This is an excellent article that was researched and written by ABS Forum Moderator Steve Culver,MS. The purpose of the article is to explain why images must be edited for use on the internet and the ABS Forum and how you can easily do it. As Webmaster I spend many hours editing images for use on the ABS Website, Forum, Email Newsletters, and now our new page on the Blade Magazine website. My point is that these principles and rules for images apply to all of us and we are available to assist you.

The ABS Forum rules are included in Steve's article for you to read and follow. The rules were formulated after many months of testing and consultation with the Forum developer Invision Power before the new ABS website even went online for you to see and use. The Webmaster and Forum Moderators constantly monitor all components of the ABS website and we need your assistance and cooperation to make this site the best that it can be as an information resource and an enjoyable experience for all of our members and the public.

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This is an excellent article that was researched and written by ABS Forum Moderator Steve Culver,MS. The purpose of the article is to explain why images must be edited for use on the internet and the ABS Forum and how you can easily do it. As Webmaster I spend many hours editing images for use on the ABS Website, Forum, Email Newsletters, and now our new page on the Blade Magazine website. My point is that these principles and rules for images apply to all of us and we are available to assist you.

The ABS Forum rules are included in Steve's article for you to read and follow. The rules were formulated after many months of testing and consultation with the Forum developer Invision Power before the new ABS website even went online for you to see and use. The Webmaster and Forum Moderators constantly monitor all components of the ABS website and we need your assistance and cooperation to make this site the best that it can be as an information resource and an enjoyable experience for all of our members and the public.

Hey everyone, here is a short musical youtube video we made for members on my website. It shows the most popular free picture software and how to easily use it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=styWTqrneuI

Cheers,

Ron laBella

Thank you guys for the quik responce. Dan

Thank you, I had no clue.

Tony Hughes

Hi Tony,

Lots of folks don’t know all of this stuff about posting images on the internet. I like to understand why I have to do something, so I thought an explanation of the difference between the photo information required by a computer monitor and that needed by photo printing would make it easier to understand why it is necessary to edit an image before posting it on the internet.

I have noticed that a number of images posted on this Forum are quite small in pixel dimensions. It appears to me that some are using reduction of pixel dimensions to reduce the file size of the image. You should be able to keep the image at the pixel dimensions specified in the ABS Board Guidelines (640 X 480 pixels) and then use file compression to reduce the file size below the 50k maximum. A 50k image file is plenty big enough to make a 640 X 480 image display on a computer monitor clearly. If anyone has any problems with getting your images edited, please let me know. I will be glad to help you out.

Reducing the pixel dimensions and file size of an image can make an photo less clear. There are some tricks that can be done to sharpen an image after resizing and compressing the image file. I am currently questioning some expert photographers who post their images on the internet about how they edit their photos. I hope to soon be able to do some posts about how to edit an image to display best over the internet.

All ABS members

Since the date of Moderator Steve Culver's reply post above the image posting rules have been updated.

The current rules for images within posts specified in the ABS Board Guidelines are no larger than 1,000x1,000 pixels and a file size below the 500k maximum. If anyone has any problems with getting their images edited, please let the Forum Moderators know. They will be glad to help you out.

Forum Users,

Just wanted to remind everyone to watch the sizes of the images that you post to the Forum. Everyone has been doing a very good job of keeping images below the 1000 pixel maximum dimension. However, we've had quite a few images posted that were over the allowed 135k file size. Remember, resizing images for posting on the internet is often a two step process; resize for pixel dimensions and then compress the image to reduce the file size. Please read the tutorial in the first post of this thread for a better understanding of image editing.

Something helpful to understand about images is what things affect image file sizes. The image file size is determined by how much information is required to display the image. An image that has a lot of detail and/or different colors requires a large file to contain all if the image information. So, when taking photos for posting on the internet, it is often better to reduce the amount of detail in the photo. Excess amounts of detail are often found in the background of the image subject. Taking a photo with a lot of background detail, will create a large image file. All of the tools and cans on your bench, the grain in the board the subject is placed on, or the towel or carpet the subject is photographed on, will add to the file size. The camera has to record all of the information required to display the busy background. Especially when taking shop photos and images for tutorial use, try not to have a lot of detail in the background of the subject. Place the subject of your photo on a solid color background. White paper towels work well, or construction paper of a color that shows the subject well are very good to use.

Today's cameras are capable of taking very large pixel dimension images, that require very large image files. This is great, if the intention is to print the image. But, these large files are no good for posting on the internet and require a significant about of editing before posting. Virtually all cameras have settings for the size of the image that will be taken. You can reduce the amount of post photographing editing necessary, by setting your camera to capture a smaller image. There is no point in shooting an enormous image and then having to heavily edit it for the internet. Editing to reduce the size of an image discards information. Eventually, the information removed from the image will start to affect the quality of the photo. So, it is better to shoot an image close to the size that you need for its intended use and not damage its quality by throwing out lots of image information.

Shooting a properly sized image that is composed without a lot of excess detail will make photography for the internet much simpler. In most cases, an image that is not over the 1000 pixel size allowed on the Forum will fall below the 135k file size limit and not need to be compressed.

Steve thanks for all the tips and info, very helpful.

Resizing and editing photos just became easy and free: https://pixlr.com/

Enter the site by clicking the two chevrons at the bottom of the page.

Choose the Editor and you have a pretty serious photo editing package at your finger tips.

To resize for this site, the photo needs to be a maimum of 1000 pixels in each dimension.

Follow these steps:

1. Open Image from your computer. A window opens for you to browse your files and select the photo.

2. On the upper menu, choose Image and Image Size. A small window opens showing the width and height of your photo.

3. Click on the larger of the two numbers (width or height) and change it to 1000.

4. Click OK. The image automatically adjusts the other dimension to preserve proportions.

5. Click the X to close. A small window opens offering you the chance to save the photo before closing. Click Yes.

6. Another window opens, Change the name (or it will replace the original. I usually just add a number) and click OK.

7. A window opens for you to choose the file location to save to. IMPORTANT: Make sure the File Type says JPEG or you will need to add .jpg to the photo name.

Now you can upload a resized photo that works for this site.

I've always used and promoted http://webresizer.com/ in addition to my own programs.

For those who don't have programs these are both good and keeps people from getting in trouble!

Thank you, it will be a while before I ever get to the point of wanting to share pics but this good info.