The
tips below where done in Paint
Shop Pro which is an inexpensive program that is
a very good product for the price.
I personally use Photoshop.
Here
are some basic tips for scanning and resizing your photos.
When
scanning your photos. DO NOT scan over 100 dpi. Most
people think that they have to scan at 600-720 to get
a good quality photo. This is only on printing.
When your talking internet, you are comparing dpi (scanner)
to pixels (computer monitors). These are completely
different. Plus this will save tremendously on your
hard drive. I have actually had 10 megabyte photos sent
to me (that's HUGE!). All you are doing when scanning
at a higher dpi is making the file size bigger NOT the
quality.
Re-sizing
and "cropping" photos seems be the biggest
problem for most people when editing photos,
so here's a basic tips on how to do both :
Open
your photo in your favorite editing software (I use
Photoshop). This demo will be shown using
Paint Shop Pro (about $99) since it is most affordable
and a very good program for doing photo editing, graphics.....
(sure beats paying $700 for Photo Shop! Paint
Shop Pro is what I used to start out with. Most photo
editing software works about the same, but you can use
most any type of graphics program to achieve the same
results..
You
can download a trial version of Paint Shop Pro here.
(Corel has bought out JASC..updated 10/05..this is old... possibly 2001 or 02, just wanted to leave the info here)
If you like it, visit you local computer store and pick
up a copy. You can order it online as well. It's always
nice having the manual though.
Look for a toolbar located on the left hand side (in
Paint Shop Pro). If you do not see a toolbar at all
go to "View- Toolbars-Tool Palette". Then
you will see an icon somewhere on your left toolbar
that looks like a "dotted square". This is
called a cropping tool. You will need to activate this
by clicking on it, then you will need to draw a nice
rectangle around what you would like to keep (everything
on the INSIDE of this square will be saved). If you
mess up simply click on the "Undo" arrow or
go to "Edit"-Undo. redo it until you get it
the way you want it.
Then
you will need to go to "Edit-Crop to image"
(Paint Shop Pro). This will cut away any excess photo
that you do not want in the photo.
Then
go to "image"-resize. This will bring
up a box with your current dimensions in it. Now you
should see the "width" section already in
blue ready for your new size. Before typing in
anything be sure the "Maintain aspect ratio of
"x.xxx to 1" is checked (this will keep your
dimensions in proportion). Now go back to the "Width
at the top of the same box and type in 325* as the width.
You should not have to worry about the height since
most car photos are wider than taller, your height should
fall WELL below the maximum of 325 (height) that the
e-Parts Source Car Show and Classifieds Requires.
Once you have typed in 650 (our maximum size allowed
in our classifieds and our "Customers
Rides" section is 525 wide, so you can
type this in if you wish), you can click on "OK".
This will bring your image to the maximum width dimension.
Now to save it simply click on "File-save as"
and this will bring open your "local" folders.
Find a folder you will remember, or create a folder
and name it a_photos. I name all my useful folders
with an "a_" in front (i.e. a_scripts
a_photos a_showphotos...), this way, the folder will
be listed at the very beginning of your folders since
they are alphabetical. Anyway, once you find a
folder you want to save your photos in, open that folder,
then you will find at the bottom of that box "File
Name". Name your photos, then in the "Save
as Type" drop down box, look for .JPG or .GIF (I
strongly recommend .JPG for photos). Then click on save.
There you have it, your photos are all set for either
the Classifieds or your bike
listing. So have at it Hope this helps you!
A
couple of tips on saving your image files:
-
When saving photos, its a good idea to name them
something like fatboy_tank.jpg or fatboy_fender.jpg.
(notice no spaces, I use the underscore to
fill a space).
-
Also,
when you are naming your files, its a good idea
to keep the first word the same, this way when you
open the folder all the photos of that same car
will be grouped together (since they are in alphabetical
order). Name them like in the above tip NOT
tank_fatboy.jpg and fender_fatboy.jpg these
photos will be completely separated and hard to
find. This is just a useful tip in file management.
If
you still need help, still don't want to edit your own
photos, or you don't have any type of editing software,
you can email
your photos to us and we will upload them for you.
Please be sure and let us know the Customer Rides number (reference
number) you are.
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