Flickr Unveils a Great New Photo Page

Flickr remains one of the most popular photo-sharing sites in the world. While Facebook’s photo section may dwarf it in terms of actual content and Picasa may be better suited to house your wedding album photos, for amateur and professional photographers alike, there’s no better place, certainly not one with Flickr’s reach. And now that it’s got a brand-new photo page, there’s even more to like.

“We’ve been keen to build a better showcase for your photos for some time. Your photos – everyday captures and extraordinary sightings, local scenes and exotic moments – are central to our DNA because they reflect your individual stories. With the new photo experience, you can discover, share and organize your visual stories in a new and improved way,” Josh Nguyen, a product manager at Flickr, announced.

The new photo page is a massive revamp. It’s not live yet, but logged-in users will be able to opt in and start enjoying it right away. Everyone else will get it in the coming weeks.

One of the first things you’ll notice if you do opt in, is that the photos are now significantly bigger, by 30 percent Flickr says, going from 500 pixels to 640 pixels wide. This is a big update and a welcomed one, since, after all, you’re there to see the photos. The photo page itself is now wider.

Everything else around the photo has changed as well. Navigating through the pics is a lot easier, as there are now, finally, navigation buttons enabling you to go backwards and forwards in a photostream. Speaking of the photostream, it also got updated, benefiting from a simpler layout and more photos shown at a time. It looks cleaner and it’s more practical too.

And if you really want to enjoy a photo, you can go to the new light box that really showcases the work. The photo will take up almost your entire stream and the black background is less distracting.

If you stumble upon a photo you like, it’s easier to get more info on it as well. The title and description are now grouped together below the photo and there’s a very interesting box on the top right. It features a map of the location where the photo was taken, if it is geotagged, and also info like the date when it was created and which camera the photographer used.

There are various other tweaks and improvements and you really need to see the page for yourself to really appreciate it. The new design is a clear step in the right direction and the tens of millions of people visiting Flickr every month should welcome it.