FF: Classifieds: Cars For Sale
[Forum Tip] Posting Photos to the Forums
Ok guys, here's a primer on posting photos to the forums. Unlike many discussion boards, this forum allows you to upload your photos from your computer straight to our server at Apexspeed.com, and you don't have to have a computer programming degree to do it, either.
When selling any item on the internet, your chances of selling increase tenfold when you have photos to show the condition and physical appearance of your items for sale. A good, clean, in-focus photo makes all the difference in the world. Save your camera phones, too, they really only muddy up the situation. Many of us have digital cameras already, or know someone who does. Take advatnage of that. They are easy to use, and most photo editing software that is included with digital cameras now is VERY easy to learn. Take 20 minutes to learn how to use it, it will help you greatly in your ability to sell stuff through the forums.
Ok, once you have photographed your item that you are selling (I will post some photography tips in the near future, too), you need to make sure that the photos will fit on the forums. We have a limited file size of 200k at a largest image size of 1024 x 768 pixels, which is a standard computer and camera format and proportion. Your camera on the normal or basic file size setting should produce images that are a reasonable size. If you need to reduce them further, a quick stop in your image editing program will help you get it to where you need it. Save your files as JPGs, as that will give you the best quality, with the smallest file size (generally). If you have the choice on file compression, choose "Medium" or "Levels from 4 to 7". Most of those programs will let you see the file size before you save, so reduce until it is below 200k.
Now you have all of your photos in a folder on your computer. I put things on my desktop, so I can find them easily. In the post thread window, below the area you type in, there will be an area marked "Aditional Options." Find the section called, "Attach Files.' Click the button labeled Manage Attachments and you will be taken to the area to upload your photos from your computer.
You are now in the pop-up selection and upload area. Hang with me, it's easier than it looks.
Step 1: Click the first Browse button to look for your first image that you want to upload. You can do a maximum of 5 images at one time. A window that allows you to navigate your computer lets you look for the location of your images. Select the first image, then hit ok. That imiage will be show in the text field (shown below, step 1).
At this point you can browse the second image field to do another image, or go on to Step 2.
Step 2: Click the "Upload" button to send the file from your computer to the dirtoval.com server (shown above, step 2). You MUST do this step for the image to be uploaded to the server and show in your post. If you close the window before doing this, you will have to start all over.
At this point, the server will accept your less than 200k image, or tell you that it is too large to upload. If that is the case, you'll need to go back into your image editing program and make is a bit smaller. When you are done with that, click the button to close the pop-up window. You will then return to your post, and will be able to Preview your entire post to see if everything worked correctly or not. You mush have a bit of text in your post, but in a Classified post, the more descriptive, the better.
Give it a bit of practice in the "Suggestions" forum to learn how it is done, and don't be afraid to make mistkes. You can't screw anything up. A good car looks great with the right photos to show it off, and a great car will sit if no one can see how nice it is.
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