TECHIE TIPS: Posting Pictures - Guidelines and how to

[Glass Message Board]

UPLOADING IMAGES TO THE GLASS MESSAGES BOARD

Having seen many queries posted accompanied by photos which later lose their pics as they are deleted by hosts such as Tinypics, we decided we needed the ability to host images on the board itself for posts here. 

Images can be added to board posts by using the new attachment options at the bottom of the posting screen. You will need to ensure your images are less than 125kb each, and no more than 4 attachments may be added to any one post.

The board will automatically create clickable thumbnails from images larger than 150 pixels in aspect (aspect = height or width), the thumbnails will show below the post and clicking them will open the larger images. Images between 150px and 400px aspect will enlarge to an inline image below the post text, and those over 400 px aspect will open in a separate popup window.   

The attachments will need to be either .jpg or .png formats - no others are uploadable to the board.  You may upload images to all forums except Cafe, where you will still need to use GlassGallery Cafe album for hosting. 

This is how a post with images will look: http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,16927.0.html

If you prefer to continue using GlassGallery for Queries images that's fine - you have the choice of which method to use in future.

GLASSGALLERY IMAGE HOSTING

GlassGallery will still be where you can still store your personal album collections and where images for cafe threads, rogues, calendars etc will remain, it's just the Queries images that can be handled differently.

To use GlassGallery you do need to register but this is simple and just involves choosing a user name and password and then acting on the confirmation e-mail. Once registered you can upload photos to GlassGallery.

There is a series of How To's for anyone wanting to use GlassGallery to host images... these walk you through the process of uploading and adding title and additional information.

GlassGallery Help & How to: http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/glassgallery_help.html

GlassGallery Main page: http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/

n.b. The link that you add to your GMB message is found BELOW your picture and will look something like this:
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-28  - note the - followed by a number at the end. If you use the link in the browser address bar it will show different images depending on your view settings in the gallery.

We know how daunting it can be to use these facilities the first time, so if you need help please either post a request for help in your topic on the board or email (support@glassmessages.com) Support directly for help.

GlassGallery pictures are limited to a 200kb filesize and 1000x1000 pixels dimensions. If you need to resize your images and do not have an image program to do this you can use free software, such as Irfanview, to crop and resize your pictures.

If you need help using the program, Carolyn Preston has provided a simple and clear step-by-step method which should get you up and running:

Step 1:  Open up Irfanview
Step 2:  Open up the picture you wish to resize
Step 3:  Click on Image (third from the left)
Step 4:  Click on Resize/Resample
Step 5:  On the right hand side of the screen, you will see a series of different size ratios. Click on 640 x 480 and hit the okay button
Step 6:  Click on file and then resave the picture with a slightly different name (thereby preserving the original).
Step 7:  Try uploading again. (Make sure you chose the new picture, not the original). If it is still too big, repeat Steps 1 to 4 using the new picture
Step 5:  On the left hand side of the screen, click where it says "set new size as percentage of original" and set the percentage as 75. Click okay button.
Step 6 to 7 Repeat as before.

Then your pictures should work.

If you'd like to explore in a little more detail, David Encill has created a useful Irfanview tutorial at http://www.glassyeye.com

Download IrfanView Link: (http://www.irfanview.com/images/iview_logo.gif)

[Ivo]

I tried Irfanview (really) but find myself unable to understand why I should bother.

Now for resizing images, there is a very simple tool called Image resizer, which works in XP.
Download from Bill Gates' website
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx
It is on the right hand side near the end of the page.

It is tiny and really works as it should.

It allows you to rightclick any image and select the size you want. It then makes a copy with <small> or <medium> in the original file name.

Highly recommended

[Pinkspoons]

Getting bored of acceptable-but-flat photographs from my white photo tent, I decided to chance my arm on a black photography tent!

These have the same construction as a white tent, except that it's all black velour, but for three narrow panels of the standard white gauze. The black is supposed to give glass / silver something to reflect and refract off to give edges definition, and the white panels are to give dramatic lighting accents.

Anyhow, it still didn't really get the effect that I wanted, as the broadness of the white background completely over-powered the black sides and top. So I improvised. I cut a strip of a plastic poster I had pottering about, and velcro'ed it to the back of the tent, and underneath it I bunged a small cardboard box to raise it up level with the white panels to diminish under-shadows.

It looked a little something like this:

My Tent

And the end results are dramatically improved, I think:

White Tent vs. Black Tent
Something More Subtle

The photos are completely uneditied, and so I've still some playing about to do, obviously - but I'm fairly wowed by the immediate difference.

I just thought it might be an option for other folk out there wanting to maybe take their pictures up a notch. The lighting is just two large halogen 5500k daylight bulbs bunged in two cheap desklamps with broad shades. I'm going to play around with lighting it from above too, once I get a third suitable bulb.

[Bernard C]

Nic et al — See CameraJim's Guide to Glassware & Crystal Photography for a similar, but not identical, set up to yours, Nic.   You might get ideas for tweaking your setup from this.

I've just been experimenting with sunlight through the side of a white light tent with a black background for photographing Vaseline glass.   It's certainly the best colour match I have achieved, although I may need to eliminate some of the reflections.   See, for example:
 http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7380
 http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7365

While they will never win prizes, I think they are good enough for Id and eBay purposes.

Bernard C. 

[karelm]

Hi,
I bought my own photo tent this weekend and the first pictures from it can be seen in this post:
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,15996.msg93931.html#msg93931
The tent looks like this:
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-7652
There was a black one and the white one.  I am planning to look into putting black panels into this one and see what results I get.
Where I bought it?
Ikea, it is a washing basket and costs the princely sum of 6,99 euro!
Kind regards,
KarelM
PS: I have said that I am cheap

[simon bruntnell]

I have never used a light tent (got one, just never used it). Just sheets of tracing paper. Also try a sheet of glass spray it black and turn it over, here you go a mirror!

Now put the mirror on a table in front of a wall with large white paper or a sheet on the wall. Get one light with a tightish beam and aim it at the wall. Hopefully you should have a pool of light on the mirror below you at 45 degrees.

Place your object on it and now you should see it with a double reflection. http://www.northlightphotography.co.uk/contemporary-glass-photography/contemporary-glass-photography-20.htm

Bring in another light to the side with a tightish beam onto the glass (use tracing paper or a cheap shower curtain c.£2.99 as diffusers if needed) there you go trade secret!

[simon bruntnell]

You can use coloured glass things (or lighting gels for stage lights) to put over the main pool light to change the background colour. I assume it's the same coloured filter gels I use. Works well for clear and cut glass, drop the pool low and contrast the cut glass against the black or as I said, gel the pool of light and the clear glass stands out from the background with a white light on the glass. And that's all I'm giving away!

[simon bruntnell]

One and only last thing about photographing glass, think about its environment in the shot.

When you shoot something LOOK AT IT ! I mean really look at it.

Consider the angle of view. Is it clear, cut, pate de verre, slumped, solid colour, blown, and so on.

Clear cut glass, is there information on the other side making it confusing to read looking
straight on, so think about angle of view?

So when I talk of environment think clean and simple is usually safe option.

And one of the best bits of advice is, if it doesn't look good to start with don't think you can make look fantastic in Photoshop.

Jazzy backgrounds steer well clear. You're there to look at the glass not 1980's wall papers in the background!