How to Post Pictures and/or Dailies (Celebrity Today) on Cruise Critic

[mathgeek1978]

1. First of all, you'll need to open an account with an online photo sharing site that allows hot-linking, such as Photo Bucket.

 

2. Upload the pictures that you want to post to that account.

 

3. If you want to post dailies (Celebrity Today), you'll need to scan them and save them as jpeg files, NOT pdf. Then upload them as pictures to Photo Bucket.

 

4. OPTIONAL: To save on bandwidth, you can resize you pictures to width = 800 to 1000, and check the box that keeps the width x length ratio locked.

 

5. For each picture that you like to post, copy the "direct link" from the Photo Bucket website:

 

 

 

 

6. On Cruise Critic, under the window that you submit a post click on this icon:

 

 

 

7. A new window will pop up. Paste the "direct link" that you copied from Photo Bucket here:

 

 

 

8. Click OK then submit and post! :D

 

A sample post is here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1754479

[pete_coach]

Great info.

 

I cannot emphasize the importance of re-sizing the photo to 800 X 600 or less. You all know how annoying it is when a posted photo is so large it has stretched the text box beyond the page and you need to scroll to see it and the text.

[librarylady19]

Conversely, there is nothing more frustrating than a thumbnail size photo, especially of menus or dailies!!

 

Thanks for the tips OP. I just switched to Photobucket as Webshots morphed into Smile and all my albums (and photo links in my reviews) disappeared:(

[cruiseacecat]

Thank you so much for the detailed information!! I had some very good photos of the solstisizing of Summit that I so wanted to post, but I could only figure out how to post them as small pics. Not at all what I wanted to show people.

 

Anne

[TLCOhio]

Yes, great info and super good graphics by mathgeek1978 to show how to do this helpful sharing process. Below is my summary and it pushes strongly doing a certain "width" for when you are uploading pictures to your "host". Plus, below is one of my examples for how things can look at this 1000 width of the picture.

 

For posting larger photos to these boards, your FIRST STEP is pick an outside web source that will store or “host” your pictures to be posted. Cruise Critic does not have the space to do larger pictures on their site. You can check such places as photobucket.com, imageshack.com, photoshow.com, flickr.com, picasa.google.com etc. I’ve used photobucket.com and have been pleased with how they upload, etc. SECOND, you need to make an export of your picture in a size such as around 1000 pixel wide by about 700 to your desktop of your computer. That’s the approximate size that I use for this purpose. If you make your file too big for posting, then it slows the process and takes long to upload, etc. THIRD, you use this outside web host to which you upload these different pictures sitting on your desktop. FOURTH, after uploading each picture, you will make a copy of that imbedded address in your file for future posting purposes. It will have have the square parentheses or bracket symbols before and after the capital letter IMG at the start and end of this location on your photo storage site.

 

Then as you want to post each different picture, you would, FIFTH STEP, copy and paste that imbedded address file for each picture as a part of your message on the CC Boards. In my files, I also have brief written description of each picture and have them grouped by the different city or country locations. With this imbedded file address, the reader on these boards doesn’t have to check on anything or paste to their web browser. It just pops up showing the picture. Does this help? Let us know how it works out and/or any added questions. It will hopefully pop up as these couple of pictures do below. You can preview your post to see if it's working OK before doing the actual post to these CC boards.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 113,566 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

The Solarium was one of our favorite areas. Food and drinks were nearby and it was very relaxed and sophisticated. Quieter, too, as it is an adults-only area. Two hot tubs here. Not crowded, especially in the evenings. Nice art and design with this facility. Wonderful setting for relaxing and watching the outside water/shore views, enjoying subtle inside action, etc.:

 

[boston_scientist]

I would just like to add my $0.02 here...

If you are technically-inclined enough to know how to scan into Adobe Acrobat, posting the dailies as PDF's are better because the software will convert not make it a picture, but rather recognize the text, so they are searchable. Then you have an entire day's "Celebrity Today" in a single file that can be searched (e.g. "formal" or "drink special").

 

Once they are PDF files you can create a shared folder on a site like DropBox and create a link to share your PDFs with the CruiseCritic community. For example, here is a link I created that has the PDF's for our 12-night Mediterranean Venice cruise on the Solstice in August-Sept 2012.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ya44amttvsfqaig/4epMDOOD8b

[fishycomics]

to add to this:

 

since you cannot post video, you can highlight over the picture and use hyper link to direct to whatever.

[gkm]

Thanks for the instructions. This will be very helpful. :D

 

Garry

[pete_coach]

Yes, great info and super good graphics by mathgeek1978 to show how to do this helpful sharing process. ....... can look at this 1000 width of the picture.

.......

.......

Terry in Ohio

........

....

No disrespect Terry but all your posts contain a large photo.

The 1000 pixel wide is why I suggested 800 by 600 pixel photo being max. A large photo makes the textbox wider to accommodate the photo and is larger than many/most laptop/tablet screens and then you have to scroll. It can also affect the entire page.

There are many free programs out there to re-size your photos to upload to Photobucket or Shutterfly. Just Google"free photo resizer".

Nice photos by the way, we took the same cruise and have almost the same photos LOL.

[travelingirl70]

This should be a sticky!!!!!!!

[SAC69]

Test

 

Edited January 3, 2013 by SAC69

[mathgeek1978]

Yes, it's always good to resize your pics. Not only does it fit better in the post, it also conserve storage space and bandwidth usage. Most picture sharing sites will only give you a certain amount of storage and bandwidth for free. After you've exceeded the limit, you'll need to subscribe to a pay plan to continue using it.

[mathgeek1978]

If you are using Photo Bucket, you can resize your pics there by going to:

 

EDIT ==> ADJUSTMENTS ==> RESIZE

 

 

 

 

[WayTea]

This should be a sticky!!!!!!!

 

Totally agree.

[Artemis]

I like the Dropbox suggestion.

 

Similarly, if you use Gmail or otherwise have a Google account, their "Sites" product is so simple for putting together a quick and dirty website for the easiest ever publishing of PDFs and photos direct from your hard drive, no re-sizing or other hoops to jump through. I've done that the last couple of cruises--here's my site on Reflection. https://sites.google.com/site/xreflection2012/ It's not pretty or sophisticated, but it does the job. Then, in your CC review, you can link to the site (and, if desired, link directly to the URLs of a PDF or photo published on the site...although I just tested one of my photos, and it's coming up as 1024x765, so yeah, if you have a shot you really want to share in the body of a post, you should probably resize).

[MicCanberra]

Good set out of the info, andsome very useful tips too. It should be in a sticky that has IT tips for using CC.:D

[fishycomics]

yep a lot we can do:D

 

Edited January 4, 2013 by fishycomics

[MicCanberra]

yep a lot we can do:D

 

cool :D

[fishycomics]

I found that site a long time ago and thought I share with the folks here, enjoy

[mathgeek1978]

Here's a more advanced way to post a "Celebrity Today" or part of it. Instead of uploading your daily as a picture, you'll first edit your daily (which is now a picture) on "PAINT", a bundled program which comes with windows. You'll then edit the daily (such as the sample below) before uploading it to Photo Bucket or your favorite photo sharing site.

 

 

 

[TLCOhio]

No disrespect Terry but all your posts contain a large photo. The 1000 pixel wide is why I suggested 800 by 600 pixel photo being max. A large photo makes the textbox wider to accommodate the photo and is larger than many/most laptop/tablet screens and then you have to scroll. It can also affect the entire page. There are many free programs out there to re-size your photos to upload to Photobucket or Shutterfly. Just Google"free photo resizer". Nice photos by the way, we took the same cruise and have almost the same photos LOL.

 

Appreciate, Peter, the comments, suggestions and ideas/potentials. I didn't know that we could re-size things through the Photobucket website. I will check it out.

 

My/our challenge/question is multilevel. First, I have about 2000 pictures on the Photobucket website sized at this 1000 pixel width. These were all primarily done for posting on a website such as Cruise Critic. Maybe the re-sizing would be quick and easy, but then ALL of these newly-re-sized picture codes would need to be manually copied and transferred to be placed under the picture description text that matches each individual item throughout all of my travel files. That's lots of time and effort for copying and pasting, editing, etc. My overall picture library is much, much large and at the original sizes from when shot over the past couple of decades. Some of my pictures even go back to 1970 sides that have been digitized from Europe travels at that time.

 

Second, I recognized that not everyone has the same, good, higher-speed cable/Internet service. I do lots of survey and research work in this area and fortunately know that more and more people are getting faster, better web speeds. Things are improving in many of the country and world. BUT, others are limited by slower service and/or with computers that are not as fast, having a smaller screen, etc.

 

Finally, like with flat-screen TV's and cars, different people have varied tastes, interests, styles, etc. Some love things larger with more visual details shown. Others are happy with smaller and more basic. On size, what is the right, best size for everyone?? Many like the 1000 width that I use. Others would prefer a more "medium" size of maybe 800. Or, others might say do it at 600 or 500. Or, maybe 400? A few don't like any pictures at all on these boards, viewing the written word as all that is needed in the 21st Century. Cruise Critic Editor In Chief Carolyn Spencer Brown has been very supportive and even asked and borrowed a few of my pictures to use to illustrate a trip she was doing along the Norway coast.

 

THANKS for the interest and ideas! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 113,893 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[mathgeek1978]

Appreciate, Peter, the comments, suggestions and ideas/potentials. I didn't know that we could re-size things through the Photobucket website. I will check it out.

 

My/our challenge/question is multilevel. First, I have about 2000 pictures on the Photobucket website sized at this 1000 pixel width. These were all primarily done for posting on a website such as Cruise Critic. Maybe the re-sizing would be quick and easy, but then ALL of these newly-re-sized picture codes would need to be manually copied and transferred to be placed under the picture description text that matches each individual item throughout all of my travel files. That's lots of time and effort for copying and pasting, editing, etc. My overall picture library is much, much large and at the original sizes from when shot over the past couple of decades. Some of my pictures even go back to 1970 sides that have been digitized from Europe travels at that time.

 

Second, I recognized that not everyone has the same, good, higher-speed cable/Internet service. I do lots of survey and research work in this area and fortunately know that more and more people are getting faster, better web speeds. Things are improving in many of the country and world. BUT, others are limited by slower service and/or with computers that are not as fast, having a smaller screen, etc.

 

Finally, like with flat-screen TV's and cars, different people have varied tastes, interests, styles, etc. Some love things larger with more visual details shown. Others are happy with smaller and more basic. On size, what is the right, best size for everyone?? Many like the 1000 width that I use. Others would prefer a more "medium" size of maybe 800. Or, others might say do it at 600 or 500. Or, maybe 400? A few don't like any pictures at all on these boards, viewing the written word as all that is needed in the 21st Century. Cruise Critic Editor In Chief Carolyn Spencer Brown has been very supportive and even asked and borrowed a few of my pictures to use to illustrate a trip she was doing along the Norway coast.

 

THANKS for the interest and ideas! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 113,893 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

 

Just FYI... if you use the "save and replace" option the codes do not change:

 

 

[pete_coach]

Appreciate, Peter, the comments, suggestions and ideas/potentials. I didn't know that we could re-size things through the Photobucket website. I will check it out.

 

My/our challenge/question is multilevel. ...... Cruise Critic Editor In Chief Carolyn Spencer Brown has been very supportive and even asked and borrowed a few of my pictures to use to illustrate a trip she was doing along the Norway coast.......

 

THANKS for the interest and ideas! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

.....QUOTE]

Never said your pictures are not nice. Many people take nice pictures too and then put a link to those pictures in their post. That is really good.

I am glad for you that some official at Cruse Critic person wants to use you photo, I am sure others have contributed as well.

More to the point, I am active on a number of forums and they also have people that post photos. Those forums have asked that the photos be of a specific size, (400X600 or 600X800) and limited them as such because the storage room on their servers was being filled up with huge photoo data. They have also asked posters that quote posts witrh photos to delete the photos of the text they are quoting, again because the servers are filling up fast with extrraneous data. You can imagine how a site like this accumulates data. Cruise Critc would be well served by saving space and money if they restricted the size of the posted images.

All that to say, for a post, a smaller photo still fits well, is still crisp and, takes up considerably less screen size, not to mention server space. A 600X800 pixel image will print an 8 X 10 inch photo very nice and sharp. It does not need to be any higher unless you intend to make wall sized posters.....and if that is wanted, they can always ask you to e-mail a higher resolution photo to them.

[SeaCBear]

I've had no problems posting photos before on CC, but now all of a sudden I can only post links to photos. I have more than 10,000 photos on Flickr, and when I post the photo link to be used for sharing, it doesn't work as it used to. Here's an example. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? Thanks.

 

[mathgeek1978]

Appreciate, Peter, the comments, suggestions and ideas/potentials. I didn't know that we could re-size things through the Photobucket website. I will check it out.

 

My/our challenge/question is multilevel. ...... Cruise Critic Editor In Chief Carolyn Spencer Brown has been very supportive and even asked and borrowed a few of my pictures to use to illustrate a trip she was doing along the Norway coast.......

 

THANKS for the interest and ideas! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

.....QUOTE]

Never said your pictures are not nice. Many people take nice pictures too and then put a link to those pictures in their post. That is really good.

I am glad for you that some official at Cruse Critic person wants to use you photo, I am sure others have contributed as well.

More to the point, I am active on a number of forums and they also have people that post photos. Those forums have asked that the photos be of a specific size, (400X600 or 600X800) and limited them as such because the storage room on their servers was being filled up with huge photoo data. They have also asked posters that quote posts witrh photos to delete the photos of the text they are quoting, again because the servers are filling up fast with extrraneous data. You can imagine how a site like this accumulates data. Cruise Critc would be well served by saving space and money if they restricted the size of the posted images.

All that to say, for a post, a smaller photo still fits well, is still crisp and, takes up considerably less screen size, not to mention server space. A 600X800 pixel image will print an 8 X 10 inch photo very nice and sharp. It does not need to be any higher unless you intend to make wall sized posters.....and if that is wanted, they can always ask you to e-mail a higher resolution photo to them.

 

If the pictures are stored in Photo Bucket and hosted by Photo Bucket, it doesn't cost Cruise Crictic anything -- that's why they allow us to post large pictures that are hotlinked.

 

On the other hand, if you attached a picture here (as an attachment), you'll see that it is automatically resized to a tiny size, obviously to save storage space and bandwidth.