e-maginings: Picture This

February 23, 2008 by in category Archives tagged as , with 6 and 0
Home > Writing > Archives > e-maginings: Picture This

I’m currently taking Suzanne McMinn’s online class Color Me Blogging, sponsored by OCC RWA. It’s a great class and we’re all learning a lot.

One of the things we discussed is putting graphics in blogs and whether readers like them or not. The only downside I can see if for people with slow modem connections as the graphics take longer to download than plain text. I spend part of the week at a location with a modem connection and I basically turn off “download images” just to speed up my internet experience. It’s not as much fun, though.

One thing you can do to make the pictures download faster is to resize them to a smaller size, say 200-300 pixels high. I use Paint Shop Pro to do that.

If you don’t have a personal picture to illustrate your blog, there are online stock photo sites where you can pick up pictures relatively inexpensively, if not free. My favorites are:


http://www.bigstockphoto.com/

http://www.dreamstime.com/
http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php

You can register for free at all of them, but you have to buy download credits to purchase the photos. The cost of the credits ranges from $1.00 to app. $2.50. The cost of the photos generally varies by size, with the smallest costing one credit and larger ones running At iStock photo, there’s always a free image of the week, plus their dollar bin section where every picture costs one credit. Dreamstime.com has a large section of free graphics. The picture in this post is a free graphic I downloaded from dreamstime.com because I loved it, but didn’t know what to do with it, so I’m sharing it here.

So, what do you think? Do you like photos with your blog entries or not? If so, small or large graphics?

Linda McLaughlin w/a Lyndi Lmaont

Author Details
Author Details
A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
On Sale

Books on sale or free

STOLEN KISSES FROM THE VISCOUNT

Buy now!
STOLEN KISSES FROM THE VISCOUNT

THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

Buy now!
THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL

Buy now!
THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL
WHO’S THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology
BECKONED, PART 1: FROM LONDON WITH LOVE

LEIF Viking Glory Book One

Buy now!
LEIF Viking Glory Book One

FREYA Viking Glory Book Two

Buy now!
FREYA Viking Glory Book Two
THIEVES: Book One of the Obscurité de Floride Trilogy

CITY OF BLAZE

Buy now!
CITY OF BLAZE

A LADY’S POINT OF VIEW

Buy now!
A LADY’S POINT OF VIEW

THE WOULD BE MOMMY

Buy now!
THE WOULD BE MOMMY

THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR

Buy now!
THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR

DANGER MUSIC

Buy now!
DANGER MUSIC

SAVAGED SURRENDER

Buy now!
SAVAGED SURRENDER

A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

Buy now!
A SOLDIER’S ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

COME FLY WITH ME

Buy now!
COME FLY WITH ME

SUPERHERO IN DISGUISE

Buy now!
SUPERHERO IN DISGUISE

WELCOME TO LOON LAKE

Buy now!
WELCOME TO LOON LAKE
FATHOMS: A NOVEL OF THE PARANORMAL

THE LIFE OF RILEY

Buy now!
THE LIFE OF RILEY

COWBOY KARMA

Buy now!
COWBOY KARMA

ILONA’S WOLF

Buy now!
ILONA’S WOLF

LET IT SNOW

Buy now!
LET IT SNOW
FUR, FEATHERS AND SCALES: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales

GIRL IN THE MIST

Buy now!
GIRL IN THE MIST

HAGAR’S LAST DANCE

Buy now!
HAGAR’S LAST DANCE
SNOW IN LOVE: Sweet Romance Holiday Collection

#Me Too

Buy now!
#Me Too

HOSTILE WITNESS

Buy now!
HOSTILE WITNESS
THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN’S HOROSCOPE CAME TRUE
INTIMATE RELATIONS

GIRLFRIENDS & SECRETS

Buy now!
GIRLFRIENDS & SECRETS

THE FIX UP

Buy now!
THE FIX UP

LOVE NOTES

Buy now!
LOVE NOTES
2019

HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

Buy now!
HAUNTING MISS FENWICK
WINTER WISHES: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

THE DEVIL’S CARESS

Buy now!
THE DEVIL’S CARESS
OFF THE RAILS: A Collection of Weird, Wicked, & Wacky Stories
CHRISTMAS ON NANTUCKET AND OTHER STORIES

LEIF Viking Glory Book One

Buy now!
LEIF Viking Glory Book One

FREYA Viking Glory Book Two

Buy now!
FREYA Viking Glory Book Two

HIS HIGHLAND SURPRISE

Buy now!
HIS HIGHLAND SURPRISE

THEIR HIGHLAND BEGINNING

Buy now!
THEIR HIGHLAND BEGINNING

ONCE UPON AN ENCHANTED FOREST

Buy now!
ONCE UPON AN ENCHANTED FOREST

THE WORTH OF A VISCOUNT

Buy now!
THE WORTH OF A VISCOUNT

REWRITING THE PAST

Buy now!
REWRITING THE PAST

TRACKING SHADOWS

Buy now!
TRACKING SHADOWS

ONE TASTE TOO MANY

Buy now!
ONE TASTE TOO MANY

TWO BITES TOO MANY

Buy now!
TWO BITES TOO MANY
SHORT and SWEET’S FAMILY ALBUM

HIDDEN BETRAYAL

Buy now!
HIDDEN BETRAYAL

CLEAR INTENT

Buy now!
CLEAR INTENT

THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Buy now!
THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT

GAME TOWN

Buy now!
GAME TOWN

DARK WINE AT DUSK

Buy now!
DARK WINE AT DUSK

HER LOST LOVE

Buy now!
HER LOST LOVE

THE CONSPIRACY

Buy now!
THE CONSPIRACY

THE DECEPTION

Buy now!
THE DECEPTION

SHADOWS AT DAWN

Buy now!
SHADOWS AT DAWN

THE OBLIVIOUS BILLIONAIRE

Buy now!
THE OBLIVIOUS BILLIONAIRE
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIDGE, NEW YORK, 1930

THE MASK OF MIDNIGHT

Buy now!
THE MASK OF MIDNIGHT

FOR A GOOD PAWS

Buy now!
FOR A GOOD PAWS
COLTON 911: CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

DEAD BLOW

Buy now!
DEAD BLOW

HER COWBOY KING

Buy now!
HER COWBOY KING
SERIOUSLY, MOM, YOU DIDN’T KNOW?
THE WITCHES OF NEW MOON BEACH BOXED SET

THE WITCH OF BERGEN

Buy now!
THE WITCH OF BERGEN
LOST WITNESS: A Josie Bates Thriller
#PLEASE SAY YES (#HermosafortheHolidays Book 1)

    ×
    A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
  • Anonymous says:

    Shauna,

    Good thinking. We are turning into a “visual” society, aren’t we?

    Linda

  • Anonymous says:

    Jina,

    Thanks for the info about taking a snap from a video. I’ll have to give that a try. I’ve created videos using WMM, but never taken a snapshot from one.

    Linda

  • Anonymous says:

    I’ve started using pictures in my blog to break up the text and make it more reader friendly. If I find an intriguing image related to my topic, I open with it as a way to “catch” readers who are taking a quick glance at my Web page.

  • Anonymous says:

    Linda,

    Thankz for the links!! Good info to have when you need a pic.

    I’d also add that you can “take a snapshot” from a video you shot yourself (you can’t do this with copyrighted videos) and use that for a graphic. For PCs, Windows Movie Maker is a free program installed on your computer (from Microsoft).

    Run the video in WMM, pause, then click the “snapshot” button on the far right side of the preview window and save to a file.

    Best,
    Jina

  • Anonymous says:

    Gina,

    Good point about Blogger sizing the photos down for you. LOL, I set my preferences once for that and forgot all about it.

    Linda

  • Anonymous says:

    I *love* pictures with blogs. For my blog, I usually take my own and size them down when needed.

    As for slow-loading, I haven’t used regular phone-line connection in so long I forget how frustrating it is to have to wait for the images to appear. Good reminder.

    BTW–Blogger sizes them down for you, although if you click on the images you can see the full-size of what you uploaded to your blog.

  • Copyright ©2017 A Slice of Orange. All Rights Reserved. ~PROUDLY POWERED BY WORDPRESS ~ CREATED BY ISHYOBOY.COM

    >