Photo software for website

MMinnie

I hope someone can help me with this question.
I set up a website (www.teethingsos.com)and got photos done for it but I need to update them. I will need to do this regularly and rather than paying for a professional each time, I would like to be able to do it myself. (My goods are low value and the business could not support this cost).
I have seen websites with lovely pics with a white background and I think they are using some software to make home pics look better. Am I correct? If so, what are they using? I have done some tricking around with Picassa and don't see it there. Any ideas would be welcome. Thank you.

nick10

check this out: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopfamily.html , one of the best if you can manage to learn it.

tricky D

PhotoShop would be the industry standard but is pricey. Here's some free alternatives: http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/pixelbasedwin/tp/freephotoedw.htm

However, learning any photo manipulation program is not a trivial matter at all. Also jewelry isn't the easiest product type when it comes to post processing.

Abelloid

I think the trick is getting correct lighting when taking the pics, have a look in the photography forum for some tips on how best to light the products.

MMinnie

Thank you all for your replies. I had wanted to get a handle on this for myself, but having the time to figure it all out for a non techie like me is quite a challange. Tricky D, I have discovered how a perfect image can 'change' when uploaded. I will have a look through the photography thread. If anyone would like to give me a referal of someone who has experience in this area - and in jewellery in particular - feel free to message me.

Thanks

tricky D

MMinnie wrote: »

Tricky D, I have discovered how a perfect image can 'change' when uploaded.

Some frameworks and photo sites do change a photo's quality and strip out meta information. An indicator of this can br found if you download the photo and compare filesizes. The problem is usually bypassable by directly ftp-ing the photo and inserting the link to the photo as opposed to inserting the photo.

Scotty #

You basically have two options.

Studio type setup where the product (jewellery) is likely placed in a light tent and the unedited photo is then used for the site. Professional level lights, tent, camera, know how, needed for this option.

The other option is to take the photos yourself and then cut out the background using an image editor. Correct the light and contrast and maybe even add a false shadow to give it a more realistic look. This is simple enough and a very cheap option. Quick tutorial here.... Almost any image editing software can do this.

daymobrew

If someone else is making the jewellery for you, you could ask them to take the photos. They might have more money (and incentive) to put into taking good photos.

ressem

Guide to creating a low cost lighting tent.

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

If you've an afternoon to experiment building your own, it might be worth a try, and would result in a better end result than software alone.

MMinnie

Oh heck guys - you certainly are giving me a lot of stuff to keep me busy! But I am hoping that if I hit on the right option for me, the time spent will be worth it. Thanks for all the advice.

Tricky D - I don't know what " directly ftp-ing the photo" means. Just one of my problems is that I start with huge and beautiful photos but the file size is too bit for the CMS. It won't load there unless the file is less than 1MB. And when it is loaded, it looks worse than a pic of 1MB. Maybe if I understood what you are saying above, it could help me.

When I get around to finding the best option for me, I will let you all know what worked!
Thanks

ressem

If you load the picture into free software such as "Paint.Net", use Image > Resize menu option to scale the photo down to something in the region of 800 x 800, or less for small images. Then you can save as a jpeg and fine tune the quality to be just below the CMS limit.

So you will take the squashing out of the control of the CMS.

MMinnie

Ok. Got it.

BostonB

It might be worth doing an evening course on photography. Taking good pictures is a bit of an art, and personally I think it makes a massive difference to a site and selling products.

Also reducing photos so they still look their best is also a bit of a skill IMO. Again it would be worth spending an evening or two, playing around with settings in what ever app you use to get the best results.

A hand little app for batch processing photos is Xnview. Basic but does the job.

MMinnie

Good point BostonB. It is something I had not thought of. I will check out whats on locally. Thanks

Liam Byrne

MMinnie wrote: »

Just one of my problems is that I start with huge and beautiful photos but the file size is too bit for the CMS. It won't load there unless the file is less than 1MB. And when it is loaded, it looks worse than a pic of 1MB.

But if you upload a pic that's 1MB, someone won't wait for the page to load, so therefore there's absolutely no point in having that pic on the website.

MMinnie

Ok. I thought that the bigger the file, the better quality the pic. Am I wrong in this? What size would you say is adequate and won't slow down the loading?

tricky D

MMinnie wrote: »

What size would you say is adequate and won't slow down the loading?

The destination size. If it's going to be 200 by 300 pixels, make it that size, then upload it.

PCPhoto

no offence intended but if you set up the website and are selling items ...why run the risk of creating/using below industry standard images...it could potentially stop you from getting sales.

if money is the issue there are plenty of amateur photographers in the photo section who can negotiate a payment plan or swap of services (web design/programming for photography images and time).

its understandable that you don't want to pay a professional to do the job - most people don't want to pay professionals as their fees are usually very high, in the case of photography its usually because of the cost of equipment, learning and post processing programs required to be capable of confidently creating what you require....most people think "ah shure its simple to take a photo" but when they learn about apertures, shutter speeds, depth of field, lighting techniques, post processing techniques .... then people tend to agree that fee's are justified.

BostonB

MMinnie wrote: »

Ok. I thought that the bigger the file, the better quality the pic. Am I wrong in this? What size would you say is adequate and won't slow down the loading?

Generally you have a thumbnail on the page that won't slow it down and an option to view a bigger photo.

Liam Byrne

MMinnie wrote: »

Ok. I thought that the bigger the file, the better quality the pic. Am I wrong in this? What size would you say is adequate and won't slow down the loading?

As trickyD said - the size that you want it to appear on-screen (in pixels)

Scaling a large image down in-browser will actually make the picture look worse.

A 1MB image is designed for a printer, which typically uses approximately 3 times as many dots per inch as a typical screen.

Not only that, but there is minimal visual difference between an on-screen JPEG at 100% quality and 85% and very little as far as approximately 70%

So (without doing the actual maths) a "quarter-screen" product image could easily be approximately one-tenth the file size of the original 1MB printable image.

Uploading that unrequired "extra" file info will just make your site slower with more disadvantages than advantages, because people simply won't wait.

MMinnie

Hi PCPhoto,

It's not that I don't want to pay somebody to do the job which I agree takes knowhow and equipment that I don't have. I got a professional to do the job in the first place and am not altogether happy with the results. I discovered I needed someone who has experience of jewellery and websites. The reason I want to learn how to do it myself is because the items I sell differ with each batch I receive. They are a natural product. For example I received a shipment today that I don't have a picture to match. If I want to get it on the website, I have to probably post it to someone and wait maybe a week to get it live. I don't want that delay and secondly, the cost of the items would not support this overhead. But if things don't work out for me with this experiment in learning, I will definately look for recommendations for someone with experience in this area.

Thanks ressem for light box link. I am working on that now to start with.

Liam Byrne

MMinnie wrote: »

For example I received a shipment today that I don't have a picture to match. If I want to get it on the website, I have to probably post it to someone and wait maybe a week to get it live. I don't want that delay and secondly, the cost of the items would not support this overhead.

If you have a content management system on the website then uploading a new product can (and should) be as easy as putting a photo on Facebook (obviously with a few extra bits of info such as description and price).

BostonB

Take a photo yourself, then replace it later with a better one.

croo

GIMP is an excellent open source image editor. I works on windows too now so you can save yourself a bundle on abobe products. There are a huge amount of tutorials out there to help you use it - google if your friend there.