Problem with uploading photos

[Gue Jam Fowsid]

Hi,

I just tried to upload 4 jpeg photos into the forum images section so that I could include them in a post. It didn't allow me to do this and claimed there was an invalid file extension. I reduced the size of my original shots in photoshop. They are now all less than 500 KB. I'm not too sure why there was an error.

Has anyone got any suggestions???

[eeyore]

an invalid file extension suggests that they are the wrong type of file - the commonest cause of this is trying to upload raw files or tiffs, the second most common is inadvertently saving them as a photoshop workspace .psd they need to be jpegs for the gallery ( it gives you a complete list of acceptable file types on the upload page)

[Gue Jam Fowsid]

Hi Eeyore,

I'm not really sure why its happening. They are not RAW files. The originals are jpeg fine. I then opened them in photoshop, reduced the size, selected what folder I wanted them in, and then selected FORMAT JPEG. I set the quality to 10.

I will look at it again and maybe send a message to Dai the Dragon as I am following his guide for posting photos on WAB. Fingers crossed.......

[richardkm]

Originally Posted by Gue Jam Fowsid

Hi Eeyore,

I'm not really sure why its happening. They are not RAW files. The originals are jpeg fine. I then opened them in photoshop, reduced the size, selected what folder I wanted them in, and then selected FORMAT JPEG. I set the quality to 10.

I will look at it again and maybe send a message to Dai the Dragon as I am following his guide for posting photos on WAB. Fingers crossed.......

I always use the "Save for web" option in Photoshop if I'm going to use them on the web, this allows layered images to be saved without first flattening the image, so I can go direct from PSD files to JPEG with only having to adjust the image size

[eeyore]

incidentally I normally find that 800 pix by 600 pix or as close as possible, at 72dpi - saved at quality setting 7 creates the optimum file size for the wab gallery

[DaiTheDragon]

Although "Save for Web" will gauratee a certain file size you do lose all the exif data. Quite often I will dowload an image and have a look at what camera settings were used.

dai

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by eeyore

incidentally I normally find that 800 pix by 600 pix or as close as possible, at 72dpi - saved at quality setting 7 creates the optimum file size for the wab gallery

That's pretty well exactly what I do, only I always make the size 880x600 pixels, as this is the optimum size for WAB. Any larger and the image is compressed by the site software down to that size, that's why there's two figures quoted with the images, one the uploaded size and the second the compressed size. Therefore there's no advantage in uploading any image larger than 880x600.

Of course I know you know this Pete, but others may not.

[FungiJohn]

Here's my little bit

Preparing your image for upload:

The first thing you need to do is to ensure that your image is of reasonable quality. Take a look at Add Your Own Photographs to the Gallery

Next, you need to ensure the image is of the correct size both in physical size and file size.

Here is an example using Photoshop:

Physical Size: 800 x 600 or 880 x 589 pixels



Now we use the ‘Save As’ function. By using this method you are reserving what’s called the ‘EXIF’ (Exchangeable Image File Format) data. Don’t worry about the name. Suffice to say this data contains for example … Nikon D80 Camera:





Finally, we set the quality (image options) to 8. This should give you a file size below 250Kbytes.



Uploading your own images to a gallery:

In any gallery section click on ‘Upload’ Select the image by browsing to where it is stored on your pc.



Enter a Title for your image using the format:

Common Name – Scientific name i.e. The Blusher – Amanita rubescens



Note the ‘space’, ‘dash’ & ‘space’ between the Common Name and Scientific name.

Also the Upper case / lower case for the Scientific name. If you don’t know the Scientific name you can use the search button for the common name. Odds on this will take you to a species already in the gallery where you can ‘Copy & Paste’

By doing this you are saving the gallery editors and moderators much time and ensuring that your images reach the gallery more quickly.

Here you can also put a short description about the image.

Next, choose a category and enter any ‘Key Words’ which may help others find your image. You may also wish to comment on any photographic equipment / technique used.

Finally, submit the image. If you are uploading several images at once another screen will appear which will allow you to edit each individual image with respect to its Title, Description, Category etc. You can then do a final submit for your images to be picked up by a gallery editor or moderator.

Hope this helps

John

[The Woodman]

Now there's a masterclass from FungiJohn that should be saved by every snapper. Class information which must have taken more than a couple of minutes to post. Thanks from me and everyone who wants to attach images. Well done.

[nutmeg]

Thanks, FungiJohn - very useful. I'm only just beginning to use the forums and gallery (after being a regular and appreciative) lurker for quite some time, so your advice should ease things considerably!

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by The Woodman

Now there's a masterclass from FungiJohn that should be saved by every snapper. Class information which must have taken more than a couple of minutes to post. Thanks from me and everyone who wants to attach images. Well done.

You're very welcome ... I've been meaning to do this for about a year
John

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by nutmeg

Thanks, FungiJohn - very useful. I'm only just beginning to use the forums and gallery (after being a regular and appreciative) lurker for quite some time, so your advice should ease things considerably!

Welcome to WAB nutmeg Just ask if you need any further help.
John

[Jon]

John,
I have pretty well been using the guidelines you indicate but in general I have made the files as big as possible and saved as quality 10-12 (whilst still of course not exceeding the max. file size permitted).
From what I can see now, there is no advantage to this as there is no discernable increase in quality on the VDU, in fact there is a disadvantage and that is the files take longer to upload. I shall now start saving them on quality 8.
Could you confirm if I am correct please.
Jon

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Jon

John,
I have pretty well been using the guidelines you indicate but in general I have made the files as big as possible and saved as quality 10-12 (whilst still of course not exceeding the max. file size permitted).
From what I can see now, there is no advantage to this as there is no discernable increase in quality on the VDU, in fact there is a disadvantage and that is the files take longer to upload. I shall now start saving them on quality 8.
Could you confirm if I am correct please.
Jon

Jon,

The site software re-sizes images larger than 880x600 down to that size, or the nearest ratio size, so there is simply no advantage in uploading any image larger than that.
I always use a quality setting of 7. This keeps the file size nice and low, and they look fine on screen, provided the image is good enough in the first place!

[Roy C]

Originally Posted by Jon

John,
I have pretty well been using the guidelines you indicate but in general I have made the files as big as possible and saved as quality 10-12 (whilst still of course not exceeding the max. file size permitted).
From what I can see now, there is no advantage to this as there is no discernable increase in quality on the VDU, in fact there is a disadvantage and that is the files take longer to upload. I shall now start saving them on quality 8.
Could you confirm if I am correct please.
Jon

You are right Jon - you will be hard pushed to see much difference between a jpeg quality 10 and a Quality 5, try it and see.

[FungiJohn]

Glad some have found this useful If anyone would like a similar 'graphical' version for adding images to forums ... just ask!

John

[DaiTheDragon]

There is also a tutorial I put up on my web site a while ago.

http://www.wildlifewales.co.uk/mainP...orkflow01.html

Dai

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon

There is also a tutorial I put up on my web site a while ago.

workflow 01

Dai

I'd like to thank you Dai, I've picked up some very useful info which I've put into practise thanks to your tutorials.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

Glad some have found this useful If anyone would like a similar 'graphical' version for adding images to forums ... just ask!

John

it might be handy to use your special moderator powers to add these pics to the how to upload pics threads that su has stickied in the wildabout britainwebsite forum and linked from the main forum page

[Beryl]

I did too. I had to prit it out thoughas I have short term memory loss.
It's a very good tutorial.

[FungiJohn]

Originally Posted by eeyore

it might be handy to use your special moderator powers to add these pics to the how to upload pics threads that su has stickied in the wildabout britainwebsite forum and linked from the main forum page

By the powers invested in me ... it shall be done

I'll finish off the forum image addtion and merge the two into the sticky

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by FungiJohn

I'll finish off the forum image addtion and merge the two into the sticky

i think stu has how tos for forum images and gallery images in seperate stickies

[Gue Jam Fowsid]

Wow!!

Thank you for all the brilliant information guys.

I finally worked out what I was doing wrong earlier this morning. The file names had too many characters....so I shortened the names to something simpler and they uploaded straight away. So all is good.

GJF