Starter Photo Posting HELP Wanted

[KurtM]

Hello. DPS noob here. Not a noob to computers or internet or photography, just a noob to, well, it's just that .... hmmm....

I've been posting photos for a long while now, both to forums, and to personal web pages I create to illustrate how I do various stuff in other puursuits. I know how to upload to my ISP server space, and have a "pro" account on Photobucket. But what I need to learn now is how to post photos that work here, in the world of (digital) photography enthusiasts .... like on DPS .... this is a new one on me.

I'm used to resizing my photos to 600 pixels max and never thinking twice. But with my new Flickr account, what size should I upload .... since it "automatically" resizes several versions for me? I have a brand new T3i, do I just upload 8 meg files? How do I retain the EXIF data when using Picasa 3 for PP? I may step up to GIMP soon, but probably won't purchase a "real" PP program like LightRoom for a month or two yet....

I want to make a point of participating in each and every assignment, so I need to learn the "correct" way to upload pics to the net. I've been trying to learn, but no joy so far. Help!

[faeriegodess612]

I'm used to resizing my photos to 600 pixels max and never thinking twice. But with my new Flickr account, what size should I upload .... since it "automatically" resizes several versions for me? I have a brand new T3i, do I just upload 8 meg files? How do I retain the EXIF data when using Picasa 3 for PP? I may step up to GIMP soon, but probably won't purchase a "real" PP program like LightRoom for a month or two yet....

Resizing to 600 is fine. Just upload them to Flickr resized. It's just a tad bit of a deterrent for anyone to steal them. ( Not much tho, it's suggested to set your account so that All rights are reserved. This is NOT however going to stop anyone completely. If you put it out there, it CAN be stolen. ) Flickr will just size up to the max that you upload.

You can find the EXIF data in Picasa be clicking on the lil blue "i" at the bottom right. Hover over it and it will say "Show/Hide Properties Panel"

GIMP is a pain, but it does work. If your not a student, I would suggest Photoshop Elements. ( I'm a bit biased on this point, cuz I have it and love it. ) You can use Picasa as your organizer, and w/e Photoshop version you get.

Also,...heres the thing for How to Post Pictures in Assignment Threads Using Flickr

[mshockley]

I agree with faeriegodess across the board. Yeah, you can resize, then upload to flickr, but there have been many discussions here about the plain fact that if you put an image out there, it can be "taken" if someone wants it bad enough. I would certainly set your account as suggested, you can disable downloading of your image, but I repeat, it is not foolproof.

I am also biased as I too use Photoshop Elements and love it. It really is a powerful editing program. For me a happy medium between free editing tools like GIMP and the full blown Photoshop program.

You can always find your EXIF info. at flickr also. Once you upload some images to your Photostream just go to the tabs above your image in the upper left corner. Click on Actions to see all the options you have---one is "view EXIF data", or click on Share to view your options there.

So welcome to DPS and look forward to seeing your assignment posts! One of my goals was to participate in every assignment topic for the year 2011..,.....so far so good!

[KurtM]

Thank, y'all. I don't think I'm getting the EXIF data in Flickr though. Here's the one photo I've posted so far.....



Can you find any EXIF on it? I can't. EDIT: I just went back to Picasa 3 to check the information button. Complete data exists for unedited files, and none for those I have edited to adjust contrast, etc., etc.

Oh, and if anyone wants to steal any of my pictures, my only charge is that they cannot, under any circumstances, bring them back.......

[mshockley]

I'm guessing something must happen when you edit in Picassa, since I'm not familiar with it for editing purposes I just can't help you there. But your right, if you go to flickr through the image above the EXIF is not there. Hopefully someone will come along that can help you solve this.

Very funny about the non-returnable stolen images!

[faeriegodess612]

Picasa will only save the EXIF data for the original. As far as I know, there is no program that will save the info on what you DID to a photo,..if thats what you mean. ( You can save a photo as layers, but not in Picasa and it wont tell you everything. ) The EXIF data doesnt change due to edits.

I'm a lil confused as to what exactly it is that your talking about here,...

EDIT: I just went back to Picasa 3 to check the information button. Complete data exists for unedited files, and none for those I have edited to adjust contrast, etc., etc.

[KurtM]

Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for sticking with me here! I think I got it now....

Seems I forgot to mention one little thing, and believe it turns out to be the problem. I'm resizing and compressing my photos with ULead Smart Saver Pro, a habit I got into for posting photos to my personal web pages back in dial-up days.

So as an experiment, I just tweaked one photo in Picasa 3, and resized and compressed another in SSP, and then uploaded both to Flickr. The Picasa 3-tweaked photo retains all EXIF data, the SSP one does not. So there's my culprit.

Now, how should I resize and compress, or is it not necessary? I know I can link to the "medium" size on Flickr for showing it here. I would post the photo, but I want to use it for this week's assignment -- or can I post it here, and still be okay to post it for the assignment too?

I've been studying this whole site for over a week now, both to get a "feel" for it, and to learn the ins and outs in general, including this thread: http://digital-photography-school.co...ng-flickr.html .