Image Posting... PLEASE READ!
 

I had a request for a tutorial on how to post images on the forums. If you have more than 12 images to post, please do not post back to back messages. Upload the images to an album and then link to them in your post or use any one of the free online photo hosts! Read more about thumbnails from your BF.com albums at the bottom.

So to start... I would get yourself a free account over at PhotoBucket.com. There are other free photo hosting services as well, but I have used photobucket for 6 years now and haven't been let down once. So this tutorial will be heavily based on photobucket.com conventions.

Once you get a hosting site, now you're ready to get your photos on the web. I would suggest that when you upload your photos to your host site, that you create different sections for photos depending on what they are. So for your latest truck meet, you can create a section labeled "Bad Azz Truck Meet" and upload your photos to that section. This will make it much easier to find your pictures later on once you get quite a few of them in there.

Now about the resizing. Really the best application that I have found is the Microsoft Image Resizer Powertoy (from Microsoft Windows XP Powertoy only for Windows XP users - there is also a clone for Windows 7). It is so simple and easy to use. I would recommend resizing to around 640x480 before uploading to your online host. You'll also want to resize the picture before say rotating it because the resizer assumes a width wise photo. So if you resize a height wise photo (taller than it is wide) to 640x480, the resultant photo will be 360x480 because it kept the aspect ratio, but limited the height to 480. So if you wanted a 480x640 picture, you'd either have to do a custom resize or rotate it after you resize.

I also do not recommend posting images above 640x480 (or 480x640) on our forums due to the size limitations of some of our members computer screens and resolutions of said screens.

If you have other operations (crop, rotate, etc), then there are tools like Photoshop that you can use. A good free alternative to Photoshop is Paint .NET. If you have all of the updates from Microsoft for Windows XP, you should be all set to install Paint .NET without issue. I find myself using Paint .NET more than my Paint-shop Pro program that I paid for!

Ok, so now you have pictures that you are ready to upload to your new online photo host. Login to your account, create the section for your new photos, and select the number of photos to upload (may be limited so you may have to do it a few times). Now browse to each one of the photos you want to upload. After all of the photo locations are entered, click upload and wait. When it completes, you should see the photos.

Now that you have the photos hosted on the web, it's time to post them!!! At Photobucket, there will be some fields below each photo. One should be 'url'. You will need to copy all of the text in this field and paste it into your posts using an *image* tag. So you'll end up with something like this:

*IMG* http:// PATH_TO_YOUR_IMAGE */IMG*

Remember to use the appropriate brackets in place of the asterisk, [ for the beginning of a bbcode and ] for the end.
You're done!!!

Now the reason why I say to resize the pictures prior to uploading them is #1, it makes them load faster for everyone and #2, every free photo hosting site has a disk space limit and a monthly bandwidth limit, meaning that you can only have so much space for your pictures (size matters - smaller the better) and you can only access your stored images so much in a month (I have never went over my bandwidth allotment yet).

If you would like to give everyone access to the full res photos, then at least create thumbnails for the casual viewers and link to the full res shots for the interested viewers. So basically, you would have a full res photo on your host site as well as a thumbnail. Most people will only view the thumbnail not using much of your bandwidth, and those interested enough can click on the picture to view the full res image. Once both the thumbnail and the full res image are on your host, you will type the following:

*URL="http:// PATH_TO_YOUR_IMAGE"* *IMG* http:// PATH_TO_YOUR_THUMBNAIL */IMG* */URL*

You can also use *link* in place of *url* for typing out the codes. Remember to use the appropriate brackets in place of the asterisk, [ for the beginning of a bbcode and ] for the end.

Now, for those using Photobucket.com as a photo host, they do the thumbnail thing for you automatically! Just add a 'th_' to the beginning of the image name and you are set.

Example:
*URL="http:// i11.photobucket.com/albums/a187/swartlkk/1970%20Chevelle%20Resto/Chevelle_7_3_07_01.jpg"*
*IMG* http:// i11.photobucket.com/albums/a187/swartlkk/1970%20Chevelle%20Resto/th_Chevelle_7_3_07_01.jpg */IMG*
*/URL*
Results in:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1..._7_3_07_01.jpg

In this example, the full resolution image is titled 'Chevelle_7_3_07_01.jpg' and the automatic thumbnail would be 'th_Chevelle_7_3_07_01.jpg'.

Imageshack is a bit different with its thumbnail generation. Where Photobucket adds the prefix 'th_', Imageshack includes a '.th' at the end of the filename, before the extension. So if 'Chevelle_7_3_07_01.jpg' were uploaded to Imageshack, the thumbnail filename would be 'Chevelle_7_3_07_01.th.jpg'.

For those new to Photobucket, here are some tips to get the proper information available on the main screen in your account. First you need to access the link options menu by clicking on "Link Options" under your first image in your album as shown below:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1..._link_edit.jpg
From here out, it depends on what you want displayed. I always work with the direct link for all of my image posting, typing out the bbcode as required for each link. You can choose to use the BBcode IMG link or the thumbnail BBcode IMG link directly from photobucket. HTML code is turned off to prevent malicious use so it will not work here.

Here is how I have mine setup:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...link_codes.jpg

If you have a PRO account, this will give you a clickable thumbnail that opens into a new window showing just the image. With the FREE account, the linked to image will open up in the photobucket interface. Because it is much cleaner to have images open up in a new window all by their lonesome, just replace the 's' in the first section of the link url with an 'i'. So if the link is http: // s11.photobucket.... It should look like http: // i11.photobucket....

ONLINE PHOTO HOSTS:
So you are looking for an online host. Below are a few reviews of some of the major online photo hosts available today:
Photo Sharing Services Review 2010 - TopTenREVIEWS

Top 19 Free Image Hosting Sites - iSoftwareReviews

Read up and choose whichever one you like best.

Recently I found that Imageshack does very much the same thing, except not as easily:
Image: http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/1...nnector.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/i/aldlconnector.jpg/)

ImageShack adds a 'th.' to the image URL. You should be able to take the thumbnail shot, remove the 'th.' and have a direct link to the full resolution image.

For example, if the thumbnail url is:
img110.imageshack.us/img110/1881/aldlconnector.th.jpg
-or-
img407.imageshack.us/img407/1968/dsci0313.th.jpg

Then the full resolution image will be:
img110.imageshack.us/img110/1881/aldlconnector.jpg
-or-
img407.imageshack.us/img407/1968/dsci0313.jpg

These examples would turn out like this:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/1...nnector.th.jpghttp://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1968/dsci0313.th.jpg

Everything else goes exactly like the photobucket example.

Thanks to Outsydr for the imageshack photos.

You can also do pretty much the same thing with the images in your gallery!

Lets say your image is:The thumbnail would be:So by adding 't' ahead of the '.jpg' extension, the thumbnail will be displayed. You can copy the thumbnail from your album or from an attachment to a post and include it in your post.

Ex:
*URL="https://blazerforum.com/forum/members/swartlkk-577-albums-1974-chevrolet-k5-blazer-47-picture-shale-pit-fun-16-1323.jpg"*
*IMG*https://blazerforum.com/forum/member...n-16-1323t.jpg*/IMG*
*/URL*
https://blazerforum.com/forum/member...n-16-1323t.jpg

If you have any questions, just ask!

AVATAR HOW-TO:
For Avatars, the biggest thing to remember is that there is a rather small size limitation to limit the avatar to static images. The image you select must be 80x80 pixels or 19.5kb; which ever is smaller as stated in the bottom of the 'Edit Avatar' screen as shown in the attachment below:
https://blazerforum.com/forum/attach...dit_avatar.png

Once you make sure that the resolution & file size is in check, select the file using one of the two methods (which ever is appropriate for the location of the avatar you have selected), upload the file (if applicable), and save the changes.

RE: Image Posting... PLEASE READ!
 

Good write-up kyle...hopefully people will follow this

RE: Image Posting... PLEASE READ!
 

No kidding!!! Thanks!

RE: Image Posting... PLEASE READ!
 

HOW TO---AVATARS?
I haven't figured the Avatars out, how do you use a picturefrom Photobucket as an avatar?

RE: Image Posting... PLEASE READ!
 

Sorry Brent, I didn't see your post until today when I was cleaning up the forum sections of all of the old stickied threads. I added a blurp above on how to get a custom AVATAR goin'. See you already found out how, but hopefully this will help the next person.

I have a question on this...not exactly related to picture posting within boards, but more for albums and such.
All of my pictures taken with my digital camera are 2Mb and up, as I'm sure is the same with many other cameras...The only problem being when uploading to an album there is a size limitation of 97.7kb. I understand why that' there, but I'm just curious what you think the best method to get pics bigger then 97.7kb would be?
I don't think uploading to photobucket will change the size much, and if it does would you want me to upload all my pics just to save them back to my computer to upload to an album here?
Just wondering what you think the best way to go about it would be...is it possible to have the size limit increased? or is it tied in with the bandwith of the forum? Thanks!

great question Sisk, i was thinking the same thing for the last month or so.
this was (an still is) my biggest problem with posting any pic's. my camera is usually set on 8MP (which is waaaaaaay too big for BF), and i've been snapping (most) my pic's in 2MP format for here, but the problem is, i'm still getting pic's tossed because the system says it's too big. will the hosting of photobucket fix that? 'cause i really like having the higher quality pic's.

Yes, hosting your photos on photobucket will fix that. With any host though, there are limitations. I pay for the pro account through photobucket and have been VERY happy with what that gives me (no bandwidth cap and up to 20MB file size for a single file).

just figured that out-posted a pic to one of Alex's thread's. thanks Kyle.

i was wondering if the Pro upgrade was worth it. sounds like it is.

It is all in how you use your account. I host all of my pictures on Photobucket. They are accessible by anyone anywhere (so long as I make them that way) so it is a major plus.

I know full well this is a very old thread, but I figured I'd throw some of my tech knowledge up here for people wanting a free application that can do just about anything photo shop does and will work on NY computer, no matter the operating system (ie Apple OS X, Microsoft Windows, And Linux/ Unix)

If you don't know anything of image editing there are forums dedicated to help you along the way

The name of the program is GIMP

just do a google search and it'll bring it right up

I've used it for years, I like it way better then photoshop

I just updated the first post to include a somewhat current review of online photo sharing sites.

The fact that this site won't allow you to just upload a regular picture that's taken from a normal digital camera is a joke. I never have a problem uploading on other sites such as facebook. The pictures aren't THAT big. Having to download a third party program like photobucket and still having to download another program to resize the picture is a HASSLE! I would suggest the people who run this site to fix this problem cause it honestly makes people want to just go to a different forum that makes this process so much more user friendly. Just my 2 cents.

Photobucket or any other online host is a simple and smart thing to do with your photos. Anything uploaded to one of these services can be used anywhere else on the web.

The limits on file upload size are there for a reason and that is to save on server space and bandwidth requirements. Resizing photos can be done with easy to obtain, free software with very little experience. The level of "computer knowledge" required is minimal and resizing overly large resolution pictures is just proper "web etiquette".

The software currently does resize automatically, but there does seem to be some sort of time-out where slower connections may limit out resulting in an error. I have put in a request to have this looked at.

If such a simple thing causes you to go somewhere else... Well that is your choice.

Anyway, the information above isn't difficult to comprehend or use and once the methods are down, it isn't really a hassle.

I'm a newbie and that really helped. Thanks!

Still trying to figure out avatars!

-OSS

I've used photobucket for years and only have two gripes. Lots of times pics I upload go to less than 640x480.. maybe I miss something obvious. ALSO.. if you rearrange your pictures and albums after the fact, any links you made to those pics are broken. That's why you see so many 'image removed' boxes on blogs and forums. That is not necessary if the site indexing had been done right but hey...

I just started using imgur, it's been around a long time but i must not have liked it back then. Now I like it becuase it allows drag and drop image upload. Just reduce the screens for your explorer, and be able to see both directory and imgur window, pick your files and drag them across onto the imgur pane. It does the rest.

For you guys that would like a FREE simple image/graphics package that works pretty much intuitively, I suggest
XNView
{That's Cnet so it's fairly safe}
It's available for just about every OS from Win2000 on up, incl Mac and linux.

It's bonus strength is that it thumbnails and plays video files, ... Depending on what codecs your OS can support. I use Win2000Pro still and plays avi, wmv, mpg
as well as offering basic stills editing such as red-eye, rotate, resize, add txt. And simple effects

It uses a pretty standard explorer type interface which means you can go out to your camera or SD card and select and pull as well as edit right in camera / sd memory. As long as the camera or card looks like a drive.

It takes a little playing to find out what it can do ..
I just discovered ADD TEXT after 4 years of using it!!! It's real basic but it works without a bunch of fiddling.

And ALSO:
Xnview does BATCH picture file Resizing. And does it easily.

It also allows screen caps. But has to be actively running at the time. Sorta clunky, but easier to use once you made the capture than 'screenshot captor'

And best of all it's pretty non-intrusive, doesnt suck up all your resources like stupid camera-included apps. Talking about YOU, Kodak!

I also use Picasa {but not much.. pain in the ass cause it goes into search mode for every image file on PC when it starts and tries to guess how you want to group and arrange your photos. Basically does it whether you want them grouped or not}.
The best exposure fixing I've seen yet, though, is Picasa. Not that I've looked around a lot but if you need to fix a picture because it's too light or dark, bring out background detail.. etc.. it's real easy.

I use screenshot captor for screenshots, and Macromedia's Fireworks for layered graphics.

I know this is an old thread but my avatar is a gif and it doesnt spin. Its on photobucket and when I try to download the url to here it says invalid file. Am I doing something wrong?

new member not sure what to do here. Having problem with an oil leak. Im thinking it could be the oil cooler,gasket, or oil cooler lines,need some good enexpensive reliable advice on how to replace or repaire the problem.

Ugh what am i doing wrong? I go to the garage to upload a photo and takes me to my computer documents/pictures. Click on the picture i want to upload and says upload fail. I dont know how to upload with photobucket when i have to add a picture off my computer. Not sure if that made sense. Am i missing something?

On photobucket, go to picture, on the right side will be different formats. click on img it will be copied then past to blazer forum

Alright, where do I paste it in my "garage"?

If your uploads are failing, it is quite possible that the image file size is to blame. You should try resizing your photos before uploading them to reduce their file size. A few options have been posted in this thread to perform that task.

so is there a solution to make our avatars have motion?

The fact that animated gifs are not allowed for avatars is not a problem in my opinion. Signatures can be turned off if they are found to be too annoying. Avatars cannot and IMO should be static.

Thanks Swartlkk appreciate it

I know very well indeed this is an extremely old string, however I figured I'd toss some of my tech learning up here for individuals needing a free application that can do pretty much anything photograph shop does and will take a shot at NY PC, regardless of the working framework (ie Apple OS X, Microsoft Windows, And Linux/Unix)
In the event that you don't know anything of picture altering there are gatherings devoted to help long range router
The name of the program is GIMP
simply do a google hunt and it'll bring it straight up
I've utilized it for quite a long time, I like it way better then photoshop, Ilustrator
As Paladin pointed out, getting the signal strength boosted FROM the<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->How to Patch a Chipped Wood Floor is only half the picture, even if you can do it. Will your wireless device(s) - phone, tablet, laptop, desktop - be able to push their own signal back TO the router? They are not passive devices; they also have RF power sources, and RF signals to push through any interfering/attenuating materials. (The return path.) Granted, the router may have more sensitive receiving and decoding circuits than the other devices, but you still have to get a signal back to it.