Albums and shared spaces
An album holds photos and videos. A collection groups albums, one level deep. A shared space gives a family, a trip or an event one shared library, while everyone keeps ownership of their own photos.
The Albums page
Section titled “The Albums page”Open Albums from the sidebar. You’ll see a shelf for each collection, then your albums that aren’t in a collection, then your shared spaces.
- Filter by All, My albums, Shared or Smart, and switch between grid and list.
- Sort albums by title, date created, last modified, newest or oldest photos, item count, or your own Custom order. In Custom order, drag an album onto another to put it just before.
- The New menu creates an album, a smart album, a collection or a shared space.
- Drag an album onto a collection to file it there, or out again to take it out. Press Escape to cancel a drag.
Collections
Section titled “Collections”A collection is a shelf of albums, such as “2026” or “Trips”. Albums sit inside a collection one level deep; a collection can’t hold another collection. Deleting a collection keeps its albums in your library, on their own.
Albums
Section titled “Albums”To add photos, select them in your library and choose Add to album, or open an album and add from there.
In an album you can:
- edit the title and description in place
- see members and their roles, shared links, the album’s map and a slideshow
- download the album, or pick an icon from thousands of symbols
- choose its cover, or let the cover follow the newest item with Always use the newest item
- arrange the photos in your own order, with the mouse or the keyboard
- like and comment in the activity panel, when the album is shared. The owner can turn this off under Options, then Likes and comments
Your Default album viewing order, newest or oldest first, is in your preferences. It’s separate from an order someone has arranged by hand.
Deleting an album never deletes its photos. Its sharing and any public links are removed, and its items stay in your library. A Locked photo is never used as a cover.
Share an album
Section titled “Share an album”Share an album with people on your server as an Editor, who can add their own photos, or a Viewer, who can only look. See Sharing.
Smart albums
Section titled “Smart albums”A smart album fills itself from a rule, and keeps updating as new photos match. To make one, run a search and save it as a smart album, or choose New, then Smart album, and build the rule with a preview. Albums with a rule carry a small mark.
A rule only gathers photos you can already see; it never gives anyone access to anything. For the ready-made albums such as Travel, Food and Pets, see Built-in smart albums.
Pinned items
Section titled “Pinned items”Pin up to 50 things you open often: albums, smart albums, saved searches, people, pets, memories, and built-in views such as Favourites, Videos and Locked. Pins appear in the sidebar and sync across your devices.
Shared spaces
Section titled “Shared spaces”A shared space is a library a group builds together, such as “Family” or “Iceland 2026”. Everyone who adds a photo stays its owner.
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Owner | Manage members and delete the space |
| Editor | Add, organise and remove photos |
| Viewer | Browse, play and download |
Removing photos or members, or deleting the space, never deletes anyone’s originals.
Inside a space
Section titled “Inside a space”Each space has its own Photos, Albums, People, Map, Activity and Members views, plus New since your last visit, which shows only what’s been added since you were last there.
- Link an album of your own, and its current and future photos appear in the space.
- Add photos in bulk. You see how many will be added first, and the work carries on in the background, even if the server restarts. A preview can include up to 100,000 photos.
- People names are private. The names you give people are only shown to you.
Invite people
Section titled “Invite people”Before you share, you see who will receive access. Save a group of people, such as your family, to invite them in one step next time.
A Studio project in a space stays there even if its owner leaves.
Privacy
Section titled “Privacy”Locked items never appear in a shared album or space, whoever’s looking. Edited versions follow the privacy of their original straight away.