Patent ID: 7028075

Claim:
A method for sharing digital images over a network, wherein a first user desires to send images from a first computer to a second user having a second computer, the method comprising the steps of: a. Providing a client application for use on the first computer that communicates directly with a server, the client having a user interface that provides functions for managing the images; b. In response to a request by the first user to create an email for sending the images, displaying on the first computer by the client user interface an email request that appears as an email template, and allowing the first user to specify an address of the second user; c. Sending from the client application the email request with the images and the address of the second user directly to the server without sending the email request to an intervening mail server; and d. In response to the server receiving the email request, i. Storing the images on the server, and creating a web album for the images comprising one or more web pages containing scaled representations of the images, ii. Creating an email message from the email request, iii. Inserting a link to the web album into the email message, iv. Transmitting the email message over the network for delivery to the second user via the second computer, and e. In response to the second user clicking on the link, displaying to the second user the web album containing the scaled images, whereby the second user is not required to download the images to view the images.