Tag: family photos

Use a Nixplay Cloud Photo Frame as a Private Social Network for your Family

The Easiest Way To Create A Private Social Network For Your Family

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On August 24, 2018

In Customer Testimonials

Bigger is sometimes better, and this rings true for family. The bigger your clan is, the more love there is to go around.

However, working out how to keeping in touch can be a challenge if you’re in a big family. After a while, you find it difficult to keep track of who lives where, who does what, and which kid belongs to whom. It’s confusing, sure, but it’s all part and parcel of belonging to a large, happy clan.

This was certainly the case for Chris Hansen, who lives in Colorado but has family in Ohio, Minnesota, Utah, and Arizona.

“Since our family is so big, you can almost lose touch if you’re not on social media or not visiting on Christmas,” he says.

After exploring several options, the Hansens decided to get Nixplay frames, which offered an easy and convenient way to share photos in real time and gave them the opportunity to try family networking in a unique way.

“We settled on Nixplay because of the cloud function, where we could send it straight from our phones,” says Chris. “We really can share everything and not have to worry about [our photos being] out on the internet for everybody. It’s kind of like your own family’s internal social network.”

Get inspired by how the Hansens use their frames in this video:

 

How To Share Photos Privately

With a Nixplay Wi-Fi Cloud Photo Frame, you can view, display and share photos with family and create your own private social network. We understand how important safety and security is online, which is why we want to give you some quick tips on how to share photos privately.

You can share photos and videos from your cloud photo frame in three ways.

Email

Establishing a secure private social network is made easy when each member of your family has his or her own Nixplay email address.

Your family can email photos to your frame by attaching them to a new email message, and sending it to your personal @mynixplay.com email.

To add photos in an email to a photo playlist, you can enter ‘pl: playlist name’ in the subject line.

When the photo has been delivered to your account, it will automatically be stored in the online ‘Albums’ section.

Online

You can share photos with your family directly from your Nixplay account online by adding photos to an album and creating a playlist for your frame.

You can add photos to your album from:

  • Your local drive
  • Facebook
  • Google Photos
  • Instagram
  • Dropbox
  • Flickr
  • Verizon Cloud
  • Received emails
  • Your mobile phone camera and camera roll
  • Your friends

Use the ‘send to a friend’ option to share photos privately and safely.

Using The Nixplay App

Family networking is made simple with the Nixplay app. All you need to do is download the app from the Apple App Store or from Google Play, and you’re ready to get started.

Once you have created an account and logged in, simply select the ‘Send Photos’ option from the home screen.

You can also add captions when sharing photos from your phone’s photo library, as well as send your photos and videos to different playlists.

At Nixplay, we want to give everyone the chance to share photos with family without the hassle—or the worry!

Check out our selection of digital frames to find the cloud photo frame that suits your family, and take your memories one step further by creating your own private social network.

Mars Salazar

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.

google photos for nixplay digital frame blog main image

5 Reasons Why You Should Start Using Google Photos Right Now (If You Haven’t Done So Yet)

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On August 12, 2018

In From The Nixplay Team, Photography

If you love taking pictures, you need Google Photos handy on all your gadgets. This app lets you back up, edit, and share your images and videos with ease, making it the perfect companion of your Nixplay Wi-Fi Cloud Frames. If you’re not yet sold on Google Photos, here’s why you should start using it ASAP:

1) It organizes your photos for you.

Google Photos automatically sorts your photos, such as the ones you took during a recent vacation, into albums by using machine intelligence. These albums are created when you back up new pictures to your account.

Now you can show off these albums, too: During the 2018 Google I/O Developers’ Summit, it was announced that Nixplay has joined the Google Photos partner program to help you securely access your priceless memories. And with the latest Nixplay app update, you can choose to stream your Google Photos albums to your Nixplay Wi-Fi Cloud Frame.

Google Photos Nixplay Demo

Google Photos is now integrated with the Nixplay mobile app.

When a new image is added to a Google Photos album, it will also appear on your Nixplay frame. It’s never been easier (and more fun!) to stay up to date on your loved ones’ lives. Update your Nixplay app now so you won’t miss out!

2) It lets you share your photos easily.

Want to have all the pictures your family took during your Europe trip in one place? With just a few clicks, you can create a shared album on Google Photos where you and your loved ones can easily upload your snapshots for everyone to see, whether they have the Google Photos app or not.

3) It helps you free up your phone’s memory.

Photos and videos can easily eat up a large chunk of your phone’s memory. Google Photos lets you back up your priceless memories and free up space on your phone in one go, hitting two birds with one stone.

Once your phone’s done backing up your pictures, just select the “Free Up Space” option under the menu. The photos and videos that have been backed up to Google Photos will be moved to your “Trash” folder, where you can permanently delete them from your phone’s memory. This simple action frees up precious space on your phone.

4) It lets you create photo books (in the U.S. and Canada).

Whether you’re tech-savvy or a technophobe, you have to admit that nothing still beats the experience of leafing through a printed photo album. Once you’ve set up your Google Photos account, you can have up to 100 pictures printed in a photo book for a reasonable fee. Easy, right?

5) It helps you digitize old photos. 

PhotoScan is a nifty Google-made app that lets you scan printed photos using your phone’s camera glare-free. It also automatically crops and enhances your images, so your 20-year-old grade school pictures and your parents’ 40-year-old wedding photos stay vibrant during their online migration. You can choose to back up your scanned PhotoScan images to your Google Photos account so you can view them anytime on your Google Photos library.

What’s your favorite Google Photos feature? Let us know in a comment below!

Mars Salazar

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.

Nixplay blog-Rita-video

The Easy way To Stay In Touch With Your Loved Ones

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On August 7, 2018

In Customer Testimonials

Your engagement. Your wedding. Your son’s first steps. Your daughter’s graduation.

Your whole family may not be physically present for all these occasions, but there are many ways to include them as you celebrate your milestones.

Take for example Rita, who lives in Massachusetts with her husband and children. She wanted to keep her parents Jim and Elaine, who live across the country in Washington, involved in her children’s lives. She gave her parents a Nixplay frame as a way for them to bond despite the distance.

“It was a way for us to share [with my parents remotely] what was going on in the children’s lives, because they’ve never lived in the same town,” says Rita. “The Nixplay frame will allow them to see immediate pictures of the kids at their sporting events, or at any family events we might have that they weren’t able to join us on.”

Watch the video to learn Rita’s story.

Your bond with your family is always worth celebrating. For Nixplay Family Week, we’re giving you the chance to show your loved ones how much they mean to you by giving them their own Nixplay Wi-Fi Frame.

nixplay-familyweekblog-insert

For a limited time, you can get your own Nixplay Iris at up to 35 percent off. The more frames you buy, the greater the discount you get–all the more reason to get Nixplay Frames for you and your family. After all, what better way to celebrate family ties than by sharing your best memories with each other?

Mars Salazar

Marianne is Nixplay’s Web Content Editor. Her hobbies include exploring new places, playing table tennis, and cuddling puppies. Send her a message at marianne.salazar@nixplay.com.

3 Tips for Incredible Portrait Photographs

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On October 20, 2017

In Photography

Three Portrait Photo Tips for better pictures

“Make sure I look great,” we’ve heard that request too. Every time a friend or family member asks us to take a portrait photograph, we get a little competitive to make sure it’s the best portrait photo of them. After a lot of trial, error and reading we’ve come up with tips for incredible portrait photos. No hidden agenda, except, of course- we want the pictures on your Nixplay Photo Frame to look great!

1.Use the rule of thirds:

Firstly, the rule of thirds is a very basic portrait photography technique that can be quite hard to master ( talking from experience.) Mentally break down the portrait photograph you’re going to take into 3×3 squares. Remember viewers eye’s are most drawn to the intersection points in the grid. So think about what the most important parts of the photograph will be and place them accordingly. Pictures using the rule of thirds, look really great on Nixplay Digital Photo frames like the Nixplay Seed. Place the frame in covered patio or the living room and you will make your house guests jealous!

2.Don’t be scared to get close:

Our second portrait photo tip is that we’ve observed a lot of portrait photos and noticed that often, the subject is too far away. To make an impact, the subject needs to be big enough to be seen clearly and make an impact on the viewer. Now, don’t take that as – get them so close that we can only see the blackheads on their nose. I mean, unless that’s what you were aiming for. Close up portrait photos look great on wall mounted Nixplay Digital photo frames, the Nixplay Edge is a great choice.

3.Focus on the eyes:

Here’s our third, final photo tip for portraits. When looking at a portrait photo, notice that your eyes will always look at the subject’s eyes first (no, that was not an intentional tongue twister.) Make sure the eyes are sharp and in focus. Additionally, if you want to make sure the lighting and angle is perfect- move your camera around until you can see the light reflect in your subjects eyes! 

Bonus Technical tip: Exposure Compensation

Keep in mind that in photography, one exposure setting does not fit all. Your camera may underexpose someone of a lighter skin tone and overexpose someone with a darker skin tone.  Backgrounds of extreme light or darkness can also trick the camera. The easiest way to deal with this is to navigate to your camera’s exposure compensation control. To lighten up faces go dial up the stops ( i.e. +1) and to let less light in dial it down (i.e. -1) The Nixplay Iris dims and brightens your photos based on the light level- lucky for you that once you’ve fixed your exposure compensation, you don’t need to worry about the display on your Nixplay digital photo frame. 

If these tips were helpful, share your enhanced portrait photographs with us in the comments section or tag us on facebook, instagram or twitter.  We’d love it if you show us how the portraits look on your Nixplay Digital Photo Frame! #Nixplayphototips

Beatrice Bisais

Bea is Nixplay’s Social Media Manager. She enjoys drinking coffee, reading about wars, and writing stories. Send her a message at beatrice.bisais@nixplay.com.

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