Below is a detailed look at the TWO ways you can post images here on the PhotoCamel. Hope this helps some of you in getting your images in a thread, for all to enjoy, learn, educate, and critique.
Posting Images as Attachments
When starting a post, if you use the "Additional Options" drop down under the message text box, you can attach and image. When using this feature (direct upload), then your image needs to be under 128KB. For the benefit of all our members (with varying internet speed connections) we ask that people make their images 700-800 pixels on the long side (a landscape image would be something like 600x800 (HxW) as an example).
In order to get there, you need to RESIZE the image to make it that small, and when saving, probably lower the compression a bit (say 8 in PSCS/PSCS2, 80% in others). If using PS, in the JPG options dialog that comes up with compression setting, the file size shown is OFF. The actual file size will be MORE than what PS says. Keep that in mind when saving.
Special Note: When you click Additional Options, you'll see a "more attachments" link to the right of the Attach box. You can click "more attachments" up to three times to get as many as four attachment boxes, each with its own Browse button, so that you can locate and attach up to four images in one post. If you want to attach more than four images, you can "reply" to your own post, and repeat the process.
Posting Images By Direct Linking
Another option is direct linking. To do this, you need to have your image "hosted" out in cyberspace, somewhere.
As for "host sites," there are free ones, and there are pay sites. Popular pay sites are PBase (
www.pbase.com), SmugMug (
www.smugmug.com), and PhotoShare (
http://www.photoshare.co.nz). PBase is like $23 per year for 400MB of images. PhotoShare is about half that. SmugMug is good because you can "host" your pictures there, and people can buy the prints through your site. You set the prices and all that other stuff. In order to do that, you have to pay about $150 per year though, so people "selling" images or wanting their "own web site" are usually the SmugMug users.
As for FREE ones, you need to watch and make sure you can direct link to images you put there. A lot of them will not allow that. One popular hosting site that a lot of people use is called PhotoBucket (
www.photobucket.com), another is Flickr (
www.flickr.com).
If you use a hosting place, when you post pics, you can then use the "Insert Image" icon above the message text box instead. This will insert what are called "tags" into the message textbox. In BETWEEN the tags (where the ] and [ are), you put the address of your picture. You can copy the link of your picture, and paste it in between the tags. Note when using PBase, the address of your image does NOT contain an extension, so when you paste it, you have to add a ".jpg" (no quotes) to the end.
Even with direct linking, we still prefer the image be no more than 800 pixels wide. If you need to post a larger version, to illustrate features such as "noise" or "sharpening," you should use the icon above the message text box called "Insert Hyperlink," so people will be forced to click the link to open the image in another browser window. This saves us some bandwith and stops slow downloads of the message for people with a slow internet connection.