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View Full Version : How To Upload Pictures & Resize (pic heavy)



Monkeymax
26th February 2009, 02:03 AM
This tutorial demonstrates how you can upload images to the forum using the popular and free online service called Photobucket. In addition, the service allows you to resize the photos 'on the fly'. This means you can keep to the forum rule (http://www.amactive.net/_forums/mr2mk1club/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=301) fairly easily:


1) Posting pictures: Please remember that not all of us have large monitors or a fast connection, so please keep images you post on the forum to within 250kB and a maximum size of 800 pixels in any direction. While we understand that we all love our pictures, this ability will be disabled for those users that abuse it. If you post a thread or post with many pictures, please indicate this in the subject title using text such as "Image heavy".

[Note: although I did this with a Mac (I use a Mac as my main computer) the process is pretty much identical regardless of your operating system]

So, to start, you have to go to http://photobucket.com and create a new account (if you have not done this previously):

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo01-1.jpg

Click "Join Now" to start the process. This takes you to:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo02-1.jpg

On this page you enter your desired username and password. Make sure the username is one you will remember - as with the password! But also be sure to keep the password sufficiently secure! Pressing "Next Step" takes us to:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo03-1.jpg

Fill in the boxes as requested to complete the registration process. Then push "I accept."
You will get an email to the email address you registered with, but you can continue to use Photobucket straight away without worrying about that email.

When you're logged in, you may not be taken straight to your Album page. In this case, click the button for it:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo04-1.jpg

As there are currently no pictures in this album, the account is waiting for us to upload something!

Now, in order to make life easier for everyone, we can set up Photobucket now to set it to reduce the size of pictures. Just at the bottom of the marked bit in this photo:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo05-1.jpg

There is a "Reduce to" drop-down menu. Select the 800x600 option to save you resizing pictures using a different program. Then, with the "My Computer" radio button on the right selected, click on "Choose Files".

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo06-1.jpg

And browse to where your files are located on your computer, choose the ones you want to upload (multiple-files can be chosen by Ctrl-clicking on Windows/Linux and Command-clicking on the Mac) and choose "Select".

A dialog box showing upload progress will be displayed:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo07-1.jpg

And when it's done, you will see this:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo08-1.jpg

There is the option to add a title and description to the photo(s). You don't have to, but if you want to, this is the easiest time to do it. When done, click on "Save and Continue" at the bottom:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo09-1.jpg

Then your album will be displayed. There is a thumbnail of the photo just added. Putting our mouse over it shows a small list below it - one of these is the code we want for adding the pictures to the forum; the IMG Code. Click on the code part to select it, then copy the text (Ctrl-c on Windows & Linux, Command-c on Macs).

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo10-1.jpg

Alternatively, click on the photo thumbnail, to take you to the photo itself. On the right, once again, is the various code needed:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo11-1.jpg

The forum code is the IMG code - at the bottom. Again, by just clicking on this code the full code is selected for you. If you didn't do it earlier, copy it now (Ctrl-c on Windows & Linux, Command-c on Macs).

[Note: you don't need to do this both ways - they both give the same code. it's just that due to the method used for showing the links in the first method, it can be a bit fiddly. Get used to it, though, and it's the quicker method.]

Now go to the forum and the post where you want to put your image into:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo12-1.jpg

And when you get to the point where you want the image to go, just paste in the code you copied earlier (using Ctrl-v on Windows and Linux and Command-v on Macs).
The link to the image will be contained within a pair of tags. The tags are:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/

[Note: These are just capitals due to the way Photobucket handles them. The forum software on the Mk1 Club has been set up in such a way as to accept capital or lower-case tags, so don't worry about rewriting them... ;) ]

I then often push Preview before submitting the post, just to make sure the image has worked:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo13-1.jpg

And when I'm happy that it's all done, image displays and it is the correct image - and of course the post is complete... I push submit:

http://www.mr2mk1club.com/images/imported/2009/02/PicHowTo14-1.jpg

All done!


If you have any further difficulties, (which probably means I didn't explain something properly) just ask...!

Please do not copy/redistribute this how-to without my permission - particularly the images!