How to attach pictures and attachments

[richard]

It is possible to add images and attachments of various types to your forum postings.

Photographs come out best as JPEGs (.jpg files), and line drawings are best as GIF or PNG files.
Attachments and photographs are limited to five per post. Individual image sizes are limited to 500KB in size.

When posting a new topic or reply to an existing topic, enter the text as usual.
Scroll down to the section entitled "Upload attachment". Press the "Browse" button and select the photo from the file system on your computer. Then enter a comment in the big "File comment" box. I usually add a short caption. Press the "Add the file" button.

The file should now be attached.
Check it is attached properly by pressing the "Preview" button. If everything looks okay, press "Submit".

The forum software will display a moderate sized 'thumbnail' for larger images. This makes it easier for users to read the forums, and they can always click on the thumbnail to see the full sized image.

Note that all attachments take up space on MY web server and will cost ME. Although my web server account hosts a number of commercial sites, the LNER forums now take up the bulk of my allocation. 500K might not seem much but these attachments add up.

You can add images/attachments that are already hosted on your own website. Do this by using the Img tag (the 'Img' button). Note that it is good practice to keep these images below about 500px wide so that they do not disrupt the forum formatting. I may remove references to images that do disrupt the formatting.


Richard

[Ian H]

I have 2 photos for the forum of LNER 3279. They are both 762k. I have zipped them but they only go down to 730k or thereabouts.

I'm not very computer literate - what can I do?

[52D]

One of the guys on here reccomended a compression program to me that is free and easy to use but i have no details of it as its on my main comp and i am out and about with my laptop

[richard]

Yes ZIPping rarely works well for images - only if they are uncompressed internally.

The program you used to create the images should have an export option. Choose JPG (might be called "JPEG"), and there should be a quality option. There's a trade off in image quality vs. disk size. Photographs can usually be compressed a lot without effecting the image quality.
(line drawings are a different matter small changes in image quality can have a profound effect on the end result - I would recommend PNG format for those, instead)

Another option is to reduce the resolution of the image. Modern scanners and digital cameras produce highly detailed images - but you usually don't need all the detail.

[Squatch]

Richard - I intend to post some screenshots in the Crossgates - Wetherby thread of my recreation of the route in a PC game - obviously I'm mindful of your server restrictions, so would I be best posting them into my flickr account, then posting links up in the thread?

Cheers, Matt

[richard]

Sure - go ahead and do that - you will probably be able to post more/higher resolution photos with less hassle.

If you can, do it using the image tag with the image url, rather than as a web link. Then the image will appear in the thread and people don't have to click on it. If you do this, make sure the pictures aren't too wide - they'll mess up the forum table formatting!


Richard

[mick b]

Try Irfanview its free.
Click on Image then to Resize to whatever size you want. Then file goto Save as , then add to any file you want I use use My Pictures . Click browse on here go to your file , click add then add file and job done .

Takes seconds and much easier than Irfanview which I used to use.

[Blink Bonny]

Another good free package is GIMP. Gnu Image Manipulation and Processing.

It works very much like Photoshop of about 5 years ago. I had been using Paint Shop Pro but my CD will no longer upload so I found this instead.

Incidentally I'd avoid Serif personally. A good package but difficult to save images in any other format than their own.

[Chris-GNR]

Hello

I can't get images to upload to the forum using my andriod tablet nor my iphone. Ive trimmed th3 file sizes down well below 500 & still no joy.

Any suggestions?

Kind regards
Chris Rogers

[Graeme Leary]

Hands up to being the original Luddite but I don't seem to find details of how to scan an already printed photo and then post on the forum (in my case I want to post some shots on the Locomotives and Rolling stock forum). I have no trouble scanning and sending as when the 'send' is clicked up comes 'enter the email address' and all is straight forward but is there a key/code to go into the Forum to do this? Thanks.
The Snapper