I am not used to composing my posts in normal mode. I have always used the HTML and manually inserted my images from an external image hosting site.
When I first started blogging, storing images was very limited but as time passed things got cheaper and now, image sites are very generous with the amount of space that they will allow for FREE. Back then Blogger only allowed 300 megs of image storage so it was my thought to use Webshots as at that time it was the largest image site on the Web.
I was content to do things the OLD way which meant resizing all of my photos to around 2 mp and uploading them to WS and then linking them individually to my blog. Of course, all of this took a tremendous amount of time. I could never figure out how others could do their posts so fast, and even using a non-computer device such as an iPad or Tablet. My typical post would easily take 3 hours or more. By the time I reviewed my photos and did my resizing and uploading and then manually inserting the HTML code the night has gone.
Over time the Blogger interface got improved and then Google purchased Picasa for the image hosting and things became much simpler with this integration. I was oblivious to all these improvements as I trudged along doing things the OLD way and not realizing all the time, savings that I could have enjoyed if I had just looked around, instead of keeping my head to the grindstone and trudging forward the OLD way doing things the only way I knew.
I was also oblivious to the fact that American Greeting Cards, the owner of Webshots had been thinking of selling Webshots a few years ago as it was costing them too much money to keep it running, due to archaic programming. Had I known what I know now I could have changed my image host to Blogger a year or so ago.
About a year ago Blogger changed their policy to allow virtually unlimited image hosting within certain limits. While all Google members receive 1 gig of image hosting images of 800x800 pix or less for regular members DO NOT COUNT towards their 1 gig. Google+ members can upload images up to 2048x2048 or less, and these do NOT COUNT towards the 1 gig limit, so in effect as long as you are under these image sizes, you will have unlimited storage.
If I had know this before I could have hosted my images on Blogger and then more of my Blog could have been kept intact. Thanks to Richard, and Karen I have discovered that I can upload images directly to Blogger and select the Xtra Large viewing option, which is not available if you post using HTML. This will make life much simpler going forward.
I have tried to use Picasa and I am sure that my long distance tutor was getting frustrated trying to explain how the menus work. Some things are just easier to visualize than to explain, but being 3,000 miles away isn't easy to get together, but I thank her for her determination to explain these simple things to someone who is resistant to change.
It's funny that I have been able to devote so much time towards my blog and doing things the Hard and long way, when a simple way is not so simple for me to understand. I have to learn to let my computer do the work, rather than me. I learned this simple fact tonight. I also need to learn how to do collages and slide shows but that will be more frustration for another night.
I am now so happy that I can directly upload images to Blogger and have them display the size I want without much fussing around, and without having to externally hosting them
We happened to arrive at the Corvallis Fall
Festival just as they were closing down
Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks eh Bob?
ReplyDeleteSteve:
DeleteI thought I had it figured out. It worked the first time, but not the 2nd time. I'm not resistant to change but I am of the ilk that believes that if something is not broke, then don't fix it. I need a way to spend less time on this Blogging thing and I hope
my long distance tutor doesn't excommunicate me but she is very patient, I hope
I have 2800 posts with lots of pictures in all of them and had it been as hard as you discuss I'd never have got started. Using Blogpress of Blogsy (purchased for five bucks each in devalued American dollars)and a first generation iPad I can post anaywhere and easily using my new smartphone as a hot spot. Whether or not this is a benefit is another issue, but it is easy to do. I've never understood, nor do I now understand the labor involved in your hours of dark room posting work burning the midnight oil.
ReplyDeleteMichael:
DeleteI am like you. Resistant to change. I have been on Webshots since 2000, this is 8 years before I started my Blog. I just continued to do what I knew, and what I was familiar with. At that time Blogger only had a 300 meg image limit, while Websots was virtually unlimited. It took me a while to figure out how to use HTML so this is what I have been doing since inception, not realizing that things have changed and are now much simpler than they were.
In fact so simple that people like you can do it without any problems on small devices. SO SIMPLE that I can't figure it out. I just can't figure out how others can spend such little time doing something that takes me HOURS . . .
I remember reading about the image hosting limits when I first started using Blogger and I thought it was curious that I never heard anything about approaching any sort of limit. And I thought it was odd that I no longer received warnings about image size. From my Nikon D60, the exported jpegs are 3872 × 2592 so I figured that maybe Blogger was automatically doing the resizing on the server. At that point, I just stopped worrying about it.
ReplyDeleteMy current non-Blogger but still photo related issue with the iPad is that it does not handle RAW format images. It apparently uses an embedded JPEG that is automatically created for the preview display of the image on the back of the camera. This gives you the impression that it can read the image but appearances are not reality. The JPEG is not the same resolution and if you "expose to the right" to get the most dynamic range from your sensor, the jpeg is not very useable. So if I plan on using the iPad with the DSLR to post images, I have to compromise on the exposure. If you are not shooting RAW, then this doesn't apply.
Having access to Aperture, my current choice for post-processing, means that I have to bring a laptop with me on trips or deal with the camera photos later. This is one of the reasons why most of the pictures I post are taken with the iPhone. My point-and-shoot.
Thank you for the info on Google's image storage policy.
Richard:
DeleteIf you are OVER your storage limit, then Blogger/Picasa will automatically reduce your file size upon upload. To 800x800 max for regular users, or 2048x2048 for Google+ plus users. Their new interface will give you to option to retain the ORIGINAL
My travel computer 11.6" is not much larger than your iPad and it is an i3 with 4 gig RAM and can do video editing. I need the computer to transfer image/video files to my external drive. I use about 1 GIG per day for photos when travelling. I think I have RAW converters installed on my laptop for NEF, CR2 and ARW files
My "travel laptop" is an 11" MacBook Air and it weighs about 2.3 lbs. Not much different weight-wise than the iPad+Logitech keyboard. The main advantage of the iPad isn't weight or size but the 10+ hours of battery life and LTE data connectivity through Verizon. The bandwidth is usually much higher than most hotel wireless. E.g. photo uploads take about 2 sec per photo. On my last trip, I ended up Bluetooth tethering the laptop to the iPad as the connectivity was so much better on Verizon LTE.
DeleteEven my new "regular laptop", which is what I take on longer trips such as to Barrow, is only 4.4 lbs and the quad-core I7 is much faster than the dual-core I5 in the Air. This is also the machine that I have Aperture installed on. I don't take as many pictures as you and I don't want the hassle of video so my needs are much more modest.
Richard:
DeleteMy i3 11.6" is barely adequate for video. I was thinking of upgrading to an Ultrabook for longer battery life. It's the AVCHD codec that comsumes your resources. I also have an i7 quad core which I only use for video editing, but it is too large for bike travel
Vancouver is such a pretty place. The little aquabus made me smile. And then there appeared a whole boatload of rowers. With two on each seat! And I don't know what you call those things you stand on and row, but they seem sort of silly to me. I guess it's good exercise, but I bet it's hard to keep your balance. Anyway... I liked your video.
ReplyDeleteKathy:
DeleteFalse Creek is in our tourist area which also includes Granville Island Market. Lots of restaurants overlooking the water and condos line the circumference, so they use the Aquabus to commute to work. The rowers are propelling Dragon Boats. We have a yearly Dragon Boat festival here with entrants from all over the world. Those standup surfboards are Paddleboards, very popular and you can rent one when you get here
Hey Bob. I am glad to see you have the loading pictures through Blogger thing figured out.
ReplyDeleteTrobairitz:
DeleteI am not familiar with programs such as iPhoto, or Picasa and the idea of syncing folders and albums so I am getting a migraine trying to learn Picasa. I am from the simple method of just uploading my photos manually to the "net, you know just select a few and click upload. All this fussing around with syncTOweb, starring photos, creating albums and then just staring at the screen while the little wheel spins while you wait and wait. I don't need an automated system which I don't know what it is doing. I know it is meant to make it simple for users, but I am not used to "simple".
I don't need a program to organize my files on my computer. I manage all my own downloads from my memory card and I tell those files where to go by my own filing system
I also have another problem where all of my photos are stored on several external hard drives. They are not stored on the Computer so I suppose when I start Picasa it will give error messages as to folders NOT FOUND. Just another problem to deal with. I do not wish to burden my computer with thousands of photos. I try to keep my Laptop drive as empty as possible
PS: I thouht I had things figured out yesterday, but when I tried to upload more photos later, after I got off the line with Karen, they didn't work. I didn't get the resize options, so you can imagine how frustrating this is for me.
Yes, I can imagine how frustrating it is. I don't use Picassa the program and don't try to use their web site at all. My only interface to it is through the Blogger interface. I don't try and do any organization on Picassa. I have noticed that depending on the client I'm using, photos get uploaded into different folders. I finally settled on the "Compose" window on the Blogger website and Blogsy on the iPad. Both treat images differently but it doesn't matter for me.
DeleteI notice that using Google+ complicates thing even more. I only have a few thousand images but I use Aperture to manage them into multiple vaults. Only a subset are on the internal drive. I hear that Adobe Lightroom is even better at this task and is cross platform. I just preferred Apple's pricing model for Aperture. Buy once and put it on multiple systems.