While you may think that you have a million things to do to prepare for baby’s arrival, there are really only three absolute necessities. You need a car seat. You need diapers. And you need to figure out how you’re going to share your pictures. In the age of digital photography the expectation is that you will take hundreds of pictures every week and share them on a daily basis with friends and family around the world. It can be exhausting—especially in those first few weeks while you get used to your new “schedule.” Here are four easy steps to get yourself on solid ground for photo sharing before your world flips on its head.

1. DOWNLOAD
Assuming you have a digital camera, you’re about to use it more than you ever imagined. Keep your download cord handy and set up a digital filing system to stay organized. iPhoto does this for you. PC users can download their pictures into folders by year with sub-folders for month and event.

2. UPLOAD
There are six ways to upload pictures from your computer to your Shutterfly account. The key is to maintain the naming conventions you started on your computer. Numerical dates like YYYYMM (year, month) are useful for staying chronologically organized. Now you are ready to start sharing.

3. SHARE
Once your photos are in one place it’s easy to share them with loved ones on a website. Share sites go beyond pictures and allow Shutterfly members and non-members to communicate through journals, comments, bookmarks, calendars, videos and more. Friends and family can easily order their favorite pictures and create their own products using your photos. Share site members can even upload their pictures of baby. Even better—less work for you. You can set notifications on your site to let members know daily or weekly when you have uploaded the latest and greatest.

4. CREATE
Use the photographs on your Share site (which now include everyone’s pictures of your baby) and create photo books, calendars, photo gifts and more. Your little one’s smiles are surely inspiration enough, but if you want to see examples of wonderful photo books made by other Shutterfly members, go to Shutterfly Gallery and you’ll be amazed by the possibilities.

Create your own baby website.