Sharing pictures without handing over the originals
Send photos to people without giving away control of your library.
Every sharing button on your phone does one of two very different things.
Sending a copy through mail or a message hands somebody a picture. It leaves your library, lands in theirs, and the two are now separate. If you delete yours, theirs stays. If they delete theirs, yours stays.
A shared album or a shared link is a door into your collection. Nothing was copied. People are looking at your pictures where they live. So you can add more later, and you can close the door and the pictures vanish from their view.
Neither is better. Copies are right for one photo to one person. Doors are right for fifty vacation pictures to a whole family. Trouble starts when somebody thinks they sent a copy and actually opened a door.
Key points
- Sending a copy is permanent. Sharing a link is a door.
- Copies suit one photo. Albums suit a growing collection.
- Anybody handed a link can open it, forwarded or not.
- Stopping a share removes it from everyone at once.
- Whatever was already downloaded stays downloaded.
What to remember
- A link you can switch off is a share you never have to regret.
- When a collection is still growing, share the album, not a pile of copies.
- You can close a shared link any time, but you cannot recall what somebody already saved.
Try this
Open your photo app, find the list of albums you are currently sharing, and turn off any share you no longer need.
Practice: Sharing pictures without handing over the originals. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.