Over the last couple of weeks I've been trying out a new private photo sharing platform called KatchUp. I have to say that I wasn't sure that I had the need for a new platform. I'd been happily plodding along, randomly sharing the photos that I wanted to share directly with my nearest and dearest via the usual email / dropbox route.
Then a couple of days ago I was looking for a pic of one of the kids. I knew in my mind exactly which photo I was looking for but faced with the 20,000+ uncatalogued images on my external hard-drive KatchUp suddenly revealed itself as an oasis in my historical, digital, photographic, mess. Here's why.
I'm an avid snapper but I used to be 100% reliant on my SLR, until the iPhone came along. A phone in my pocket made every aspect of my day a photo opportunity and with that came more photographs, a lot more.
I stopped printing and creating albums, which makes me sad because the kids LOVE to sit and look through old photographs. I was snapping more, building up this ever increasing snapshot of life but it was simply being hoarded away on my Mac, hidden like some secret past that no one would ever get to see.
I often thought about sitting down and sifting through the thousands of images I'd amassed (usually when I was looking for something particular) but the job before me was simply too vast and not thinking about it was preferable to trying to sort through the mess.
Then I was asked to trial KatchUp.
In principle, I think it's great. A perfect way to privately, share your day to day moments with your far flung family without flooding your social media channels. But I don't have far flung family. The people I want to share my memories with are under my roof.
Then, as I was uploading a set of images from a summer day out, I realised that KatchUp was the perfect way to simply catalogue my images and in a way that was just as accessible for the rest of my family as it was for me.
How KatchUp Works
A free account gives you an ample 1GB of storage which is more than enough to get you started. There's also a paid Premium account that I'll cover later.
The user interface is beautifully, uncluttered and easy to navigate making it a dream to use.
Once registered, you land on a clean, simple timeline that's ready for you pics and vids, or moments, as KatchUp calls them to be uploaded.
That's actually all the explanation that's needed!
Your 'moments' display as coloured dots on the dateline and you simply click to view all of the individual photographs within that moment.
I'm totally converted and I'll be spending the next couple of weeks populating the moments that have been important to me over the last couple of years.
I'm totally converted and I'll be spending the next couple of weeks populating the moments that have been important to me over the last couple of years.
The KatchUp Premium account gives you 10GB of storage for just £2.99 per month. I have a 50% discount code for my readers. Use the code KMUMTIPS0814 when registering (or in your account settings if you're already a member and would like to upgrade) and you will receive an email at the end of August inviting you to upgrade to Premium membership for £1.50.
It's also worth checking out the #AugustKatchUp page because if you sign up during August you could win some great prizes including a family holiday to Portugal, a camera or and iPad mini.
*Disclosure
I have been given a free, 12 month, Premium KatchUp membership and payment for reviewing the service. The words and opinions stated here are my own.