[Steve Culver]

The attached tutorial provides information on how to edit photos for any application on the internet; whether it be posting to forum threads, uploading to your web site or attaching to emails. It begins with an explanation of why photos must be edited for the internet, followed by a photo editing demonstration. Also provided is an explanation of how to check the size of your photos after loading them to the internet.

At the bottom of the tutorial is an expanded explanation of the ABS Forum Guidelines for posting photographs in the ABS Forum. Please make sure that you understand the size limits on each type of image before loading your photos to the forum.

If you need help with editing your photos or with loading them to the forum, do not hesitate to contact the Forum Moderators for assistance.

Steve Culver - Moderator
Bryon Tomberlin - Moderator
Dan Cassidy - ABS Webmaster

 Editing Photos for the Web.pdf (413.87K)
Number of downloads: 116

[ABS Webmaster]

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.

[Ron LaBella]

ABS Webmaster, on 02 August 2010 - 09:35 PM, said:

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.c...h?v=styWTqrneuI

Cheers,

Ron laBella

[Dan Hockensmith]

Thank you guys for the quik responce. Dan

[Tony Hughes]

Thank you, I had no clue.
Tony Hughes

[Steve Culver]

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.

[ABS Webmaster]

All ABS members

Since the date of Moderator Steve Culver's reply post above the image posting rules changed on March 1, 2012.

The current rules for images in posts specified in the ABS Board Guidelines are no larger than 800x800 pixels and a file size below the 135k 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.

[Steve Culver]

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 800 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 800 pixel size allowed on the Forum will fall below the 135k file size limit and not need to be compressed.