Making photos larger on the forum

[Mike Griffin]

I have  noticed that some of the photos that are posted on this forum get larger when you click on them.  How are you guys doing that.  When I reduce mine to the size they have to be to be posted, they remain pretty much the same size or only slightly larger when you click on them.  The latest one I can point to is Ty's posted pictures of his Bi Slob.   How do you guys get these pictures to blow up like that when you click on them?

Thanks

Mike

[Allen Brickhaus]

Yours get bigger when I click on them, as an example of your B.R. pictures.

[Larry Cunningham]

Mike,

I think it might be the browser. If the image is small enough to display entirely, it does so. Otherwise it reduces to a size it can display, and if you click on it, it enlarges to full size.

And maybe the browser doesn't really "know" how big your display actually is.

(Now, watch some HTML jock show me what a monkey I am on this subject..)

L.

"The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts." -Paul Ehrlich

[john e. holliday]

If I noticed right your photos are less than 50mb.   That is the reason there are so many you can post.  Most are around the 200mb size.   And yes most get larger when you click on them.  On yours I am glad I have the zoom tool on the computor as I enlare them to 200%.  Much bigger and they get fuzzy.  By the way thanks for the photos.   Some beautiful aircraft are shown.

[PerttiMe]

It is not something I do: it is forum functionality. There's two ways to put a picture in a post.

In your electric "SAKITUMI" proto thread, for example, your photos are linked from elsewhere. I think the usual thing is that linked photos appear as they are, and stay that way. Then you can also display lots of photos in one post.

Most people probably "attach" photos straight at Stunthanger. Then the photos appear as thumbnails that must be clicked to see them full size. Stunthanger has fairly generous photo size limits but if the files are large, only a small number per post is accepted.

I'm not sure what determines if the attached photos appear in the post itself or in a new window. I assume it depends on photo size. (I'm usually on Internet Exploder 8 browser)

[Tim Wescott]

PerttiMe pretty much summed it up, but I'll reiterate one point:

You don't have to do anything to make your pictures get smaller when you post them -- the forum does that for you.  When someone clicks on the thumbnail picture provided by the forum, it gets expanded back to its original size.  So whatever size it is when you're viewing it at "100%" on your local picture editor software, that's the size it should be after you post it and look at it here.

[Mike Griffin]

Guys I dont have a clue as to how it works.  I have an Apple I MAC and I reduce the photos down to around 50 kb cause I think any bigger than 50 it will not take them ... right?  I don't understand all I know about this kind of stuff but I wish I could get my pictures bigger when I post them... the SAKITUME was Walter's post not mine but I did not notice if he had linked it from somewhere else....

Thanks for the input

Mike

[PerttiMe]

I reduce the photos down to around 50 kb cause I think any bigger than 50 it will not take them ... right?  

Wrong. I think Stuka Stunt may have that limit.

Here it says: max 1,000 kb or 20 photos per post. Ive recently posted a 500kb photo but there's room for only one picture that is THAT big in one post. Or, at least my post was refused when I went over 1000 kb.

[Brett Buck]

Guys I dont have a clue as to how it works.  I have an Apple I MAC and I reduce the photos down to around 50 kb cause I think any bigger than 50 it will not take them ... right?  I don't understand all I know about this kind of stuff but I wish I could get my pictures bigger when I post them... the SAKITUME was Walter's post not mine but I did not notice if he had linked it from somewhere else....

Thanks for the input

Mike

  If you have a Mac you want GraphicConvertor, but there are probably other programs to do the same thing. GraphicConvertor is still a "killer app" and we keep a Mac even at work primarily just to run it.

   What you need to do is set the resolution to some lower bit pitch (I usually use 72 DPI for web postings), and then set the size to something like 11" on the longest dimension and let it scale the other dimension proportionally. Then when you save it as a jpg, set the "reduce quality to hit a particular size" (like 200 kb), and save. The 50K limit is for SSW, here its larger.

   If you just save it like it comes out of the camera it will likely be something like 300dpi, and when you scale it to a 105 dpi screen resolution, it comes out tiny.

     Brett

[Tim Wescott]

With my lesser image manipulation program I just scale the image to 600 pixels wide (unless it's really tall and skinny) and choose a medium-high jpg compression quality ("66" on GIMP, but I wouldn't assume that it's the same from program to program).

That gives me pictures that get the point across, yet are still usually smaller than 50kB.

Don't ask about ease of use -- GIMP is one of those programs that lets you do anything, if only you could figure out how to open it.

[Brett Buck]

With my lesser image manipulation program I just scale the image to 600 pixels wide (unless it's really tall and skinny) and choose a medium-high jpg compression quality ("66" on GIMP, but I wouldn't assume that it's the same from program to program).

That gives me pictures that get the point across, yet are still usually smaller than 50kB.

Don't ask about ease of use -- GIMP is one of those programs that lets you do anything, if only you could figure out how to open it.

    GIMP is just about impossible. It's designed by uber-nerds for uber-nerds. I am a significant nerd and it's still to painful to use even for me. It's a perfect example of what is wrong with open source and the open-source community.

   Brett

[John Miller]

I believe it was Randy Powell who turned me onto Irfanview. I have found that it is the easiest program I've used to do what is needed to post pictures, or reduce the size. dead simple, and does a great job.

[Tim Wescott]

    GIMP is just about impossible. It's designed by uber-nerds for uber-nerds. I am a significant nerd and it's still to painful to use even for me. It's a perfect example of what is wrong with open source and the open-source community.

There are open-source image manipulation programs these days that have solved the ease of use problem.

I actually find GIMP pretty easy to use for simple cropping and scaling.  That could mean that I really am an uber nerd, it could mean that you haven't used it lately and someone actually listened about ease of use (I've only been using it for a year or two), or it could mean that you never stumbled on the right combination for easy cropping and scaling and that for just those two things it isn't bad.

And I can do cool things with it:, like going from this to the included picture

[Larry Cunningham]

I also recommend Irfanview for ease of use and general capabilities. Be sure you get its RIOT plugin if you want to reduce the file size of your photos. And play with the program a little. It has a great thumbnails generator whose hover function provides all sorts of information for each file, and it efficiently can store and move or otherwise process blocks of files.

Amazing what is out there for free.

L.

"The rain it raineth on the just and also on the unjust fella:
But chiefly on the just, because the unjust steals the just's
umbrella." -Lord Bowen

[Mike Griffin]

Thank you all...the main thing I was wrong on was the 50 KB limit. I thought both forums had that but I was wrong.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Mike

[Brett Buck]

I also recommend Irfanview for ease of use and general capabilities. Be sure you get its RIOT plugin if you want to reduce the file size of your photos.

   Not for a Mac.

    Brett

[Steve Helmick]

I have no clue about Apple computers, but I do know there is a version of IrfanView for Macs, and it's free. For a PC, it's not even a very large file, and a quick download from TuCows (Google it). Under 1000 kb, from memory.

Oh, Doc was almost right, but got the units wrong...kb, not mb. I don't know the relationship, but do know the kb is smaller, like maybe 1/1000 or so. Probably some sort of French measurement unit.

My opinion is that the problem most have is that they only resize the photo small enough to post,... when they should be resizing and then compressing the photo. Go for 600 to 800 pixels wide, unless the picture is shot in "portrait" format, then about 450 or 500. IrfanView gives options for width, and I always use one of those, then start with about 80% compression, and see how big it comes out. Then, a little fine tuning does it. I'm pretty sure you can set it for something else, but I don't. Always "maintain aspect ratio" (we know what that is, right?).

Remember that you'll need to change the file (photo) name when you save it, or you will lose the original. You don't want to do that. I give the photo a title that makes sense, and then each reduced version gets %, %%, %%%, etc., added to each, until I reach the final version. To me, the logical sequence is name, crop, resize, and compress, so the final version will be something like "P-47_Storick_PA75%%%.jpg". Once I'm done with the process, I will delete all except the %%% version, and then I'll change it to  "P-47_Storick_PA75%.jpg". Some might want to keep the original size, but I usually don't.  

There is a pretty thorough thread on posting pictures in the Administration Forum (top one), started by Rudy Taube...easiest to find if you scan the author's column.   Steve

[PerttiMe]

Remember that you'll need to change the file (photo) name when you save it, or you will lose the original. You don't want to do that.

I prefer to rename (or make a copy in a different directory) before making any changes.

That increases the odds of having an untampered version at the end...

[john e. holliday]

Thanks Steve for correcting me.   My excuse is old age and inactivity catching up.   

[Steve Helmick]

I prefer to rename (or make a copy in a different directory) before making any changes.

That increases the odds of having an untampered version at the end...

That's what I said. The picture code what downloads from the digital camera doesn't help at all, so I name the picture, and rotate it to be correct, and save it. Then, I crop it, and add a % (if it needs cropping), and save it. Then, resize it, and save it. Finally, work the compression percentage, until it's a useful size, and save it. I usually go for under 100kb for Stunthanger, but sometimes just go for under 50kb for both forums. At each step, I add a % sign. When I'm all done, there will be three or four percentage signs, but I usually only want to save the last one, so I delete all the rest and change the final 50 to 100kb version to one % (or maybe none).

I do all this in my "Test Pictures" file, so they're EZ to find, and the file name is usually "ZZZZZZZ_Impact_Howard_Electron.jpg%%%", etc. The Z's put it at the bottom of the que in the folder, so they're easier to find. I do need to get in there and move the pictures out of "Test Pictures" to whatever file I want to save them in, such as "Family Pictures", "My Pictures", "Model Pictures", "Fish Pictures", "1:1 Scale Airplane Pictures", "Car Truck Hotrod Pictures",  etc. Some, I can't figure out where the heck they should go...  Steve

[Brett Buck]

I have no clue about Apple computers, but I do know there is a version of IrfanView for Macs, and it's free.

   If you have a Mac, you want GraphicConvertor.

     Brett

[Lynn Weedman]

I just use Pixresizer works good and easy to do single or multi picture resizing jobs. you can download it free. just google it.

[Steve Helmick]

Does Pixresizer compress as well as resize? Rotate? Crop? Change colors? Blur background? Anything else?  I don't know, but I'm happy with IrfanView and don't need the frustration of trying another software.

The problem Mike and some others have is that they are resizing but not compressing the pictures.  Steve

[Brett Buck]

I have no clue about Apple computers, but I do know there is a version of IrfanView for Macs, and it's free.

   I don't think so. The recommendation on their website is to use a Windows emulator with IrFanview, and there's no native version.

     Brett

[W.D. Roland]

There are open-source image manipulation programs these days that have solved the ease of use problem.

I actually find GIMP pretty easy to use for simple cropping and scaling.  That could mean that I really am an uber nerd, it could mean that you haven't used it lately and someone actually listened about ease of use (I've only been using it for a year or two), or it could mean that you never stumbled on the right combination for easy cropping and scaling and that for just those two things it isn't bad.

And I can do cool things with it:, like going from this to the included picture

Holey Cow!
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Pretty As You Feel Airplane