Tips for posting Photos

[RosieC]

I've felt for a little while that the sticky about posting photos had become out of date with various changes that have gone on with the forum software so I've decided to create a new one.

Many thanks to Marty, Sue and Dorothy for the previous ones which I've copied various bits from

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First off there are three main ways to post images to Orchid Board. I will add details for each one in the following posts.

1. Attach images to a particular OB post.
2. Post in your Gallery and link in a post.
3. Post on an online photo sharing site and link in a post.

Either scroll down to see more details or click the link you are interested to jump to the right part.

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Note that recently it has been realised that you can only post pics through any of these methods after you have 5 posts. This is a measure put in place to stop spammers.

While you're waiting to be able to post pictures why not browse other peoples picture's in their posts and if you like them leave a comment... it will help you get enough posts and will also aid your orchid addiction
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You can't link to photos on your PC as others will not be able to see them. They must be somewhere on the internet for others to see them and the three methods above will do that.

You will need to resize images for methods 1 and 2. See instructions in the post below.

Photos posted in any of the three ways above must belong to you. If you want folks to look at pictures owned by someone else from a web page outside of Orchid Board please post a link to the web page instead. If the picture belongs to a friend and is not available elsewhere on the internet then ensure you have their permission to post.

If you need further help after reading this post please contact myself, Tindomul, Sonya (WhiteRabbit), Camille (Camille1585), or Gloria (Lagoon)

Please Note:
You are strongly advised to read this discussion about copyright of photos before you photos anywhere on the web.
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...fo-please.html

[RosieC]

In this method the images are stored against the post.

They can either appear at the bottom of the post or can be placed between the text in your chosen position. I have used these in this thread with screen shots.

Resizing an Image
Attached images have maxium size limitations. If your photo fails to upload using the steps above, and doesn't give an error message then the most likely reason is that it is too big.

When you are in the 'Manage Attachements' screen the lower half of the screen shows the size limits.

Each user also has a limit on the space for attachements (usually 50MB, bigger for forum supporters).

There are some free tools available to help resize images if you don't already have one. See the post below for details.

Attaching an image
On a new thread scroll down to find the 'Attach Files' option and the 'Manage Attachments' button.

On a reply to an existing thread click the 'Go Advanced' button at the bottom of the reply box first. This will cause the same options to appear as for a new thread.



Clicking the button will open a new page. At the top of this you can choose the file(s) on your PC to upload, or in the box just below a file from a URL, that is elsewhere on the web (please only if you own the photo).



Then click the upload button.



This will copy the file from it's current location (i.e. your PC) onto the Orchid Board server where others viewing OB will be able to see it. This may take a little time, usually you will be able to see a progress bar in the bottom of your browser but this will depend on which internet browser you use.

Once the files are uploaded they will show in a list just below where you entered them.



Once they are uploaded you can click the 'Close This Window' button at the bottom of the 'Manage Attachements' window and you will be taken back to your message.

This is all you need to do for the images to appear in a 'film strip' at the bottom of your post and this is how most people post them.
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However it is also quite easy to add the images throughout your text if you want using the following method.

Put the cursor where you want the image to appear in your text. Then click on the paperclip icon at the top of your post. A list of your uploaded images will appear.



Click the image you want to place at the cursor point. Text will appear in your message a bit like this.

If you want to move the image you can cut & paste the location of this text. The number in the middle is a unique itentifier for your image accross attachments stored on OB.

All the images I've used above have been posted using this method.

[RosieC]

You can keep a gallery of your photos on OB. Each user has limited space for the gallery (you get double as a forum supporter). This means that resizing your images before uploading is a great way to save space. See the post below or click here to see tips for resizing.

Once you have uploaded them the photos in your gallery can be shown as thumbnails linking to the actual gallery.

Uploading Pictures to Gallery

First click on the Gallery link at the side of OB.



Click on 'My Photos'. (Please don't add photos to the pictures to the project gallerys unless they relate to one of the projects).



Then click 'Upload Photos'



In the next screen you will see details of how much space you have and have left.

Enter keywords, title and description for your image. Make sure you choose 'Member Gallerys' in the first option unless you are adding pictures for use with a project thread. Choose if you want others to be able to rate your pictures and add comments and if you want emails about any comments.



Finally click the 'Select Files for Upload' button. Select the file on you PC. It will then upload, this may take a little time but the window will show a progress indicator. Again there is a file size limit so if you get an error this is the most likely cause.

Once the file is uploaded successfully you will see a message like this.



Click Upload/Submit and you will be given a list of the pictures you uploaded with opertunity to change the descriptions/title on each one. Click Process when ready.

So now your image is in the gallery and can be seen by people browsing the gallerys.

There have been some discussions in earlier threads about getting the camera symbol against the header of your posts. The steps talked about are no longer necessary as it now happens automatically.

Deleting Pictures from Gallery
hmm... I can't work out how to do this. The old instructions I found are no longer correct with changes that have happened to the gallery software. Can someone let me know how to do this and I will update this post.

Adding Gallery Thumbnails to Posts
In your gallery select the image you want to add to a post. Scroll to the bottom. Click in the 'linked thumbnail' button then copy the contents. Go to your post and paste the copied text.

That's it!

[RosieC]

For resizing images thanks go to Sue, Marty and Sparkle for finding these tools.

Tool for Windows

There is a cool tool here which works for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

[edit]I had a download for it here previously but it seems the site has been infected with a virus (thanks Stray59 for letting me know) so I've removed the link. There are various tools available for doing this available for download... just be very careful when downloading anything off the web that you have an up to date good virus checker to make sure you don't get anything malicious [/edit]


Here are the steps to resize

• Install the file from the link above.
• Open an Explorer window and select all of the images you want to resize.
• Right-click on one of them and select "VSO Image Resizer".
• Select the size 800x600 (medium size) or 1024x768 (large size) or the size you want and then click "OK". The images you selected will now be resized and will be given new file names in the same directory.

This utility if shareware and works great ! It can size the images correctly for attachment to a post, or to save space in your gallery.

Tips for Mac

Mac OS X Tips
Thanks to Sparkle for the Mac tips.

Resizing Online

This is another tool which resizes images online without installation on your PC. It instead uploads your pictures to their website then downloads the resized version.

Resize Images online

Works nicely...and they also have one to do avatars in a cinch!

[RosieC]

This is the most difficult one to give steps for as it all depends which photo site you are using to host your photos.

The principle is simply that you use another website, to store the photos, then post links to them here. You can either post links which show as text links for people to click on, or embedded photo links where the image or a thumbnail of the image will show in the post.

Examples of sites you can post from are Flickr, Photo Bucket and Picasa but there are others. Flickr is pretty easy to post from, Picasa more difficult (but possible). I don't know about others as I've not tried them.

The key to remember is that if you want to embed the image to be seen in the post, then you need a URL (the path to the web location) which goes to the actual image and NOT to a page that contains the image. Basically the path needs to end with a photo 'extension'. Usually on the web this will be '.jpg' as the last 4 characters of the path.

For example, the first link here goes to a page containing one of my pictures. The second link goes to the exact same picture stored in the same place, but is a direct link to the photo. Note the '.jpg' at the end.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosieco...in/photostream

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/...0f9e80dd_m.jpg

A lot of people who have trouble using this method are linking to the page, not the picture.

Now this is where it's easier on some sites than on others. Some sites will tell you what the direct photo URL is, others make it more difficult.

Flickr makes it even easier by providing you with the BBCode (bulletin board code) which OB needs to do everything for you... embed the image, and give a link.

Picasa make it harder but possible. They provide an HTML code which you can strip the URL for the direct picture out of if you know what you are doing, but it's not easy. I once gave someone instructions for that so if you really want to try take a look here.

Posting when BBCode is provided

Here is an example from Flickr, others may have just as easy methods but this is the one I currently use.




Simply select the image you want to post in Flickr. Choose the share icon (see first image above). It will drop down options as shown in the second image above. Choose the BBCode option. Then ensure you have BBCode selected and choose the size you want the image to appear in the post.

Then just copy ALL the text in the box and paste it into your post... All done!

Posting when you have Direct .JPG link only.

Copy the URL which is the direct link.


Press the Image button (mountains).

Paste the URL ending .JPG into the box and press OK. You may either see image in your post editor, or the text which will be converted into the image when you post.

You may have a direct link to a thumbnail version of the picture and want to link to the bigger version when you click on it. To do that select the text of the image link, or click on the image where it shows in the editor then click the 'link button (like the one here).



Enter the URL of the larger version of of a webpage showing the image and click OK.

Posting when you have a link to a webpage only.

This one is by default easy. Just paste the URL into your message. By default (unless you have changed the settings) OB will do something called 'Parsing' when you click post which will automatically add the link.

You can also do it by clicking the link button as per the screen shot at the bottom of the previous section and enter the URL there.

[RosieC]

Well I hope that makes sense, any questions just ask.

[beezermommy]

Thanks for the info - I haven't posted any photos, but wanted to know how and how to get around on the OB.

[glengary54]

Okay, so I read all the instructions on uploading photos and made one mistake. I forgot to designate the album. How do I move the photos that uploaded to the gallery to my album? HELP

[RosieC]

I'm not sure you can. I think I would delete them and re-upload them. That's the only way I can think, but it's a pain.

Maybe someone else has an idea.

[glengary54]

Oy, that means I have to re-caption also!! I am not happy with myself right now. Thanks for the help!