Direct posting, (pictures embedded in a message) without a link, to a web forum, like Garden Buddies.
In order to post a picture in your message, the picture has to "reside" somewhere, on the web. You cannot do it, from your files.
There are several photo storage sites, where you can send your pictures, for this purpose. However, many people have had various problems with these sites. Some have gone out of business, resulting in the loss of your pictures. Others have started out free, and gone to pay. Still others may not permit linking to individual pictures, or limit the number, or the length of time they save them. On others, they may resize them, or, when you post, the picture comes with advertising.
You can avoid all this by getting your own free web space, and storing your pictures there. Many internet service providers give you free web space. Free space is also available from other sources. A couple are mentioned on the download page for the FTP site.
Here are step by step instructions on how I do it. I'm not an expert, so someone may know an even easier way to do it. If you hear of something, let me know.
PREPARATION
1. Get your free space. Earthlink is my ISP, and here is what they offer.
2. Get Irfanview. A
free program you can use to crop and resize pictures, and a bunch of other
stuff.
Download it here.
Irfanview
3. Get an FTP program.
This program is free, and is used to transfer your pictures, from your
files to your webspace.
Download it here. WS-FTP
MAKING IT WORK
1. Take your picture. If you're using a digital camera, unload it to your computer. If it's a print, scan it.
2. Open it in Irfanview. This
is where you can crop or resize the picture. When direct posting,
the picture doesn't have to be below 60 KB.
However, when I unload a picture
from the digital camera, it opens so large, I can only see about a quarter
of it on the screen at a time.
Click on File, then on Open.
3. Select your picture. Click on Open. The picture opens, too large.
4. Click on Image, then Resize/Resample. Use Resample, for better quality. Get the picture to a size, where you can see the whole thing on the screen at one time.
5.After clicking on Resize/Resample, you get this.
6. Change the width, to something
that allows you to see the whole picture on the screen. The height
will, automatically, adjust in proportion.
Choose the filter, as shown, for
best quality. You want something like this.
7. Now, you're ready for
cropping, if necessary. With the picture open in Irfanview, place
the cursor at the left, top corner of the part of the picture that you
want to keep. Left click, and hold down, while dragging the mouse
diagonally across the picture to the right, bottom of the portion you want
to keep. You have drawn a box around the part of the picture you
want to save.
8. Release the mouse button, and click on Edit. Scroll down and click on Crop Selection. All parts of the picture, outside the box, will be gone. You now have your picture, ready to save. Click on File, scroll down to Save as, and save to WS-FTP.
The WS-FTP folder should be in your Program Files. When you downloaded the program, you should have gotten an icon, like this, on your keyboard.
9. Open WS-FTP. You should see something that looks like this.
When you downloaded WS-FTP, there
was a tutorial that shows you how to fill this in. Profile Name is
any name you want to give it. The information for Address, User ID,
and Password should have been given to you when you signed up for your
free space. Here's what mine looks like, filled in with the info
for my free Earthlink space.
10. After filling in the information, click OK. A screen, like this, will open. The left side will show everything you have saved in your WS-FTP folder, on your (local) computer. Find, on the left, and highlight, the picture(s) you want to put on your web site.
After highlighting, I click on Auto. You will learn about ASCII and Binary, in the tutorial. Click on the right pointing arrow, in the center. This will transfer the highlighted picture to the remote system. Your picture is now on your web site. Here's how mine looks, with my free site.
Note: In order to access the
pictures you have uploaded to your web space, you must have an "index page",
the page that will open when someone types the URL to your web space into
the address line, on their browser.
If you have, previously, made a
web site on your free space, your home page is your index page. (index.html)
If, now, you are making a web site
AND creating a place to store your pictures, for posting, your home page
will be your index page. Link any pictures that you would like people
to be able to see, while viewing your web site, to the home page.
If you have pictures that you wish to store for posting only, do not link
them.
If you ONLY want to create a place
to store pictures for posting, highlight one of the pictures that you have
uploaded, in the right hand, or remote, side of WS-FTP, click on, "Rename",
and rename it index.html. This will now be the picure that appears,
when you type in your URL (in my case, home.earthlink.net/~johnson29/).
To access other pictures, that
you have uploaded, type the file name, exactly as it appears in WS-FTP,
immediately after the last slash in the URL. Example: johnson29/rose.jpg
One other thing to remember: (although
the screen shot, above, doesn't show it; I found this out, after the screen
shots were made, and have since revised it) Some browsers do not
accept spaces, or capital letters, in file names, so in the shot above,
where it says Pink Pandorea.jpg,
it should read pinkpandorea.jpg
Go to your web site, and find the picture that you want to direct post.
11. Right Click on your picture and click on Properties.
12. Right click on the address (URL). Click on Select All. This highlights the address. Right click on the address again, and click Copy.
You are now ready to paste your
picture into a message, on a forum. When posting, you will have to
have to type in, before the address, (URL)
\imagelink and a { before everything,
and a } after everything.
13. Go to Garden Buddies. Scroll down to, and click on, "Start New Thread".
14. When New Thread window
opens, type in the title and your message. Click Enter twice, so
your picture will appear under your message.
Type in \imagelink{
Right click, next to the {
Click Paste, and the URL, that you copied, in step 12, above, will appear.
Type in a } immediately after the URL.
Make sure the two boxes, next to
Options, are NOT checked.
15. Type in your Username & Password, if necessary. Click on Preview/Post Message. Your message and picture will appear in a new window.
16. Click on Post this Message. Your message will be posted.
Done!
This may seem like a lengthy procedure but, after a few times, it goes fast. I can take a picture with the digital camera, and have it on a forum, in five minutes.