Kern River Fly Fishing Guide Service Kern River Troutfitters Fly Shop

To post pictures on our forum, please follow these instructions:

Posting pictures is easy and doing it correctly is very important so others can easily see and enjoy your pictures.

1.) Reduce your pictures using photo/graphics software to a size suitable for the web. At 72 ppi try to keep the pictures under 500 pixels wide, 600 at max. Large pictures distort the post and make reading them difficult. In addition, compress them to reduce their file size. Try to keep them under 50K in file size. They never need to be over 100K. The smaller the file's size the faster the load time. This is real important for viewers with dialup.

Free photo editing software can be found at:

http://picasa.google.com


A free image resizing tool from Microsoft for Windows XP called Image Resizer can be downloaded on this page:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

NOTE: There is NEVER any reason to post pictures larger than a monitor screen! Use the Preview button BEFORE you post. This will show you how the picture will look in the post, After you get it right and you are sure you are not trying to post a gigantic picture, either in file size or physical size, you can then use the post button.

Remember to reduce file size before posting! There is NEVER any reason to post large file size pictures. Pictures from your camera or scans are normally MUCH TOO LARGE! This only causes delays in viewing the post. For people with dial-up Internet service large files can cause them to think something is broken because of the long delays they will experience if a size is too large. Posting pictures that are too large is inconsiderate. If you accidentally post a large picture, please edit your post to correct the mistake right away.


Use the "Preview"

You won't make a posting mistake if you visually inspect the picture in the "Preview" for physical size and right click on the picture, choose "Properties" and read the physical size and file size; if it's too large, reduce it and save it again on your server (your own, Photobucket.com, etc.) Here is what the screen will show in IE after right clicking on a picture:



*Note that "Size" is the file size and the "Dimensions" is physical size. Make sure BOTH are OK BEFORE posting! You can do this from the Preview screen.


To give you an idea of physical picture size, which is measured in pixels, here are some lines that have a resolution of 72 pixels per inch, which is ideal for viewing on your monitor, and their width:


400 pixels wide


600 pixels wide



A picture's file size is different than physical size and is NOT proportional to a picture' physical size. A smaller picture may be larger in file size than one that is much bigger in physical size. You need to be aware of file size, as well as picture size and use photo software to compress the file size; this is sometimes called "saving for web" or "saving for e-mail" or compressing.

Here is a 400 pixel wide picture that is too large in file size:

Too Large:
While the picture below is only 400 pixels wide it is 176K in file size


It is small in physical size but too large in file size! This picture is not OK for posting because of it's too large file size.



Below is the same picture but it is much larger in picture size (500 pixels wide.) It is over 1½ times the physical size yet much smaller in file size than the one above, only 67K which is less than ½ the size! This picture is OK for posting because it was reduced in file size.

Good Size:
The picture below is 67K file size, 500 pixel wide physical size; note this larger picture has a smaller file size because of proper preparation!


If you use the free Picassa software, the term is "Export Picture to Folder", it's under the "File" menu. You would then choose 600 pixels or less for the size and choose about 55% for the Image Quality JPEG setting. Remember where you save the picture and what you have named it so you can later find it to upload to your picture site.

Once you have prepared your picture(s) properly:

2.) Upload the picture(s) to your own personal web site like the one you get free with Internet service. Contact your ISP for information. You can also use one of the free photo hosting sites, like

photobucket.com or villagephoto.com, to upload your pictures to.


3.) Once you have done that just copy the URL of your photo and place it in your post with the code as instructed in the "Help" link from the menu at the top of this page under "posting", or just follow these easy steps:



Your picture will appear where you have placed the code

REMEMBER: Use the "Preview" button before posting to make sure you got it right. ;)


PLEASE:
  1. Pay close attention to the part about reducing file size as well as physical size (that's two separate things) before posting. Most seem to miss that.


  2. Also note the part about using the "Preview" BEFORE posting. Most seem to miss that also.


  3. If you do make a mistake and post before you preview it, use the "Modify" to correct mistakes; DO NOT start another post with the same thing. Many seem to miss this also.
To Recap:
  1. Reduce physical size of picture (keep it under 600 pixels)

  2. Reduce file size of picture (keep it under 99 K.) Most will be less than 50K if done correctly.

  3. Upload to a web server (your own or photobucket, etc.)

  4. Enter the URL of your picture with the proper code (see instructions above)

  5. Use the "Preview" button to check if everything is OK before posting.(if it doesn't look right correct it)

  6. If you make a mistake and post before correcting, use the "Modify" link to correct it. (or delete the post and start over)
* Not following these guidelines will result in posts that cause problems in the forum's display and are difficult for viewers to see. Posts that contain problem pictures may have to be deleted.

Thanks,

Kern River Fly Fishing and Kern River Troutfitters