Pre-processing images
Scaling images down with a local photo management tool before uploading them to SailBlogs can provide a number of benefits to working with the system. Some of those benefits are:
- Increased speed when uploading
- Can solve some common upload problems
- Saves drive space in your account
Performance
If you are shooting photographs with a modern digital camera, images sizes can get very large, sometimes in excess of 6MB. SailBlogs never displays images at this high of resolution - the maximum image size used by SailBlogs is 700x700, which is typically about 100K in file size. Thus if a 6MB image is uploaded, 99% of that is thrown away when the SailBlogs server scales the image down.
Generally it is a lot faster process to first scale the image down, then load it to the SailBlogs server. The local computer can do the downscale very fast, and can be done when not connected to the internet, and the upload is then much faster as a result, saving time in Internet cafes or with poor/limited internet connections.
Upload/File Issues
While SailBlogs is capable of recognizing most JPEG and GIF files, there are cases where a camera writes a file in a way that is not recognized. Scaling the image (essentially saving a copy of it) with an image management tool can typically solve this as they use more standardized formats.
Additionally, other issues around file names and maximum upload file size can be eliminated in this way as well.
Saves Account Space
Smaller images mean less space used on the SailBlogs server. Usually the original image is discarded, but in some cases it is saved as part of your account.
Recommended Tools
- Windows Users: Picasa - Picasa is a free photo management tool available from Google.
- Mac: iPhoto - iPhoto is part of Apple's iLife suite installed on all new macs.
In both programs, select the image or images from the main window, and select export from the edit menu. Choose JPG as the format, and set maximum size to something around 800x800.
