere, as you dont have a username + gallery to find the urls again.

I used to have photobucket, and it worked wonderfully with categories & folders. But ever since they decided to redirect direct urls to their damn bucket page, it's been messing up with the actual previews (though that change occured a while ago!)

I think dropbox is the way to go, it's much more organized and user friendly, which is always a plus for commissions. I think photobucket is still doable just for hotlinking previews, but yeah, ever since they moved to redirecting their urls to the preview page, it really seems to be screwing with things. Though honestly, I haven't noticed any problems until very recently. I wonder if they started compressing uploads on their end, maybe?

Anyway, thanks for the advice!

if you make sure Dropbox only has png/gif images on it, trust me, you're good for a long time!

I have hundreds of folders on there, files of commissions/designs I did over two years ago, and I'm not even close to reaching the full stockage capacity. The urls are public (unless you set it to private -- then you need the recipient's email, which is a bit of a bother), but either way, the url is so long that I doubt anyone's going to figure it out lol

Also, if you consistently use dropbox to send files, make sure to remind people to 'download as a zip' via the blue button on the top right (atleast the first times!)

Some people will try to right-click & save (which is an obvious and totally normal thing), but it will often screw up the preview - pngs wont be transparent, gifs will sometimes become png/jpg. It's a common mishap i've had with people, but it's as easy as downloading zia zip!

(also for bucket - ive no idea, but it is possible! I gave that up after having paid yearly membership for years. Too disappointed to keep up with their new system haha ;; )

Dropbox is excellent, and I've used it for a couple of years for other projects, but never thought to try it for CWs. I actually just made one just to use for Cw work, because I am crazy about keeping everything super compartmentalized/organized. Haha! I'm sure the space is more than generous for the kind of work CWs require! :) And if you haven't filled yours up with all the stuff you do, I know I won't! :P :P Thank you for the advice about the downloads, too! I never would have thought about that!