Help needed with Photos

[karl stange]

i've tried to submit photos with poor results, see for yourself. i sized the .jpg photos for 97kb. i uploaded the photos from my pc using "additional options" by way of "manage attachments." the thumbnails showed up, but when you click on the photo, it opens to a small sized picture. http://www.wmstrcommunityforum.com/showthread.php?t=41

i see this same thing happened here. http://www.wmstrcommunityforum.com/showthread.php?t=132


other threads i've been to the photos are nice a big within the thread itself. http://www.wmstrcommunityforum.com/showthread.php?t=119

or when you click on the thumbnail you see a nice big picture... as in 40averys thumbnails within this thread. http://www.wmstrcommunityforum.com/showthread.php?t=41

i do not have a web site on line account set up for my images. using the "insert image" icon is for a url and does no good for me.

please help, as i'm sure others may benefit from answer(s) given. thanks.

 

[40avery]

Pictures

Karl,

I use a lexmark photo editor and size the picture before I uplaod it. The forum size limit is published as 620X280 and if you keep the edited photo close to that size it comes up pretty nicely. Casey D has a thread that states he uses paint to edit them and get them sized correctly.

I hope this helps.

 

[karl stange]

thanks for the reply rick,

it looks like i'm following what you are doing with the photos but still am coming up short.

i use photoshop for editing my photos and also resized to the specified limits (see below) before uploading from my pc.

Attachment Key
Filetype Max Filesize Max Width Max Height
bmp 19.5 KB 620 280
doc 19.5 KB - -
gif 19.5 KB 620 280
jpe 19.5 KB 620 280
jpeg 19.5 KB 620 280

jpg 97.7 KB - -

pdf 19.5 KB - -
png 19.5 KB 620 280
psd 19.5 KB - -
txt 19.5 KB - -
zip 97.7 KB - -

my photos i work with are in .jpg format and as the forum site states maximum file size for .jpg is 97.7KB. i noticed no reference given for width and height size under the jpg filetype.

i have not tried resizing to the 620x280 limit. hmm..... going to try....

just got done sizing a photo to 620x280. tried uploading but then the file size was to large. it's just not working for me....

 

[JLGundersen]

Photo Problems

Hello Karl,

I use Photoshop to resize my photos also.

Regarding your first example:
I think the trouble you're having is related to the JPEG file compression factor setting when you save your resized pics. Adjusting your JPG file compression setting downward allows you to create a file that is smaller in terms of KB, without having to be so small in terms of pixel count.
The pics attached to your first example were only 203x152 pixels. Open the original photo and resize it by pixels (in the 400x300 to 600x450 range), not by KB, and then when you save, an options box will open; adjust the compression factor down to about 7or 8 (or lower if necessary - there is a line on the bottom of the JPEG Options window that states the output size in KB).
By doing this, your attached pics , when clicked, will come up like 40avery's in example 4.

Regarding Example 3:
Mark's pictures are not "Attached" or uploaded to this site like yours, they are linked to pics posted elsewhere on the internet (his personal web site in this case, I've also seen a few people using a site called Photobucket). This is done by using the "Insert Image" tool at the top of the message window.

There doesn't seem to be a limit on file size when you post a pic this way. I did a test post with a 850 KB pic inserted into it without any problem.
For the sake of our friends here who do not have a high-speed internet connection, I keep them under 200 KB, so it doesnt take too long to load for them.

I hope this helps.


Joe

P.S. As near as I can tell, the 620x280 max size thing is a non-factor for pics, you just need to keep them under 97.7 KB.

 

[m kerkvliet]

Great reply JL... Thanks for helping out.

I personally prefer "off site" hosting. It uses less resources on our server, which is to this point, donated.

That being said, we are not discouraging posting attachments, (hosted by our server) but we have to limit the size of the pictures for the above stated reasons.

You hit the nail right on the head with the image thing. Better resolution is a bigger file, even if the picture is not all that large.

I was going to make a "picture posting" thread in the site questions forum, but I just have not had time. If you want to do that, JL... it would be a welcome addition to this part of the forum. When the URL hits the newsletter soon, we are going to have a TON of people with a lot of questions like this.

I would encourage people to check out photobucket.com and sign up for a free account there. It is the best way to get the biggest, nicest pictures on this forum, unless you have your own server space like some of us do. Picture posting is easy when you get the hang of it!

 

[CaseyD]

Resizing Pictures

I'll try to explain the resizing of pictures, rather than the compression settings for *.jpg's using photoshop. I went ahead and made a photobucket account, so I will try to put in small pictures to help 'tell the story.'

After you open up your picture that is too large, with Paint, go to the "Image>Stretch/Skew"

I've found that (for my camera) 33% of the original size comes very close to the 97kB limit. But, to check it, you need to save a second copy of it with "File>Save As" (otherwise it will overwrite your large original).
After it is saved, open up the Attribues dialog, from "Image>Attributes"

In here, it tells you both what the dimensions are, and the filesize. It will not update until after you save it. This was after I scaled by 33%. Changing the width and height in here will cut off the edges of the picture, so use it when cropping something out, from the edges.

Here is the final picture:

Remember: it's not permanant until you save it, and dont forget to use the Undo button when you need it! (Edit>Undo) If I forgot to cover something, or just blatantly left it out, please let me know.

 

[m kerkvliet]

Looks good Casey! I love your choice of engines!

 

[Big Coulee Russell]

Photo Editing

Another program that some may have is ACDSee. This also works well with most of the file extensions (.jpg, .bmp, etc.) manipulating the pixels, quality and bytes.

 

[karl stange]

I was going to make a "picture posting" thread in the site questions forum, but I just have not had time.

mark,

this is why i started this thread. since i was having problems posting photos i figured a thread like this would help many others.

I use Photoshop to resize my photos also.

I think the trouble you're having is related to the JPEG file compression factor setting when you save your resized pics.

P.S. As near as I can tell, the 620x280 max size thing is a non-factor for pics, you just need to keep them under 97.7 KB.

joe,

your advice was most helpful. it started to get me thinking after reading your post. i did try what you mentioned and after pondering some more while using photoshop. i decided to go this route and use under the "file" heading, "save for web" and defining size this way to see what happens. the results below are what i was looking for. you also have more control as to what quality, size and format to save the photo in.

wow, thanks for the help... knowledge it sure goes a long way.

karl

 

[karl stange]

Hello Karl,

I use Photoshop also.

Joe

joe,

let me see if i understand you correctly regarding this one point.

for the image/photo above, you uploaded this to an online photo storage website
then used this "insert image" tool (as below) to embed the photo within the post?

just making sure i'm understanding and on the same train of thought. once again thanks for your help on this matter.

 

[m kerkvliet]

You're on the right track Karl. Right click any picture you see embedded within a post, look at properties, and you will see the URL where it is stored. Most people use photobucket, but JL uses his own site, as do I.

 

[JLGundersen]

just making sure i'm understanding and on the same train of thought. once again thanks for your help on this matter.

Karl,

Looks like Mark beat me to the reply, but, yes you are absolutely correct.

You're welcome for the help. I'm glad I did, because in your reply you clued me in to the "Save for web" feature in Photoshop. It is a better way to resize photos than what I was doing, plus it gives you the option to create animated .gif images, which is kind of fun.

Thanks, Karl.


Joe

 

[karl stange]

Thank You All !!!

to all of you who've responded to this thread with your helpful insight and good information... i would like to say thank you!

this will be a useful thread in the future for anyone who has problems posting photos in this forum like i had in the beginning.

in addition, for any of you having problems in the future with posting photos. please post a message here and the forum community should be able to help you.

 

[dndlong]

Super Info!

Thanks for the thread, it helped me alot with figuring out the pictures!

 

[m kerkvliet]

Photobucket!

For years I have been hosting picture on my own web space. I have over 100 hosted there, mostly being used on other forums (remember... this one is new!)

Anyway, I started feeling guilty about using up all of my brothers bandwidth for my picture hosting activity. It is "significant" he tells me. Stephen hosts my web space, and e-mail... he also hosts this forum... right now for free... while we get on our feet!

I decided I would practice what I preach to others, and set up a photobucket account. Folks, this is one cool site! It is very easy to use, and it is free! It is far easier to use than my own server!!

I am going to make a thread one of these days, with a lot of screen shots to walk you all through it. If you own a digital camera, and have an internet connection, you can be posting great pictures here in a few minutes!

Stay tuned...!