Friday, March 9, 2012

Studying

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Thanks for the responses I received yesterday concerning my photo storage issue. I am studying and discovering a ton of information. Since we are on the topic of studying, photos of studies are included to pretty up an otherwise boring subject.
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Most of you know about these things but some don't.  I don't like a long post but bear with me since many have asked. I'll break it down in very short and simple terms.
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The first thing I learned is Blogger automatically stores your photos in Picasa albums. This is how your space is recorded.
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Secondly, everyone has a limited amount of space. To find out how much space you have, log into Picasa. Enter your gmail account and password. All of your albums will appear. An indicator of storage used/storage available will be at the bottom of the page.
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Thirdly, when you run out of storage, you must purchase more. The cost starts at $5 per year and is an automatic renewable fee. See here.
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It seems resizing photos is a must. Most photos from other sources have already been resized. But for your personal photos, there are a variety of editing programs to choose from. Most of you use Picasa.  I use Picnik but have never resized for blogging. Unfortunately, Picnik is going away on April 19th, thanks to Google. But there is rumor that Google will be re-branding it, keeping fingers crossed. I find it very easy to use. Some other editing programs are iPhoto for Mac users (don't I wish,) Photoshop, Paintnet, Gimp, Photobucket and Flickr, just to name a few. 
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Claudia from Mockingbird Hill Cottage explains how to resize and what numbers to use. There are many tutorials out there on this but she keeps it simple.
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The most compelling reason to resize photos is to avoid bogging down your blog and decreasing its speed. Susan  and Amy first tipped me on this. Read My Blogging Journey for some good information.

Bloggers Alchemy also has a great post on how to optizmize your blog and measure its speed. I checked mine and it's 1.8 seconds, thankfully.

Another reason to resize your photos is to avoid piracy. A resized photo can't be copied as well. 
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Many of you watermark your photos for this reason. Amanda has an informative post on that.

I tried it out on Picnik myself. 

Hooray! Resized, edited, and watermarked! Well, let me tell you why I'm not that happy about it. One word- t.i.m.e.


I mean really people. How on earth do you find time to do all of that? I'm coming to the conclusion that I must be a very slow person. Slow mixed with maybe a touch of perfectionism. 


I've spent around 3 hours researching and putting this post together. That is half of my day considering after 3 p.m. my time no longer belongs to me but to my family. 


I have a hard time justifying putting that amount of time into anything that's just a hobby. But, I'll press on and try to fine tune things so it's not so time consuming. I just don't like the idea of going through x number of steps to download my photos.
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Every time I think about throwing in the towel, I meet someone who inspires me. Like this past weekend when I met lovely Lois who reads my blog. It gave us an instant connection. I'm having a GIVEAWAY in her honor. Please sign up if you haven't already. 


What is the difference between an office and a study? Well, "in my book," a study usually has room for more than one person, includes extra seating and shelves of books. A fireplace would be an added bonus! A study is also referred to as a library. These are the kinds of things I really enjoy studying!
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Enjoy your weekend!

24 comments:

Revi said...

Hi Ms. B, and thanks! I use Picasa and I like it a lot. It's FREE, and offers quite a few options that are quick to do and really enhance photos - and mine NEED enhancement. I have an automatic watermark, but it's tiny and nondescript. I'll definitely read your link about watermarks!
-Revi

Maria Elena said...

You have beautiful blog! I am looking forward to browsing through it! Thank you so much for visiting me today. I am your new follower!

laxsupermom said...

I've never watermarked, mostly because of the time factor. I'm with you on this being a hobby that stops when the kids get home(in 15 minutes.)

Love all the images you find! Any one of those studies would be heaven to sit and blog in. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Loving the pics girl.

Have a happy weekend!
Viola

therelishedroost said...

Wow just reading all the work you did made me tired!! Thanks so much for the information, you post he best pics on pinterest! Keep up the good work!!!

Ann from On Sutton Place said...

I must be doing something right because my load time is .89 seconds. Who knew? I so agree about the photo editing. It's very time consuming. I'm going back now and check out some of the other links you provided. Excellent post and thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for all these links. I've saved this post so I can read those links when I have more time.

I do resize and edit my picture, but some of these things are new to me. Editing pictures does take a lot of time, but once you are used to it and realize the steps you need to take, things will speed up a bit.

Have a great weekend!

Heather Cowper said...

Thanks for the mention and I love your pictures to add a bit more interest to this topic. I use Picnic a lot on Flickr but I believe that Flickr is going to have a replacement & that Picnic is available via Google + Do take a look at my free report on the whole topic of images http://www.mybloggingjourney.com/reports/

Sunny Simple Life said...

Oh to have a whole room surrounded by gardening and home loveliness books and all my favorite reads.

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

You've been a busy bee with all that researching. :)

I don't watermark my photos, but I do resize them. The thing about watermarking, if someone wants to steal your photo, watermarking won't stop them for the simple reason that it would be easy as pie to get rid of a watermark using simple editing tools. No, really, it is. So ... if time is an issue, you can leave that step off. HA! I don't think it helps in the piracy thing much anyway.

Unknown said...

Who knew? Certainly not me. I had no idea that I had an account with Picasa.
I have not been resizing my pics either so I better start.
Thanks for all this good info.
Traci

Cindy said...

Great images today, my friend. I may need to read this over again to absorb all of the info. I checked it out and it appears that my storage is 99.98% full! OOPS! I guess that means I will have to do something soon.
Thank you for doing this.
Have a lovely evening.
Hugs, Cindy

Brenda Pruitt said...

I just don't take the time for all that. Only so many hours in the day!
Brenda

Susan Nowell @ My Place to Yours said...

Woohoo -- 0.12 load time! Thanks for the info, Tammy, and for the mention (though it was totally unnecessary!) I really want to watermark my pics, but the time factor has kept me from figuring it all out. I think we all just have to decide which pieces of the blogging puzzle work for us -- and which ones will continue to "puzzle" us! LOL

Claudia said...

Thanks so much for linking to my post. You'd be surprised how fast you can do all the things you mention once you get used to the steps. I export my photos from iPhoto, import them to the photo editor - Picnik or whatever other programs are out there, resize first, then edit the photo and finally click text and add a watermark. Once you get a rhythm going, you can do all of that pretty quickly.

xo
Claudia

Gina said...

Thanks for the tips Tammy! I've always wondered about resizing my photos.

raggygirlvintage said...

Awesome resourceful post Tammy! I write my posts in Windows Live Writer and it automatically resizes the photos for me, you just drag them to fit the text. I'm hoping it resizes them to an acceptable size. I use picasa for any photo editing and it is super easy and quick to watermark photos there. With pinterst growing so fast I think it is in our best interests to watermark original photos. But you are right, each step takes time which adds up!!
Tracey

podso said...

Thanks for the TIME you put into this informative post. Thankfully I am a Mac lifer and resizing in i photo is a snap. It does not take me long to do a post--maybe15 minutes or so, but of course longer to go around and read my fav blogs ... it is a hobby and I don't have many, so I indulge myself in this community of sorts. I think once you find an easier way it will come faster to you. I will have to check out my storage space. And yes, a smaller resolution photo, no one would really want as it will not reproduce well on paper. :-) Have a pleasant weekend!

Shanon at Vintage Sparkle Chic said...

Lots of great info! I better get on the bandwagon and start resizing :( I'm going to go and check out some of the sites you recommended.

~Shanon

Gypsy Heart said...

Thank you so much for posting this! I realize the time you spent and I too must be slow and a perfectionist. Add the fact that I'm technology challenged and I do have a problem! :-)

Your blog is so well done and your photos are gorgeous. Maybe I can be like you when I grow up!

xo
Pat

Andrea said...

I also am shocked at how much time putting together a post, and getting photos ready, can take. I very much admire the blogs that have pictures photoshopped, watermarked and edited to perfection, but I just don't have time for that! I do usually resize the photos on picnik, but won't be doing that anymore unless there is another easy to use alternative!

Poppy @ With a Dash of Color said...

Thanks for following me,so I could find your beautiful blog:)This is so informative and I look forward to your future posts. I never knew blogger automatically saves pictures in Picasa. Thanks for sharing these information. Loved your previous post on the elegance of black and white flooring... I loved browsing through the beautiful pictures. Have a great weekend!Happily following you back~Poppy

Decor To Adore said...

You are not a slow person. It is the same story for me.
I generally spend two full days a year editing, deleting, etc.

Love that peacock feather image.

designchic said...

What great information and gorgeous images...just found out I'm getting really low on storage!!