Free image hosting?

[Joseph Ezerskis]

Hi,
I'd like to post jpg's here, but I don't have a site to store them. Can you recommend an image hosting site with some basic editing apps and minimal pop-ups? Unfortunately, it has to be a "free" site.
Thanks,
Joe

[Jim Becker]

Hi,
I'd like to post jpg's here, but I don't have a site to store them. Can you recommend an image hosting site with some basic editing apps and minimal pop-ups? Unfortunately, it has to be a "free" site.
Thanks,
Joe

You do not need a hosting site to post pictures at SMC...this site allows direct upload of up to 5 images per post. Each file needs to be 100kb or less in file size. I recommend you also keep the pixel size to 500 pixels wide or less to avoid causing folks to have to scroll a thread horizontally to read replies, etc. The only downside to the direct post currently is that all of the images for a post will appear at the end of the post...you can't intersperse them with dialog.

To add pictures to a post, just click on the "Manage Attachments" link near the bottom of the posting window; browse to your file, click on "add" and wait for the file name to appear at the bottom of the pop-up window. You can then select another photo file or click "All Done". Once you click on "Save" in the original posting window, your pictures will appear with your post if they meet the file size requirement listed above.

[Noah Alkinburgh]

Joe,

Jim hit it right on! That is one of the neatest things about SMC is that you don't have to have your pics somewhere else...in fact it is better if you do upload them here.

Can't wait to see your pics!

Noah

[Aaron Koehl]

Hi,
I'd like to post jpg's here, but I don't have a site to store them. Can you recommend an image hosting site with some basic editing apps and minimal pop-ups? Unfortunately, it has to be a "free" site.
Thanks,
Joe

Joe,

Indeed, you can post your images here for all of SawmillCreek to see
free of charge. We actually discourage external image linking in posts,
in favor of uploading them here, as any threads with external links won't
make it into our archives. (We don't have any control over external
websites, and can't guarantee that they'll be there years down the road.)

So, upload your images here and make some history!

_Aaron_

[Chris Padilla]

Hi Aaron,

You might discourage external image linking by saying it but the limitations Jim mentions are very limiting. I like to place captions with each of my pictures and it would be nice to have some web space here to be able to post pics in any order and fashion we like. Might you give registered members a couple Mb of space to store pics so that they have more control over how those pics are posted? I'd be happy to keep pics here...it would be easier than uploading them to the site I use right now (it is a BMW car site!! )

I'm sure you have reasons for doing this the way you have and if so, I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Chris

[Aaron Koehl]

Hi Aaron,

You might discourage external image linking by saying it but the limitations Jim mentions are very limiting. I like to place captions with each of my pictures and it would be nice to have some web space here to be able to post pics in any order and fashion we like. Might you give registered members a couple Mb of space to store pics so that they have more control over how those pics are posted? I'd be happy to keep pics here...it would be easier than uploading them to the site I use right now (it is a BMW car site!! )

I'm sure you have reasons for doing this the way you have and if so, I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Chris

Chris,

As you know, the webspace for SawmillCreek is supported by a sole
sponsor. Operating a site like this isn't by any means free, and by
allowing members to 'host' pictures here to be viewed from other sites--
How would that benefit SawmillCreek readers?

As far as annotating messages, we do provide an articles forum for
this purpose. Articles submitted, usually dealing with a step-by-step
process conducive to annotation, can be presented in any format as
they are alloted web space outside of the forum.

Another way that an article can be submitted into the forum is by
starting a thread, and making one post per picture. This allows for a
visual break in between 'slides'. The thread can be locked afterward
to protect the article and keep it in its entire, uncommented form.

_Aaron_

[Keith Outten]

Chris,

The real commodity here is bandwidth, not drive space. A commercial connection to the Internet is very expensive and not many people are willing to give away a commodity so valuable. Our vBulletin software automatically regulates the allowable file size that can be uploaded and the number of pictures per post. This is a task we are glad we do not have to do manually.

If we provided almost 1700 members with two meg of drive space that's just under 4 gig. That same 4 gig could easily translate to a hundred gig of data transfer per month which is a lot of additional cost. If our members used this space to post pictures or other files not related to woodworking (cars let's say) then our network resources would be used for a purpose beyond our mission.

We can get another T1 line, with local loop costs it would be about $1400.00 per month. If our members would like to pick up the tab we would be glad to order another circuit and dedicate it to the SMC server

SawMill Creek is using unused bandwidth, a portion of our network resources which we preserve for our hosting customers as a reserve for huge peaks in demand. If this capacity is needed for a commercial customer then the Creek will slow down for that period of time, then return to normal as demand decreases.

[Chris Padilla]

Aaron/Keith,

I'm fairly new here so I haven't yet learned how this site operates but you have enlightened me and I thank you for your time. Everyone runs their sites differently and I will just have to adjust what I am used to doing...no biggie.

I purposely put in the ironic comment of the BMW hosting my pics for SMC! In fact, I use them to host a fair amount of pics...even on BMW competing sites! You are correct about allowing bytes to use as we please...that is an internal decision to make and I can work with it and respect it.

Thanks, again, for your time...I am enjoying my time here.

Chris

[Jason Roehl]

I just thought I'd add in my $.02 here.

Overall, I think that the benefits of uploading to SMC outweigh the costs. Benefits? Archival, as has been stated before, as well as not having to worry about bandwidth, since Hampton Roads generously provides that to SMC. The cost? You lose control over your picture, but you pretty much do that anyway once you put it in the public domain on the web in any way, shape or form.

Some folks here rent a corner of the web for their own personal or commercial websites, and could easily stash their pics there and link to them from SMC. However, if they should ever change ISPs or domain names, those links are little more than annoying were someone to search past messages and archives. Those with their own webspace may also not have the bandwith capabilities due to ISP restrictions on an hourly, daily or monthly basis. If a 100k pic gets viewed 1000 times (we are not far from that being common), that's 100megs of transfer, often a monthly limit for personal ISP accounts--more views could result in no transfer of the pic, or additional charges on your bill.

Besides, while vBulletin may have some current layout limitations, who knows what they have in store for future versions (and hopefully Keith and Aaron upgrade to)?