pics on webpages

[eNZee]

hey guys
need some guidence. (sorry if this is in the wrong section - i didnt know where else to put it)
im redesigning my webpage and im having a little issue with the pictures.
im using a player that the web design program offers but i find that when i upload the pictures and play them the pictures almost look squished....
not "distorted" where the persons face is stretched out but it doesnt look sharp.
it makes me think of when you have a high quality photo and you shrink it really small and it looks almost pixlated... (i dont know if im describing this right)

the files are really small too. very low quality.
when uploading files - what am i suppose to be looking for?? how should i be saving them??

[Gobae]

Sounds like the player is designed for a fixed set of dimensions. You'll probably need to find out what it's looking for to not end up with that result OR see if there's a setting that will allow for dynamic sizing.

Originally Posted by eNZee

hey guys
need some guidence. (sorry if this is in the wrong section - i didnt know where else to put it)
im redesigning my webpage and im having a little issue with the pictures.
im using a player that the web design program offers but i find that when i upload the pictures and play them the pictures almost look squished....
not "distorted" where the persons face is stretched out but it doesnt look sharp.
it makes me think of when you have a high quality photo and you shrink it really small and it looks almost pixlated... (i dont know if im describing this right)

the files are really small too. very low quality.
when uploading files - what am i suppose to be looking for?? how should i be saving them??

[eNZee]

thanks for the tip Gobae

how big should files be anyways at maximum when uploading them for a webpage??

[CaptainNH]

I'll preface this comment by saying that I'm no expert in web design!!

I've had the same problems with putting flash slideshows in my website.

If I tried to provide for different screen sizes (by using dynamic sizing) the quality of my images suffered.

In the end, I had to just go for a fixed size to suit the "average" sized monitor - which means that it won't stretch to fill the largest screens, and might be too large for those little netbook screens, but at the end of the day I needed to ensure that the quality of my images didn't suffer.

[OsmosisStudios]

Your player sounds like rubbish. The really nice ones dont re-size, they simply provide a background black.

What kind of system is it? Flash? There are some excellent ********** or jQuery systems you could use that are likely just as easy but more powerful!

[eNZee]

omg i hate this soooo much
why cant i just have something that works without complications??? or maybe its just the operator

someone please at least tell me then whats the maximum size or dimension ( i dont even know exactly what im asking anymore) the photos should be??? and ill just have to play around until its acceptable

[Jim Poor]

Unfortunately, that answer is "it depends." I like 800 pixels or bigger on the long side, but that's just me. My shopping cart uses 500 for the preview image and 800 for the enlarged image.

For a portfolio, I like 1000 pixels wide.

Originally Posted by eNZee

omg i hate this soooo much
why cant i just have something that works without complications??? or maybe its just the operator

someone please at least tell me then whats the maximum size or dimension ( i dont even know exactly what im asking anymore) the photos should be??? and ill just have to play around until its acceptable

[navcom]

Originally Posted by eNZee

someone please at least tell me then whats the maximum size or dimension ( i dont even know exactly what im asking anymore) the photos should be???

I've always used 600 pixels max for the longest dimension of a web picture and 72 dpi. The reason for me is a better guarantee that the images won't be copied and printed out. While there is no 100% prevention of "image theft", at 600 pixels, they can only print a very small picture. Anything of size will be terrible quality. But the image still looks great on the web.

[eNZee]

thanks guys - ill try that and see how it turns out

[TAGfan]

Ill echo the previous remarks and say that you need to know what image size your 'player' is looking for. I use easyviewer, and if you know a bit of coding you can customize it to accept any picture size you want.