Your pictures are going directly on the web site and IFQ will not be editing them in any way. Please follow these simple guidelines to prepare your pictures before uploading. You'll be pleased with the results.
The two most common ways to get a picture for uploading is by using a scanner or a digital camera. The scanner will convert a conventional photo into a digital photo. The camera method creates a digital photo automatically. Digital photos or pictures are the type you need for uploading. Both of these methods can give you the proper file format for uploading. The only file formats that you can upload are .jpg(.jpeg), .gif, and .png. If you try to upload any other file type you will receive an error message.
The important steps for preparing your pictures are Crop, Correct Resolution, Size, and Save. These steps are briefly explaned below.
Tips for Taking Pictures for Posting to the Web
Natural light is best for taking good pictures. If natural light is not an option, be sure to have a good light source that does not cast shadows. Two lights directed at your quilt, coming from the two sides of the piece, are a good option.
Hanging your quilt on a wall or fence is the very best arrangement for your photos. This will help ensure that your project has sides that appear straight in the picture. You should stand directly in front of the quilt to avoid distorted perspective in the photo. If you must place your quilt on the floor you are likely to get angled sides in the photo image. The quilt will look wider at the edge nearest the photographer and the details near the edge furthest away may be hard to see. Avoid setting the piece on the floor whenever possible. If you can't hang the piece on a wall, recruit a couple of friends to stand behind it and hold it up for your photo.
Crop that Picture
Scanner software and photo editing software have a tool for cropping pictures. Cropping is a way to cut off unwanted areas around a picture. Blank white space around the photo is just a waste of space and furniture or other objects caught in your pictures can be distracting. To improve the quality of your photos cut out this extraneous material.
Look for a tool or button in your software called something like Crop, Crop Tool, Border Selection, or Selection Border. When you click on this tool you can drag a box selection around your photo to select just the area you want to use. The sides of this crop box can be moved before completing the actual crop. Some software automatically places a box around the picture rather than your having to drag a selection. In this case the sides of the box may also be moved to make the best selection. Once you have selected ONLY the area you want in your final picture click on OK or ACCEPT or CROP PICTURE (the button name can vary and will depend on your software). You have just improved your picture by eliminating unnecessary areas!
Use the Correct Resolution
Scanner and photo editing software can work with many resolution settings for your pictures. The resolution setting you need for photos uploaded to the web is 72 dpi (dots per inch) . Look in your software for the place to set the resolution at 72, or as close to this as you can get with your software. If you have trouble finding it, look under the HELP menu on the top of your screen. All well-designed software has help files under this menu to help you use the program. If your picture resolution is set too high the picture takes a very long time to load in the web page, and IFQ will have to delete it to keep things working smoothly. Your picture is improving with each step!
Size that Picture
The size of your picture should be no wider than 600 pixels. Scanner and photo editing software may call this option different things, such as Picture Size, Output Size, etc. Sometimes the width and height options are listed in inches, but you want to work with pixels. There is generally a drop-down box that allows you to choose pixels instead of inches. Just change the width of your picture to 600 pixels; the height will take care of itself. That picture is just getting better and better!
Save that Picture
Once you have cropped, set the resolution and sized your picture be sure to save it with a distinctive name in a location that you can find again. It is a good idea to include the name of your project in the file name. For example: mystery_quilt.jpg. This habit will help you find your pictures again later. When you save your picture, remember that it must be either a .jpg (.jpeg), .gif, or .png file format.
After you have modified your picture following the steps above, you are ready to Post Your Picture!
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