You’ve started a blog. You’ve written the best blog post eva, and now you’re trying to insert that perfect image to finish it off. Only problem, its coming out ginormous or, at best, falling out of the posting area. What to do, what to do…?
Here’s my opinion on the easiest and best way to deal with images in your blog posts. Take a look…
The two sites I mentioned in the video are picnik.com and photobucket.com
Your turn: Have questions, feedback? How do you handle your post images?
Have you ever wondered how to add a custom signature to the end of your Blogger posts? Well, there is a way to add your name, a photo or a link…the possibilities are endless. And its automatic so you don’t have to remember to insert it each time.
This tutorial demonstrates the steps to creating and inserting a custom signature in Blogger. Below that you will find the code that I used in the video so you can copy and paste it exactly. Remember…when dealing with HTML, every character counts! If your image doesn’t show up correctly, retype the quotation marks (“) that you cut and pasted earlier.
Code needed for Blogger…
<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src=”image-url-here“>
Happy blogging!
Last week I shared a video tutorial with you on how to create rounded corners on your photos using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Today Im posting the video on how to do the same thing using Photobucket, the free photo editing and hosting website.
Before you watch the video I have to tell you one important thing (and I cant believe I forgot this in the video!).
Though you have the ability to create corners in Photobucket, you can only save the final image as a .jpg. If you watched last week’s video, you’ll know that the only way to save the rounded corners with transparency is with the .png format. In the .jpg format, the corners will have a white background. Photobucket supports .png files, but you can not save your images in the .png format. So keep that in mind when you go to insert your photo on a background other than white! In this regard, that is one advantage that Photoshop Elements has over Photobucket. If you know of a way around this within Photobucket, please, do tell.
No for the video…enjoy!
Its tutorial time! Have you noticed lately the emerging popularity of photos with rounded corners on blogs? They’re all the rage. And creating this effect is pretty simple. I’ll show you two methods to create it, today using Photoshop Elements and later on, Photobucket.
Ready?
Now you’re a photo editing guru…congratulations!
Thanks to all who entered my Q & A Twitter design giveaway a few weeks ago. You all gave me some great material, and helped me learn what people really want to know when it comes to blogging.
The first question comes from Liz at Goddess In Progress (who has a fabulous blog about raising twins!). Liz asked:
What do you think are the pros and cons to using a photo hosting service like Flickr or Photobucket, versus just uploading them to your hosting provider, be it your own domain or something like Blogger?
Well Liz, that’s a great question and I had to do some Googling because my first thought would be to say there’s no difference. Let me share with you what I found out.
There are several good options for free photo hosting services. PhotoBucket, Flickr, Webshots, SnapFish and ShutterFly are just a few of the many options on the web today. There are several advantages to using a photo sharing service.
1. They’re free. This may be a mute point, because if you have a blog, you already have free hosting or paid hosting. However, if for some reason you had a limited amount of space and a lot of photos, it might be helpful to host them elsewhere.
2. Editing features. A lot of people don’t own the latest, costly, version of PhotoShop. One great feature of these services is the photo editing capabilities that come with them. You are able to make some simple changes to your photos after uploading…for free! You can crop, change contrast/brightness, etc. This is a great option for bloggers.
3. Extra exposure. If your photos are a big part of your blogging practices, its probably beneficial to have them on a photo sharing service that will increase your exposure and traffic. You can add tags to your photos and gain that much more visible for yourself and your blog.
4. Sharing. This is somewhat related to the above point, but its handy to have your photos already hosted on a sharing/hosting site so you can share them with family, order prints or design photo gifts. I’ve used SnapFish for years for this very reason.
Now, two Cons…that aren’t really cons. I initially was going to caution you about the fact that most services are open to anyone and your photos can be copied and used without your permission. But as any blogger knows, you take on this risk the minute you add your first photo to a post. The best bet for protecting yourself and your photos is to add a personal watermark. A great example of this is what Beth at I Should be Folding Laundry does with hers. She has a photography business and obviously doesn’t want her beautiful pictures used without her permission. She adds a tasteful watermark to her photos in a non-distracting way.
Lastly, one may think that there is risk of a photo hosting server going down and your photos not being available when needed. But again, its a mute point. Servers are servers and they all have the potential to go down at some point.
Liz, hope that somewhat answers your question…in a long winded sort of way!
So what are your thought on photo hosting services? Have a favorite? Something to add?
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