Can you post pics on this board?

[Billiumss]

Just wondering if you can post pics on this message board.

I'd like to share what I have been doing, pictures would make it much easier to explain!

I tried a few weeks ago but it wouldn't work and the image was 100k.

Bill

[richG]

Yes, you can post photos but not like you think. Use a photo editing service like Photo Bucket. Their site explains it very clearly.

http://photobucket.com/

Patience and practice will pay off.

Rich

[Billiumss]

So I have to host them and then use [img] tags?

[CNE Runner]

Yes you can post images. As was already said the original file must be on a photo-sharing website (such as Photobucket.com). You simply select the image you want to transfer to this forum using the Direct Link feature (I highlight the direct link address...then copy it to the clipboard).

Back in the forum look at the icons above the message space. The second row down, second icon from the left is the insert image selector. Click on this and you will get two symbols img separated by brackets. Click between the brackets and paste your copied image address from Photobucket. You will not see the image until you go back to the posted message. If there is a problem, you can always modify your post.

Check it out:



Hope this helps,
Ray

[Terry Toenges]

Billums - you have it right.
Ray - The pics can be from any website, not just a photo sharing site.

[CNE Runner]

Hi Terry...nice to talk to you again. You are, of course, correct...the photos can come from any website. What I wanted to stress is that you cannot take photos from your hard drive and post them on this (or the Model Railroader) forum.

By the way: you can see from the image in my post that I can follow your directions...you are the one that taught me how! Take care and get to work on that 1800s layout.

Ray

[Yampa Bob]

Ray
Of course I have to add my usual comment regarding pictures.  If you right click on your picture and select "properties", you see the file size is almost 300 kilobytes.  That's fine for all you guys on broadband, but with my slow dialup it takes about 5 minutes or longer to load.

I presize and compress all my pictures to 500 pixels wide, with a file size under 100 kilobytes, typically around 50 kb. 

Just a suggestion, as a courtesy to us slowpokes.  I use Irfanview, a free program, it only takes about 10 seconds to reduce the picture to a reasonable size.

http://www.irfanview.com/

I wrote up a "quick start" tutorial on the program, be glad to send it if you want.

[CNE Runner]

Hi Bob I guess you got me again...I do forget that not everyone has broadband. I, originally, put pictures on photobucket.com because one of my pen pals (in Montana) was stuck with dial-up as nothing else was available in his area. I need to be more conscious of others in the tech world. To be truthful, I do not post pictures on forums all that much...but it is nerve-wracking for someone on dial-up to wait a considerable length of time for one image to load.

You mentioned that you have a "tutorial" on an image compression program? I think this thread would be a good place to post it. Alternatively, you could start a new thread on the subject. In summary, yes - I'd like to see the tutorial very much.

Many thanks,
Ray

Bob: I just downloaded Irfanview and await your guidance.

[Terry Toenges]

Given the recent concerns over intellectual property rights on Facebook, I'm going to stay away from places like Photobucket. I was always leary of posting my stuff on anything other than my own website.

[CNE Runner]

Given the state of computer/Internet security today; you are probably wise Terry. In my case, I do not have the inclination to construct and maintain my own website - so photobucket (et.al.) works well. I am careful as to what I post on the service. Photobucket asks very little personal information about each of its members...in fact little beyond your email address.

Facebook is a totally different situation however. To initiate/construct a Facebook page, one needs (or wants?) to divulge all manner of personal data. Once the information reaches the Facebook server, it is there for as long as Facebook is in business (and who knows how long after that?). If you decide to deactivate your account (as I did) that same information is STILL on their server - albeit in an inactive folder. Hackers try constantly to get into the Department of Defense computers...'have been successful in getting into the computer files of financial institutions and government agencies (ex. FAA)...what makes anyone think their personal data is safe at Facebook - whether it is inactive or not? No, Terry...I think you are wise in your actions.

I should end by saying that posting personal information and posting images are very different actions and are exposed to very different ramifications. On a previous thread, I mentioned that my wife and I take personal checks when we vendor train shows...we have yet to be "stuck" with worthless paper...I recently sold a $800 Lionel set basically on the buyer's word. Should the day come that we are given a bad check; we will cease our involvement in model railroad shows. I hope I can say the same for the Bachmann and Model Railroader forums. [I don't mean to leave out any of the other excellent forums...these are the only two in which I participate.] I have always found most model railroaders to be people of character.

The real character of a man can be measured when no one is looking.

Ray

[Yampa Bob]

Any image viewed on a website can be copied. Some webmasters insert a javascript to disable right click, but anyone knowledgeable about site structure can get around that, and every keyboard has a "print screen" key.

The misconception is that anything on the internet is public domain, but it's just the opposite.  Once published, an image is automatically copyrighted and requires no notice.

[Terry Toenges]

Bob - That's true.
But many internet sites have a long "terms of use" or whatever you want to call it that can be many pages long that you have to agree to.
Unless you're an attorney and can translate all that, you can be giving up your rights to your copyrighted material and not realize it.

[CNE Runner]

OK...this is all fine; but let's get back to Bill's concern. Bill, on most forums you have to post your images on some type of photo-sharing website - UNLESS you maintain your own web page. The forum sponsers are not interested in taking up server space to store your images...they merely follow the address you have supplied and go get the image at that location each time someone wants to view your post. Whether you agree with the websites terms of use or not - that's the way it is.

I am not the most prolific photographer (to say the least) and rarely remember to take pictures of projects or events (which is probably why I only have a rather cheap digital camera). Because I wanted to occasionally post images on the Model Railroader forum; I joined photobucket.com and can honestly say I have had no problems with the service. Check out my contributions by going to photobucket.com and inserting allegro34 in the search box. It will ask you if you want to view allegro34's album - select this option...BTW Ansel Adams I am not.

One very important item: if you move an image (i.e. to a different album) or remove that image from the service; the original post (to which that image was linked) will no longer display the image. There are ways around this.

In summary I say try it. If putting images on a photo-sharing website is not to your liking then remove them and close out your membership to that service. Personally, I like to view others efforts. I have a new pen pal who is a teenager in the northwestern U.S. He regularily posts pictures of his latest projects on photobucket. My only comment, on his efforts, is that he is light-years ahead of my attempts when I was his age! My first sturcture was the Revell Mainline Station: I didn't paint one blessed thing - including the people!! What a sight to see a bevy of gray plastic folks waiting on the 3:15 train.

Ray