de Corbin
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Registered: 09-2008
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How to Post Pictures
To really get any use out of this site, you're going to need to post pictures.
Posting pictures isn't that difficult, but if you've never done it before it can be confusing. Also, there sare some considerations regarding the size of your image that you need to be aware of.
Here's what you need to know and do:
1. You need your pictures to be in an electronic form, and you should use either .jpg format or .gif format. Which format you use will be determined by the type of picture -
.jpg is good for pictures like photographs, paintings, or drawings where there is continous tone shading (a range of shades or colors running into each other and blending together).
.gif is good for art made up of discrete blocks of color, with little blending, like a graphic poster, or a cartoon.
Flat art can be scanned or photographed with a digital camera. 3D art will need to be photographed (if you use a film camera, you'll need to scan the photographs. if you use a digital camera, you can transfer the pictures directly to your computer).
2. Edit your photos for image size and file size.
Image size is the physical size of the picture you intend to post, and is best measure in pixels. For best effect, you will want the viewer to be able to see your entire picture on his/her screen at one time, without scrolling. For this reason, I recommend that your pictures be NO LARGER than 450 pixels wide by 450 pixels tall.
If a picture of this size won't show specific details that you want to draw attention two, if is best to post seperate pictures of the details.
Of course, you won’t want to distort the picture by forcing an elongated picture into a square size, so one or the other of the two dimensions may end up being smaller.
File size is the amount of computer memory the image uses. There is a bit of a trade off here - the larger the file size, the better the picture quality. Unfortunately, large files also take longer to load on the screen. So, ideally, you want to adjust your file size so it loads quickly and also so the quality is good enough to show your work to good effect. Use a file size of no more than 40k or people will become impatient waiting for your image to load.
Image and file size can usually be adjusted in a photo editing program. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements which makes this very easy. In Elements, under the file menu, there is an option labeled “save for web.” Click this and it takes you to a new window where controls for selecting file type (.jpg or .gif), image size, and quality can easily be found. It even shows you a view of the image so you can visually judge the quality.
3. Load your pictures to an image hosting website.
You need to get your picture on the web, so you upload it to an image hosting website. There are many free services that do this. I use Photobucket ( http://photobucket.com/ ), but, if you run a search for “image hosting,” you’ll find many more. Make sure you pick one which allows external links (Flickr, for instance, doesn’t).
Set up an account with the image hosting service, and follow their directions for uploading images. It’s generally very, very simple to do. Once you’ve done this, you’re all set to get the pictures into the forum!
4. Post your pictures in The Studio of Secrets!
Leave your image hosting website window open, and open a new tab in your browser. In the new tab, open The Studio of Secrets, and enter the section where you want to post, and click on Post new topic (or the thread where you want to add pictures). In the posting window, type in any text you need to, then go back to the image hosting tab, and copy the electronic address (URL) of your image (it will start with http://). Make sure you get the whole thing!
In the posting window of The Studio of Secrets, directly beneath the smiley faces in the Choose post icon box you’ll find a button labeled insert image. Click that. A little window should open on your screen. If it doesn’t, there is probably a pop up blocker running, and you’ll have to temporarily disable it (I get a yellow box directly under my tool bar I have to click to disable the pop up blocker).
In the window that opens, paste your image URL, and OK it. In the message window (where you were typing previously) the address will magically appear. Hit the Preview button, wait a few seconds, and check to see if everything looks good. If it does, hit the Submit new topic button, and you’re all set!
If you are a bit uncomfortable with all this, try doing a test post or two in the Test Posts section, then open them up and see how they look. If you seem to be having trouble, I (or somebody who really knows what’s going on) will be along to help you out.
Be not afraid! Enter into the twenty-first century, my friend, and look around. It’s pretty cool in here…
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