Posting pictures ?
Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 3,730
Likes: 13
From: Waynesville, OH
Richard,
There is undoubtedly more information below than you need, but these questions come up from time to time and other folks may need some of the following stuff. Ignore what you already know.
In order to post or link to any photos, you need to have some place on the Internet where the photos are stored. You can't store them on your computer at home and post or link to them, since you probably don't have a static IP address on your home system.
I see you've created your gallery. If you'd like, create a new album for your show pictures, otherwise, you can put them in the same album you already have. Click the edit button for the album where you are going to put the pictures. Scroll down the page to the "Add Photos to Album" section. Click on the browse buttons and choose the photos you want to put in your gallery. Once you have picked all the photos (or the maximum of five in a single shot), click the upload button.
With the photos in your gallery, open a second browser window so you can work with your gallery in one, and the post on the forum in the other. Create a thread or add a new post to a current thread. When you want to add a photo to the post, go to your gallery in the second browser window and click on the Forum Codes link below the photo you want. Copy the information in the full-size image box and paste it into the post. I use Ctrl-C to copy and Ctrl-V to paste as quick shortcuts, but you can use the copy and paste menu controls on your browser if you want.
A couple of comments on photos. The easiest format to work with is probably JPEG (.jpg). JPEG is a compressed format so it does not preserve all of the information in the original photo as you make modifications, or even just re-save it to the original file. I save my original photos off my camera (or from my scanner or wherever) in a set of folders on my computer, and I don't edit the originals. That way, I don't lose any information from my original photos as I work with them. Create copies of the photos and work with the copies as you size them and reduce the JPEG quality for display on the Internet.
Try to size the image so it's from 400 to 800 pixels wide - no wider than 1024 pixels. Wider pictures will work, but many folks will have to scroll sideways to see the photo and all the text in the posts on the thread.
When you save copies of the photos in preparation to upload them, set the JPEG quality to about 3 or 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. Some software offers options like low, medium, and high quality - choose low. The reason is that the resolution of computer monitors is quite low compared to the resolution of printed photos. You don't need all the extra information from your original high-resolution images to display good-looking photos on the Internet, and the file size will be a lot smaller if you use a low quality setting to save your copies before uploading them to your gallery. Remember, don't ever edit the original and save it with a low quality setting. If you do, you'll lose a lot of information that was originally in the photo and you won't be able to make a decent print or send a high-resolution copy to someone else.
Note that the above discussion applies to "lossy" image file formats like JPEG and GIF. Other formats like PNG and TIFF are "lossless" and do not discard any information from the image - but the file sizes are usually a lot larger and the higher quality they can produce is not necessary for the resolution needed on your computer screen.
If anyone needs a simple and easy-to-use image resizing program, there is a free one called Photo Resizer that a number of FTE folks have used for some time. You can get a copy of the older V1.06 online at http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3120-...zer&tg=dl-2001 without having to register or give any personal information. I also have a free (truly free - legal to redistribute) copy of newer version 2.0.1 that I would be happy to provide to anyone that would like to have it.
There is undoubtedly more information below than you need, but these questions come up from time to time and other folks may need some of the following stuff. Ignore what you already know.
In order to post or link to any photos, you need to have some place on the Internet where the photos are stored. You can't store them on your computer at home and post or link to them, since you probably don't have a static IP address on your home system.
I see you've created your gallery. If you'd like, create a new album for your show pictures, otherwise, you can put them in the same album you already have. Click the edit button for the album where you are going to put the pictures. Scroll down the page to the "Add Photos to Album" section. Click on the browse buttons and choose the photos you want to put in your gallery. Once you have picked all the photos (or the maximum of five in a single shot), click the upload button.
With the photos in your gallery, open a second browser window so you can work with your gallery in one, and the post on the forum in the other. Create a thread or add a new post to a current thread. When you want to add a photo to the post, go to your gallery in the second browser window and click on the Forum Codes link below the photo you want. Copy the information in the full-size image box and paste it into the post. I use Ctrl-C to copy and Ctrl-V to paste as quick shortcuts, but you can use the copy and paste menu controls on your browser if you want.
A couple of comments on photos. The easiest format to work with is probably JPEG (.jpg). JPEG is a compressed format so it does not preserve all of the information in the original photo as you make modifications, or even just re-save it to the original file. I save my original photos off my camera (or from my scanner or wherever) in a set of folders on my computer, and I don't edit the originals. That way, I don't lose any information from my original photos as I work with them. Create copies of the photos and work with the copies as you size them and reduce the JPEG quality for display on the Internet.
Try to size the image so it's from 400 to 800 pixels wide - no wider than 1024 pixels. Wider pictures will work, but many folks will have to scroll sideways to see the photo and all the text in the posts on the thread.
When you save copies of the photos in preparation to upload them, set the JPEG quality to about 3 or 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. Some software offers options like low, medium, and high quality - choose low. The reason is that the resolution of computer monitors is quite low compared to the resolution of printed photos. You don't need all the extra information from your original high-resolution images to display good-looking photos on the Internet, and the file size will be a lot smaller if you use a low quality setting to save your copies before uploading them to your gallery. Remember, don't ever edit the original and save it with a low quality setting. If you do, you'll lose a lot of information that was originally in the photo and you won't be able to make a decent print or send a high-resolution copy to someone else.
Note that the above discussion applies to "lossy" image file formats like JPEG and GIF. Other formats like PNG and TIFF are "lossless" and do not discard any information from the image - but the file sizes are usually a lot larger and the higher quality they can produce is not necessary for the resolution needed on your computer screen.
If anyone needs a simple and easy-to-use image resizing program, there is a free one called Photo Resizer that a number of FTE folks have used for some time. You can get a copy of the older V1.06 online at http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3120-...zer&tg=dl-2001 without having to register or give any personal information. I also have a free (truly free - legal to redistribute) copy of newer version 2.0.1 that I would be happy to provide to anyone that would like to have it.
Last edited by Earl; May 21, 2005 at 08:49 PM.
