Phonoland

TO POST AN IMAGE ON THIS FORUM THAT IS HOSTED ON ANOTHER SITE:

In order to post an image on an internet forum or message board, your image should be "hosted" on an internet web site, and assigned a "URL" or web address starting with "HTTP" and ending with the image's "file extension," such as "JPG," "GIF," BMP," etc. There are a number of sites that offer free image hosting. I use Imageshack -- http://imageshack.us/

Follow the instructions on the hosting site's screen. (USE the "BROWSE" button on the site to locate your image on your computer, and go from there.)

After your image is hosted, you will see a screen with a number of options. Toward the bottom of the list, you will see your image's new URL -- again, starting with HTTP and ending with JPG, or whatever. Highlight this, and copy and paste it into your browser's "address bar" and press the Enter Key on your keyboard to see the image itself in it's own screen. It's a good idea to "bookmark" this page, or ad it to your "Favorites," depending on the browser software you use -- Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla, etc.

Now that you've done this, all you have to do is compose your message on this board, and when you come to the place where you want the image to appear, click once on the IMG button. A set of brackets will appear on the screen -- [img]. Paste your image's new URL right after that--with no spaces in between the bracket and the URL--and then click the IMG button again. You will see something like this --

[img]http/:myimage'sURL.jpg[/img]

Finish composing your message, and click on the PREVIEW button below to verify that your image displays correctly.

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Since you are a member of Phonoland, you also have the option of hosting your image right on this site, bypassing the use of other hosting sites such as ImageShack, Photobucket, etc.

The first thing to do is to save the image on your own PC. The best format to use is JPG. Please make note of the folder in which your image is saved--you will need to know that. A common location for storing images is in the "My Documents" or "Documents" folder--for MS Windows users.

The next thing is to type your message as you normally would. Then, when you are ready to insert your image, look directly below the box where you are typing. You should see a small tab that says "Upload Attachment." Click on that tab, and then click on the Browse button. A new (pop-up type) screen will appear that will list your main files and folders.

Look for the folder where you have stored your image and click on that, then click on the image, itself, to highlight it.

Once the image is highlighted, click on the Open button. The screen showing your folders will then disappear, and the "location" of the image you selected will appear in the small text box next to the Browse button.

Click on the "Add the file" button to download your image to this site. This may take a few seconds, depending on the size of the photo or image file.

The final step is to click on the "Place inline" button. (The image's new URL will appear in the brackets -- [attachment] new image [/attachment] ) When you click on the "Preview" or "Submit" button, the image should appear in your post.

I don't see where you can upload an attachment/file when doing a private message though.

I believe this only works if you're posting a reply by using the upload attachment tab.

BTW, how does a new member make a posting? Seems like I can only reply to an existing one.

Thanks,
Cap'n Bry

I don't see where you can upload an attachment/file when doing a private message though.

I believe this only works if you're posting a reply by using the upload attachment tab.

BTW, how does a new member make a posting? Seems like I can only reply to an existing one.

Thanks,
Cap'n Bry

Yes, as far as I know, loading attachments only works with the regular posts, not private messages. I'm not sure why, but this may have something to do with security.

To post a new message -- i.e., start a new post string or post topic:

1) Click on the forum you want to post the message in, i.e.: gramophones, collectors lounge, jukeboxes, etc.

2) Click on the NEWTOPIC button near the top of the screen. (The same button also appears near the bottom of the screen.)

3) Type your post as you normally would.

HTH,
JDS

My file, picture of a vaccuum tube is in JPG format and is 2.66MB. I am not allowed to post the picture because of the file size. Any ideas how I can reduce the size of a JPG file?

Thanks
Darrell

HI Darrell:

If you have photo-editing software installed, you can use that to reduce the size of the photo, save it as a JPG file, and then post it. Something about half or one third of the size should do.

If you don't have photo editing software, there are a number of work-arounds.

One thing you can do, for instance, is double click the image, as it's stored on your PC, and view it using the default Windows viewer--assuming you use Windows--which normally shows large scale photos in reduced size.

After that, take a screen shot, by pressing the "Print Scrn" button on your keyboard, and then call up Windows Paint (installed on all Windows PCs.) Paste the image, and use the cropping tool to select just the photo, and not the surrounding area. Cut it or Copy it, close out Paint without saving. Open up Paint again, paste the image, and then save it as a Jpg or Jpeg file.

(I'm sure this is horribly confusing. Even I'm confused, and I wrote it!)

Another option, of course, is to host the image online on a site such as ImageShack, and then copy and paste it's URL or address into your post. In that way, whomever clicks on it will be able to see the image as it appears on that site.

JDS

As a side to Joe's instructions, images hosted on sites like Photobucket etc are generally re-compressed.

For instance an image sent at 865kb will be rendered at 197kb and download as such. So you can use the hosting site to reduce resolution if you have no other easy options.

In some cases with a complex schematic or detailed photo the reduced resolution may make it difficult to use. In this case a -file hosting site- is a better choice since the file will not get reduced in size.

Rob/NYC