How to collect photos from a group

"Send some photos" produces nothing, because it leaves the person with a decision to make. "Send one photo of you with him" produces a photo. Name the kind of picture, say that one is enough, and say how long it takes.

A request that works in most settings: "We are making a picture for her out of everyone's photos. Open this link, add one photo of yourself or of the two of you, and type your name. It takes a minute. No account, no app. Please do it by Friday the 12th."

Put the link on its own line so it is easy to tap, and send it at a time when people are on their phones with a moment spare, such as early evening.

You will not have contact details for everyone. Divide the group into its circles (family, work, school, neighbours, a club) and ask one reliable person in each to forward your message in their own words. A request from someone people know gets answered.

Use whatever channel that circle already uses. A group chat suits friends. Email suits a workplace. For relatives who use neither, a phone call and an offer to add the photo for them.

Give a date a few days before you really need the photos. Send one reminder about halfway there and one two days before the date. Share the page link in the reminder: when people see the picture taking shape and the names of those already in it, they add their own.

Keep the page's own dates in mind. A free page takes photos for 30 days from the day you make it, so make the page when you are ready to send the first message, not weeks earlier.

Some people will not manage it alone, and they are often the ones with the oldest photographs. Sit with them, or ask a younger relative to. A printed photo can be photographed with a phone: flat, near a window, no flash, out of its frame.

You can add photos on someone else's behalf. Type their name in the name box, not yours. One device can add 6 photos an hour, so if you are entering a batch for several people, spread it over an evening or share the job.

A page holds up to 500 photos. For a large group, ask for one or two each. One network, such as a venue's or an office's wifi, can add 150 photos an hour in total, which matters if you plan to collect from a full room at once.

Each photo can be up to 15 MB. Ordinary phone photos are accepted, including iPhone photos, and are reduced in size before they upload, so a weak signal is rarely a problem. Videos are not accepted.

With "Show it right away", a photo appears as soon as it is sent, which encourages others. With "I approve each one first", nothing appears until you have looked at it. Choose the second for anything shown on a public screen or involving children, and check the page daily so people are not left waiting.

Each photo is cropped to a square tile around its most prominent area. If a tile misses the face, open your owner page and use "Re-centre" on that photo.