Improve Your Posting Using Images and Graphics

Improve Your Posting Using Images and Graphics

Hello Fellow Rainers,

We just completed a 5 Step Series to Simplifying Blogging. But as I was finishing up the example post, I realized there were a few things we did not cover that are important to the way your blog looks to the reader and to the search engines. So today we will be covering Images and Graphics.

I believe it was Step 4 where I warned you about copyright on images and graphics. never, ever, ever, copy and use a graphic or image without permission. Even if it says you may use the graphic for free, there may be a stipulation that you need to watermark or reference the photographer on the image. So be aware before you post!

What I wanted to talk about today is the proper use and placement of graphics. 

The first thing to note is that images/graphics add personality to a post and make the post more intriguing. So you should include some graphics within your posts.

Secondly, use the correct graphics. You want to be certain that they are not copyrighted firstly. Then, you want to use the correct size graphic. The larger the size of the graphic, the longer it takes to load, thereby slowing down your website. You don't want that. 

High quality or high resolution graphics are not necessary for websites. They just take up room and their visual quality on a website is the same as if it were a lower resolution. Resolution is typically noted as DPI meaning Dots Per Inch or PPI meaning Pixels Per Inch. 

You need to consider the area that you have to work in first. If your blog is only 690 pixels wide, then anything larger than 690 will be shrunk anyway. So no need for a large graphic. 

The graphic to the left is  314x209 pixels. (96dpi)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The graphic below is 700x465 with a higher resolution (150 dpi or more). This image has not been cropped either, so there is a great deal of white space around the image. 

Cropping is when you "cut" off a part of an image or graphic to make it more user-friendly for your exact needs. Here, I would have cropped the top and bottom of the graphic to remove some of the white space.

You can't really see any difference in the quality or clarity of these two graphics either in size or by the number of dots per inch (dpi). The higher resolution photos/graphics have a higher dpi, and therefore a longer loading time.

It is perfectly fine to use the lower resolution graphic on a website. Save high resolution graphics and images for print. 

In ActiveRain you can resize the image, but you cannot change the resolution (that I am aware of anyway). We can learn about how to change the resolution without a fancy program in another post.

Let's show you how to change the size of the graphic and we will insert it on the right side of the page.

Start by going to the navigation bar and clicking on the GRAPHIC Insert Button:

Click the button to open the Insert Window.

 

 Click on the camera next to the SOURCE Box.

You can choose a graphic that is already in your Responsive File Manager (shown with the grasshopper). Or you can Choose to UPLOAD a new graphic.

Click on Upload and navigate to the location on your computer where the image is stored. Click OPEN and it will send it to the UPLOADER

1. Leave the CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS box checked. Then change the number 500 to 200! The image is automatically proportionally resized to 200x183 in this example. (your numbers may vary due to the image you have uploaded. If you click the OK button, your image will be inserted into your post but probably not exactly where you want it located. Again, we will cover this in our next post.      OR
2. Click OK in the box. Your image will be inserted into the post. As with most images, you will see each corner has a tab that you can use to resize the image manually. This works fine, however, it is more difficult to get an exact size for your image. 

So this is how you insert and resize the image for your use in the post. We have gone over quite a bit today so we are going to continue this information in our next post. 

We will cover the Image Description Box, and the information on the Advanced tab. These two details are necessary to position your graphic, put space around the graphic and give it some SEO so the search engines know what they are looking at.

So until next time...Ciao!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy Goldman
IMSD, REVA, REPA, CRESS, CREA, CPVA, CVA, Ethics Checked, Real Estate Webographer
Social Media isn't just a "Suggestion" for business marketing, it's a "Necessity"!

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