As of 1/4/2009 the forum software will automatically resize the photos you upload using the Manage Attachments option. You may still want to learn about cropping and resizing, very handy to know how to do regardless of whether you are posting to the forum or not.
NEW FORUM POSTING SIZES - 600 x 800 pixels and no larger than 50kb
Hi folks,
I know there are many of you that use a little program called
IrfanView to manipulate your photos for uploading to the forums here.
I had someone request that I share how I get my images so large but still within the forum rules (50kb and
600 x
800 pixels). Here is one technique that should help you.
The sample photo I'm attaching to this post is appr. 4 megapixels. Its original dimensions(in pixels) is 2280 x 1824 and the filesize is 849kb. Now this is pretty big and is roughly the equivalent of an 8x10 photo print in reasonably high quality. Certainly it's too big to upload here!
I start by opening the original image file in IrfanView. The first thing I want to do is reduce the number of pixels to what the forum expects (maximum of
600 x
800).
From IfranView's menu, select "Image" then in list of options select "Resize/Resample". Use the "Set new size as percentage of original" option. We need to reduce the sizeto about 1/3 of the original so enter "35" in the "Width" box. (To maintain the original proportions leave the "Preserve aspect ratio" box checked!)
You should notice the area on the Resize window where it shows you the current size and the new size. Just adjust the percentage of original until you get to the final size you want.
OK, the new size has been chosen, just click on OK for the change to take effect.
If you were to save the file after resizing (give it a new name so you still have your original high quality image) it you should notice that it has a much smaller file size, somewhere around 75kb in my example. This is too large too upload to the forum, even though the pixel width/height is OK. So, time to make another change...
After resizing the overall pixel dimensions you need to change the overall compression while saving the image. I usually save my images in "jpg" format.
In IrfanView, select "File" from the menu, then select "Save As". In the save as type box, select "JPG -JPEG Files". A small window will open with JPEG/GIF save options. Move the Save Quality slider to 60% and then save the file. (The default is 80% but we have to get this image down to 50kb).
If the file is still too large you can resave it adjusting the save quality to a lower number.
To get the largest overall picture size you must keep as many pixels as allowed (600 x 800) while reducing the file size to 50kb.
A couple of other hints - Crop your photo before resizing it. If the important parts of the photo are in the center of the original you can get rid of the rest by selecting an area and crop to selection.
Once you have your photos resized, they are ready to upload. Below the screen where you type your post, there is a section called Manage Attachments. Click on that and you will be guided through the upload process. Do
NOT preview the post or you will lose the uploaded photos. It's just a quirk in the system.
Here are some resized images....
