Please Read: Image/Photo/Clip Art Guidelines About This Page:

[Jennifer Marx]

PassPorter Message Boards Image/Photo/Clip Art Guidelines

We encourage our members to include images in their posts and their signatures -- it's fun to see photos of our families, snapshots from our vacations, and creative clip art. These guidelines provide help in including images in your posts and signatures, as well as offer important guidelines regarding the size of the images. If you have questions about anything image-related, please post your question in The Garage (Technical Support).

First, you need an image. Images may come from photos you've scanned, clip art you've found online, or graphics you've created on your computer. Your image file should be in JPEG (.jpg file extension) or GIF (.gif file extension) format for the best viewing. These are two of the most common formats, so this isn't generally an issue. Please note that if you want to use clip art found elsewhere online, please be sure you have permission to use it and/or link to it. Not all web sites want you to take or link to their images, as it can slow down their own site considerably.

Pay close attention to the size of your images. If your posts include large images, they can fill the entire screen of a browser window, slow down the message board, and make it harder to read a thread. As a general rule, the best image is the smallest image that shows everything the viewer needs to see in the smallest file possible.

We have two different guidelines for image size depending upon where the image is located.

1. Images in the body of a post shouldn't exceed 400 x 400 pixels EACH. For example, you can include as many photos from your vacation in your trip report posting so long as each does not exceed 400 x 400 pixels. See the post labelled "GOOD IMAGES" below these guidelines for a good example; see the "BAD IMAGES" post for one that needs improvement.

2. Images in your signature shouldn't exceed 400 x 400 pixels TOTAL, and should not exceed 35k total. For example, it's okay to include ten small images so long as they fit within a 400 x 400 square pixel area (see graphic below) and the total file size of all the images does not exceed 35k (35000 bytes). See the post labelled "GOOD IMAGES" below these guidelines for a good example; see the "BAD IMAGES" post for one that needs improvement.

All your signature images should fit within this much space:


So how do you know if your images are the right size? You can check your image size in a couple of ways:
1. If the image is already online, right-click the image and select Properties from the pop-up menu. The Properties window will indicate the byte size and dimensions of the image.
2. Use the myImager.com web site ( http://www.myimager.com/myImager.cfm?p=open&f=0 ) to open your image from the web or from your computer.
3. If your image is on your computer, open it in your favorite graphics program (we recommend Paint Shop Pro on Windows or GraphicConverter on the Mac). These programs will tell you the size of your image, either in a separate properties window or at the bottom of the window in which the image is displayed. Refer to the program's documentation.

How do you resize an image? If your file is under 200k (200000 bytes), the easiest way to resize is to use myImager.com ( http://www.myimager.com/myImager.cfm?p=open&f=0 ). Just follow the onscreen directions to open your file. Your file is automatically "crunched" into a smaller byte size. You can then use the menus near the top of the window to edit your image. To change the dimensions, click the Edit menu and choose Resize. When you're satisfied with the size of your image, click the File menu and choose Save. The next screen gives you directions on how to download the image to your hard drive -- you can even upload it to your web space if you know the host, directory, username, and password.

[If your file is over 200k, myImager.com won't open the file. Instead, you should open the file in a image editor program such as PaintShopPro (Windows) or GraphicConverter (Mac) and resize it there -- refer to your program's documentation for specific instructions.]

Now that you've got a properly sized image, you need to get to upload it somewhere on the web so it can be accessed through the message board. Many of you already have web space that came along with your Internet account -- for example, AOL users can go to keyword: MY SPACE to learn how to access their web space. EarthLink and AT&T Worldnet also offer similar benefits. If you don't have your own web space, you can get free web space at sites like GeoCities.com, Xoom.com, or Tripod.com. Once your image is uploaded to your web space, make a note of its full URL address. It may look something like this:

http://members.aol.com/jennifer/images/jenuine.gif

You're almost done! To add your image within your graphic, just encase the image URL as shown, but replace the (parentheses) with [brackets]:

(IMG)http://members.aol.com/jennifer/images/jenuine.gif(/IMG)

In the example above, the code automatically makes the image visible in your message. Note: the "http://" part of the URL is REQUIRED for the [img] code.

If you want to add your image to your signature, click the "My Profile" link at the top of the message board window, click View/Update Profile, type the above code into the Signature box, and click Update Profile. Remember, however, that your signature images should be no larger than 400 x 400 pixels total.

We recommend you test all images in The Driveway forum while you're first learning how to include images. It's normal to make mistakes in the beginning, and we all goof up from time to time. Don't feel bad if it takes a few tries to get it right. If you just can't get your image to display, post in The Garage forum and we'll all do our best to help you!

Please note that we reserve the right to remove any image, even if it is small enough, if we feel it causes technical problems or violates our content or linking guidelines.

[ 05-16-2003, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Jennifer Watson ]

[PassPorter Reader]

GOOD IMAGES POST

The images in the body of this post and in the signature meet the image size guidelines:


The Front Desk of the Hilton


The Lobby of the Hilton


Our Room at the Hilton


The Pool at the Hilton

[ 04-11-2003, 08:26 PM: Message edited by: Jennifer Watson ]

[Tinkerbell]

BAD IMAGES POST

The images in the body of this post and in the signature are too large and do not meet the image guidelines:


Captain Hook's Island Hideaway


Captain Hook himself!

[ 04-11-2003, 08:34 PM: Message edited by: Jennifer Watson ]

[Marv]

I just read your post. I've never been great at math so I'm probably asking a dumb question and not quite sure how to ask it so it makes sense. The picture in my signature is 293x430. Because the one number is above 400, does that make it too big...even if the other number is below 400?

[Dave Marx]

If either width or height exceeds 400 pixels, the image is too large. Also, note that your image file size is over 60k. 35k is the upper limit.

[Disneybound!]

Thanks guys! This definately helps! Now I just need to get out there and search for the ideal icon for me! lol Ruth [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]

[redsback]

Just giving the image in my signature a try!