First Look: Share Photos and Stories With Tabblo

I'm torn when it comes to sharing my digital photos. I love to share large collections of images, but I also like to include some text explaining the story behind the pictures. Unfortunately, most of the services out there make me choose between pictures and words. Until now. I've been testing a free new service called Tabblo, launched just last week, and found that it offers a pretty nifty way to share stories and photos.

Tabblo combines features of photo sharing, blog-hosting, and social networking services. It allows you to upload an unlimited number of photos, organize them into an attractive layout interspersed with text, and share the finished results--Web pages called tabblos--with whomever you like. While it lets you add as much text as you want, Tabblo keeps the focus on your photos. It automatically works the text neatly into your layout, keeping everything looking pretty.

"We allow people to build Web pages that tell their stories," says Antonio Rodriguez, the CEO of Tabblo. The service came about in response to several trends, he says, including the popularity of digital photography, more widespread use of broadband, and the explosion in appetite for online self-expression through things like blogs and wikis. "People want to be the content creator, not just the content consumer," he adds.

Easy to Use

When you sign up at Tabblo.com, you're led to the tabblo creation tool. You can select individual photos to add one at a time, or you can use one of the available options for uploading multiple photos. And you can choose among upload utilities that use Java, Flash, or ActiveX. Tabblo also offers a plug-in for Google's Picasa that will upload photos from that application, as well as integration with Yahoo's Flickr service, for adding photos you have stored there.

After your photos are uploaded, you select the layout and theme you'd like to use. This is where Tabblo really shines. Unlike basic photo sharing services, Tabblo lets you create a Web page that displays your photos the way you'd like them to look. You can choose between large and small photos, or mix both in one layout. You can also choose how much text you want to display.

Once you select the basic layout, you're brought to the editing tool that works right in your browser. While it sometimes feels like a browser-based tool--it occasionally stutters when you attempt to resize an image, for example--it works remarkably well. You can drag and drop photos to new locations, zoom in on and pan images, rotate photos, and edit text.

You can create hyperlinks to other tabblos (all of which have a unique URL) and to other Web sites. In some respects, Tabblo is similar to services like Google's Page Creator, which lets you create basic Web pages. For photo sharing, however, I prefer Tabblo. While Page Creator is a handy way to create very basic Web sites, its finished results don't always have the polish of a tabblo--especially when showing off photo galleries.

When you're satisfied with the look of your tabblo (I created my first in less than 20 minutes), you can share it. You can decide whether to open it up to the public or make it available by invitation only. Viewers can leave comments, and can view the original copies of the photos in your tabblo. They can also purchase posters of your tabblo or prints from it--which is how the company plans to make its money for now. There is no advertising on the site, and Rodriguez says there is no plan to add any. Further down the road, the company is eyeing premium services, such as the ability to host a tabblo at your own URL. Tabblo is also looking at adding support for either video or audio content.

Tabblo isn't perfect. It doesn't allow you to create slide shows, and the tools available to edit your text aren't extensive. But if you're looking for an easy way to share your photos and want to tell a story along with them, Tabblo is the service for you.