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<td><a href="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/SmugMug.png"><img title="SmugMug" src="http://thebeginnerslens.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/SmugMug.png" alt="smugmug-software" width="300" height="375" /></a></td>
<td>SmugMug is perhaps one of the most, if not the most, powerful and feature-rich online photo-sharing and storing service today. It offers unlimited photo storage, advanced customization options, advanced privacy settings, and responsive support staff; making their service pretty hard to beat.</td>
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Let's get to the gist of it in the tabs below.

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[tabhead id="1"]  Overview  [/tabhead] [tabhead id="2"]  Cheers  [/tabhead] [tabhead id="3"]  Jeers  [/tabhead] [tabhead id="4"]  Who is it for?  [/tabhead] [tabhead_last id="5"]  The Verdict  [/tabhead_last]  [tab id="1"]  [list style="orb" color="grey"]
<ul>
	<li>Family-owned site, run by only 30 employees</li>
	<li>Unlimited photo storage</li>
	<li>Professional-looking online albums</li>
	<li>Multiple ways to upload photos</li>
	<li>Relatively expensive compared to its rivals</li>
	<li>No ads, no spam</li>
</ul>
[/list]  [/tab] [tab id="2"] [list style="orb" color="grey"]
<ul>
	<li>Ad-free</li>
	<li>Easy site navigation</li>
	<li>Store as many photos as you want</li>
	<li>Photos can be password-protected</li>
	<li>Active online community</li>
	<li>Sell your photos (for Power and Pro account holders only)</li>
	<li>Responsive and useful customer support</li>
</ul>
[/list]  [/tab] [tab id="3"]  [list style="orb" color="grey"]
<ul>
	<li>Very pricey</li>
</ul>
[/list]  [/tab] [tab id="4"]
 Proud beginner
 Amateur hobbyist
<strong>√ Advanced users</strong>
 Professional editors

Though it makes a great photo hosting service, SmugMug is ideal for the advanced users who wish to make profit from selling their photos. [/tab]

[tab id="5"]SmugMug is not easy on the pocketbook, but with all the bells and whistles it offers, you do get what you pay for here and for many photo professionals, it's worth the extra cash.[/tab] [/tabswrap]

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<strong>User interface: Clean, no spam and no ads!</strong>

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The interface of SmugMug is simple, clear, very direct and to the point. Navigating around the site does not take a great deal effort as the menus at the top are easily accessible. The SmugMug site sports a simple yet professional design but don't let this intimidate or scare you. The basic theme allows you to wander through the service with ease.

Most people hate excessive ads, spam, and all the rest of that clutter. Thankfully, SmugMug has taken this into consideration and there are no ads and links populating the pages, making the site quick to load, with no obstructions.

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<strong>Ease of use: Beginner-friendly even though designed for advanced users</strong>

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There are three (3) different types of SmugMug accounts: Basic ($40/year), Power ($60/year), and Pro ($150/year). The Basic plan offers unlimited storage of photos and videos and minimal degree of customization. The Power plan allows you to customize the header, navigation, colors, and footer among others. The Pro plan is for the profit-oriented user who wants to sell photos (SmugMug offers excellent user interface for selling photos). For a complete list of plan features, click <a href="http://www.smugmug.com/photos/photo-sharing-features/">here</a>. The service seems to be relatively expensive so you may want to try it out first before jumping into the deep end. We recommend that you take advantage of the 14-day free trial.

Though SmugMug is not really target towards beginners, it remains easy to use that one can easily navigate their way through the site.

Also, uploading photos doesn't take a lot of time, which is of course good news to those who store all of their photos online. Before you start uploading, you will be prompted to enter the name/title for the gallery/album. There is a drop down of categories below it so you can sort out and organize your photos better and make it easier to find. If you’re the artsy type or if you just want to make the album look a little bit more awesome, there are many available background themes that you can choose from. You can also set the privacy of the album (more on this later).

There are four (4) ways you can upload photos: Windows drag and drop, batch uploading for Internet Explorer, batch uploading for OS 9 and OS X, and batch uploading for other systems like Linux. Regardless of what method you choose, photo uploading will be as easy as 1-2-3.

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<strong>Editing and Printing performance: Basic fixes, nice-looking prints</strong>

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Quick fixes are readily available on site. You can crop the photo, apply color effect, add a caption and many others. Although the photo editing options on SmugMug don't hold a candle to Adobe Photoshop these editing tools are still useful.

SmugMug also offers printing services. You can order beautiful quality prints and have them mailed to an address of your choice.

Below is the cost of its services in USD:
<ul>
	<li>Wallet size (4 pcs.): $0.99</li>
	<li>4x6: $0.19</li>
	<li>5x7: $0.79</li>
	<li>8x10: $1.99</li>
</ul>
Photo gifts are available too. Aside from prints, you can also order cards, photo books, and posters.

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<strong>Sharing: Your photos are safe here!</strong>

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Your friends and family can view your uploaded photos in SmugMug - and you can send them links through email, publish your photos on Facebook or Twitter, or embed links into blogs and online forums. Unlike other online photo services, people who want to see your shared photos do not have to create a SmugMug account.

Moreover, you have several options on how to display your photos. You can set the privacy to public, private, or unlisted. You can also set up passwords for your photo albums, thus ensuring that your photos are safe with their secure server. And you can invite the people viewing your photos to download high resolution version or buy prints. And whats better, SmugMug will keep the original full resolution copies of your photos!

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<strong>Tools of the trade: Unlimited storage, customer support, great online community</strong>

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For photo storage services such as SmugMug, of greatest concern should be: “How many photos can I store?” With SmugMug, the sky is the limit! As advertised in its website, “every SmugMug account includes unlimited photo uploads of JPG (the files your camera produces), GIF and PNG files with no additional charges.” That’s great news for the trigger-happy shooters who take tons of photos!

Another applaudable aspect of SmugMug is its customer support, which ensures users get the most out of the service they are paying for. As attested by TopTenReviews, “SmugMug offers several options to get answers to questions you may have concerning the service. There is a FAQs page, tutorials, user forum and an email address to contact customer service. We were very impressed with SmugMug’s quick response to our email—less than 20 minutes.”

Also available on iPad, iPhone, and Android devices as a mobile app, SmugMug also features an online discussion section where users can interact with and learn from each other, share photo tips and tricks, and much more. StarReviews shared, “our team really enjoyed the blogs and forums, allowing us to participate in discussions about photos and other hobbies, which made us feel that we were really a part of the digital photography community.”

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<strong>The Verdict (Extended version)</strong>

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SmugMug has already built a name for themselves in the online photo business. They know the needs of the customers and efficiently addresses them, and they have prioritized superb customer service above all else. As folks from StarReview put it, “SmugMug’s website has an honest, grassroots feel to it…. (It) makes you feel cared for as a customer and not taken advantage of.”

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<strong>Review Digest</strong>

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<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;"><strong>SOFTWARE REVIEW WEBSITE</strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;"><strong>WHAT THEY HAVE TO  SAY</strong></td>
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<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;"><strong><a rel="shadowbox;width=1000;height=640" href="http://photo-sharing-services-review.toptenreviews.com/smugmug-review.html">TopTenReviews.com</a></strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;">“Although SmugMug offers a good photo sharing service, the cost is quite higher than some of the other websites starting at $59.95.”</td>
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<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;"><strong><a rel="shadowbox;width=1000;height=640" href="http://www.starreviews.com/smug-mug.aspx">StarReviews.com</a></strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;">“Our team really enjoyed the blogs and forums, allowing us to participate in discussions about photos and other hobbies, which made us feel that we were really a part of the digital hotography community.”</td>
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<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;"><strong><a rel="shadowbox;width=1000;height=640" href="http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/online-imaging-services/photo-sharing-and-printing/smugmug/photo-sharing/prd_302722_3092crx.aspx">LucDeJaeger of PhotographyReview.com</a></strong></td>
<td style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid;">“As a professional photographer we want to make sure our photos look great and are safe. Very safe. At first I had a Flickr account but as they had not enough privacy settings I looked for other photo hosting services. The one that came out as the best (for me) was SmugMug.”</td>
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