Ummm... I Can't Post Pics...know What's Wrong?

KotokoPlum · Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:40 pm Post subject:

I've tried and tried to get my picture to upload from my computer, but it doesn't work! I tried to open it and it says that the picture should appear below, right? Well, all I gte is a little box! Does anyone know what is wrong?

KotokoPlum · Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 2:00 pm Post subject:

Ok, I now know what is wrong. It's too big! But I don't know how to compress it!!! AHHH!!! Someone help me!!!

Stratadrake · Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 3:50 pm Post subject:

You sound as if you're panicking, and it's hard to think straight in a panic. Calm down.

You deserve some congratulations for doing your own investigation/troubleshooting during those twenty minutes between posts -- many newbies don't even bother to look for answers themselves, choosing instead to come crying to the regulars and get publically embarassed when we get annoyed and point out how their question has been asked many, many times before and why we put it in the FAQ.

Anyway, too bad you didn't give us much information. It limits how well we can help ya....

- The part where the picture shows up below is supposed to be IE6 compliant. However, it doesn't seem to work in IE5- or other browsers. For example, I've NEVER seen that feature work on my end. Instead, (1) copy the filename, (2) open a new browser window, and (3) paste it into the location bar to check the image one last time.

How is your image "too big"? Images can be too "big" in two ways:

1- Pixel dimensions should be about 650 pixels wide or less. Images used to get rejected by the approval panel if they were much wider, but with the new auto-resize code in place that's not an issue any more.

2- The filesize of the image varies according firstly according to its format, and secondly according to its pixel size. All your images need to be less than 300kb in filesize.

Different formats are ideal for different types of images and have varying levels of compression. Here are the "big four":

1- BMP = Bitmap. MS Paint's (and Windows's) default format. [b]DO NOT[/b] use the BMP format for uploading your work, because a decent-sized true-color BMP will rarely weigh in under the 300kb limit. Heck, even a decent-sized paletted BMP may have trouble fitting under that limit. This is because BMP's have no compression whatsoever. They're a pixel-perfect format suitable for anything from lineart to photos, and they're the native format for MS Paint, but they're [b]not[/b] suitable for Internet use always so convert/export them to a different format before uploading.

2- JPG / JPEG. Standard image format used for photographic images. Can easily achieve high compression without much detail loss, depending on how detailed the source image is. However, too much compression will create noticeable blurry spots in the saved image so you may have to adjust the compression level. JPEG's are great for shaded works for not good for lineart or Paint drawings. Fortunately, even at low compression, JPEG's will usually weigh in at less than 100kb of filesize.

3- GIF. The ol' CompuServe format that they're suing over the rights for. GIF images are like BMP's but with compression. They're pixel-perfect and best suited for lineart drawings. They can utilize transparency and be animated, but they tend to have a limited color palette and as such aren't suitable for photographic or shaded works.

4- PNG. Supposedly a replacement for GIF and JPEG images, has a variety of compression techniques for either photographic/shaded works or lineart. But it may not show up on older browsers. (NS4+ and IE5+ should be fine)

Additionally, there's Shockwave Flash (SWF), widely used to make animations and interactive pages (like www.homestarrunner.com ). Flash drawings are vector-based instead of pixel-based, which means that they can be easily scaled up or down with little loss of detail. More complex Flash scripts can utilize sound, user input, video, etc. (usually at the cost of a high filesize, though) but simple Flash animations can be made to weigh in under 300kb. They're best suited to lineart and cel-shading than photographic or shaded works.

Finally, never EVER upload an image using a proprietary format like Photoshop Document (.psd) or PaintShop Pro (.psp ?) . These formats are unreadable by Internet browsers, and since they have to support all the advanced tricks of a good CG program (e.g. layers, translucency effects, vector- and pixel- based detail, etc.) they have even worse data compression (much larger filesizes) than BMP's. These are, of course, a format of choice when working on CG art, but when you're finished with the drawing, please convert/export it using a standard file format (preferably JPEG/GIF).
_________________
Strata here: [url=http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/242293]Nanowrimo[/url] - [url=www.fanart-central.net/user-Stratadrake.php]FAC[/url] - [url=http://stratadrake.deviantart.com]dA[/url] - [url=www.furaffinity.net/user/Stratadrake/]FA[/url]
[size=9]Disclaimer: Posts may contain URLs. Click [url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife]at your own risk.[/url][/size]

DG-sama · Moderator Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 2294

Strata this is exactly why you're perfect to win most helpful in the FAC awards ^^.

Seriosly you are too nice dude.
_________________
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/DG-sama/avatars/kingsig.jpg[/img]

God damn you signature WORK!

KotokoPlum · Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject:

Thank you, Strata! You're very helpful! I will try that! (Once I figure it out...)

KotokoPlum · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 8:25 am Post subject:

Ok, I know what my picture is it's a Bitmap Image. I don't know how to import/export, though. I asked my dad and he got confused, and then I got confused,too! And then I panicked, but now I'm calm and advice would be greatly appreciated. ^_^

Stratadrake · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 10:09 am Post subject:

I used "export" as a general term for saving something in a different format -- you won't find a command called 'Export' on most image-editing utilities.

Instead, when you choose "File/Save As...", there will be a drop-down box labelled 'Save as type:'. Check to see if it has JPEG or GIF options available. Most newer versions of Paint have JPEG/GIF capabilities but for lineart I'd recommend using GIF -- if you save it in Paint as a JPEG, you'll notice a slight drop in image quality right away.

Other, more capable programs will have a lot more image types available. I have an old Shareware version of LView Pro (an image-edit/conversion utility) which supports just about every image format save for PNG.
_________________
Strata here: [url=http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/242293]Nanowrimo[/url] - [url=www.fanart-central.net/user-Stratadrake.php]FAC[/url] - [url=http://stratadrake.deviantart.com]dA[/url] - [url=www.furaffinity.net/user/Stratadrake/]FA[/url]
[size=9]Disclaimer: Posts may contain URLs. Click [url=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife]at your own risk.[/url][/size]

KotokoPlum · Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 2:47 pm Post subject:

Thanks, Strata! That really helped! Very Happy