[Wiz]

First of all, let's start by mentioning what sort of digital images work best.  Images direct off of your camera or phone are probably too large to reasonably include in a post so you will need some method of re-sizing the images, or, some cameras will allow you to pre-select a resolution.  Ideally you need a jpeg (.jpg) image of 800 x 600 pixels which is large enough to show small detail but small enough to mean that the file-size is small enough to be manageable in the internet.

My recommendation is to install a small, free utility called "Prish resizer" which enables you to right-click on an image file, select "Prish resizer" and chose your desired size.  You can get Prish from http://download.cnet.com/Prish-Image-Resizer/3000-2192_4-11370464.html

SO now we have our digital images, what do we do with them? There are two distinct methods for including photographs and the first and preferred method is to include them as attachments within your post and you do that like this ...

From within the normal post window, you will see at the bottom "Attachments and other options" so click on that and you will see ..



...and here you can chose your image from your computer and they style in which it is inserted in your post.  The preferred method is "inline expandable thumbnail" because it displays a nice, neat thumbnail image that the reader can click on to expand if they wish to see more.  This method also is easier for people with a slower internet connection and those viewing on mobile devices and that's why we recommend it as standard.

The second, less desirable method, is to incorporate images stored elsewhere on the internet such as on one of the free image hosting services like Flikr or Google's Picassa.  The downside of using this method is that over-time these services might change, vanish or delete your images and if that happens, all people will see in your post is a red "x" where the picture was but if you do wish to use this option you must include the full URL of the image between what we call image tags in the post that look like this when you're typing it ...

Code: [Select]

[img]http://www.rcmf-ads.co.uk/image1.jpg[/img]
...and you need to do this for each image you wish to include. We strongly advise against this method for images you wish to preserve for posterity in your build log but the ultimate choice is yours.

Now let's talk about taking the photographs themselves and how to get the best results.  I am no photographer by a long way but I have found that whether I'm using my phone or a little Kodak 7MP digital camera I keep in the workshop, the most important thing is to get the best light on the subject you possibly can.  I have an old video camera light in the workshop which I use to brighten things up (and it also makes an excellent light to work under too) but do watch out for unwanted shadows.

I also use macro mode a lot on the camera for detail shots which was a bit of a revelation when I first discovered it and now I tend to use it for all shots inside a fuselage for example and it seems to work just fine.

The other important thing is to avoid camera shake without the aid of a tripod (which is just a bit of a nuisance) and I do this by setting the camera's self timer function at 2 seconds, clicking the button and 2 seconds later the photo is taken with a nice steady camera - at least steadier than one of my banana fingers poking the shutter release!

I should also say, we don't expect photographic masterpieces, just the best you can do with what you have available and in that respect, any photo is better than no photo.

Perhaps Shane or one of our other Camera Club members would also like to chip-in with some tips?  Thanks chaps

[Erez]

Is there a limit to the number of pics that can be uploaded to one post?

[Shane L]

I don't think so if using the attachment option , you just click on (more attachments) underneath the attachment box . I just tried keep adding more and stopped at 20 !

[Wiz]

Usually a maximum of about 10 per post keeps things tidy and then, just start another post and carry on.  It's also worth saving a most as you go along, just in case of a technical jinx.  I've not made a big thing of it but you now have up to 24 hours to edit/modify your own post so you can keep saving and editing as you go.

[spillage]

Usually a maximum of about 10 per post keeps things tidy and then, just start another post and carry on.  It's also worth saving a most as you go along, just in case of a technical jinx.  I've not made a big thing of it but you now have up to 24 hours to edit/modify your own post so you can keep saving and editing as you go.

Wiz - dont know whether you can do it within the forum environment but I upload to photobucket on my phone to include them as html images within ebay selling ...1.. so that i only include 1 pic... and two it leaves them nice and large for the consumer to look at... and three does not cost any extra...

As I know not a lot about forum set up,,,, could it not be possible to include the html images from a website... that would then mean they are saved at the same time...

Your thoughts on this wiz?

Kind rgds as always

John

[xairflyer]

Really glad to see the Admin recognising and explaining the problems with third party hosting of pictures, too many great threads that are maybe a few years old have images missing on forums, RCU being the worst.

A new problem has arrived which is not helping this, are iphone/ipads type devices, where you can't actually access the pictures in a folder as you would normally do on a PC.
People then are uploading them to iclouds, photbuckets etc and linking to the threads they post in, normally with a picture which is much to big for the screen.
Best solution is to download to a PC then resize & upload from there.

What is needed is an App or similar that ipad etc users can post pictures to forums without having to use third party storage.
I have heard tapatalk can do this but no experience of it, maybe this thread can be updated for using these types of devices.

[pheasant_plucker]

What is needed is an App or similar that ipad etc users can post pictures to forums without having to use third party storage.
I have heard tapatalk can do this but no experience of it, maybe this thread can be updated for using these types of devices.

My Galaxy S2 is more than capable of cropping and resizing images then uploading to here as an attachment!

Gerry

[xairflyer]

At last Apple have came out with IOS6 now you can upload pics directly from your iphone without having to use photobuckets/flicker etc.  Not sure about ipad but I am sure it is the same.