How to Re-Size Your Photos on Google

Nov 182011
 

One of the many reasons that I switched from my hosting provider’s webmail to a gmail account is the sheer size of the images clients send via email. Which brings up a valid question for a lot of clients who want to add their own images to their WordPress site: How to resize the multi-megabyte images that even a basic cellphone camera will take so that the pictures do not interfere with a site’s layout and load time?

Since not everyone has Photoshop, is there a way for someone to re-size a large picture to be used on a website or to send via email without jamming the recipient’s inbox? Yes! With Google’s image tools, Picasa and Picnik, there’s an easy way to work with your images to resize them online and then use them however you need.

Step 1: If you don’t have one already, get yourself a Google account.

I love a lot of Google’s free services. There’s gmail of course, which enables me to receive emails on my phone with no hassle and gives me over 7,000 megabytes of storage. Then there’s Feedburner which allows me to offer subscriptions to a web site via RSS. Google Analytics is also another great tool to take advantage of. For this tutorial though, we’re going to look at two media tools; Picasa and Picnik. So go to google.com and sign up for account if you don’t have one already.

Step 2: Now that you have your Google username (email) and password, sign in and get started with Picasa.

Your Google account's top toolbar as seen from Gmail window

To find Picasa, sign in and then you will see more on the far right of the top toolbar.

 

Click that to open a menu where the last item is “even more”.

 

Click on Even More down at the bottom

 

 

Under the Media section, you will see Picasa on the left and Picnik on the right.

Google's Media Products

TIP: The direct url to your Picasa account is https://picasaweb.google.com/home
You should probably bookmark this page so that you don’t have to go through Google’s admittedly convoluted click-throughs every time.

Saving a bookmark in Firefox

Now you can get to Picasa without jumping through Google’s hoops!

Easy one-click access!

Step 3: Create your album and upload pictures.
If you decide to just start to upload photos that’s fine. Just understand that Google needs to sort them into albums so if you upload a batch of images today, Google will prompt you to create an album with today’s date (you can always give it a custom name).

Step 4: Once photos have been added to an album, select one to resize.

Link to your existing albums on Picasa's home page

Click on the album to open it

Click on a photo to open it

Click on the album that contains your images to open it. Then click on the image you need to resize. Once the image is in its own window, you will see a toolbar at the top with a little landscape icon at the top. Click on that to launch Picnik.

Click landscape icon to launch Picnik

You can also click on Actions and then select "Edit in Picnik"

TIP: If you want to bypass Picasa, you can just launch Picnik right away and upload photos directly from your harddrive. I just suggest uploading to Picasa if you are fairly mobile and you want to get the whole process done on the web as opposed to being chained to whatever computer has your images. Also, once the image is resized, you can always add it to your site via its URL on Picasa.

Step 5: Edit your image with Picnik.
Go to Re-Size on the leftside toolbar. Then simply enter in the dimensions that you would like the image to be to use on your site.

Editing toolbar in Picnik

Depending on the layout of your theme, maximum size can vary, but for the sake of example, I usually save my images at 450 pixels wide as the maximum width. Make sure you choose to retain the proportions as well.

 

Original photo's dimensions. Too big for a blog!

Enter in the new dimensions (width and height in pixels)

Step 6: Save your image and either download or get url.
Picnik will allow you to save your edits and then you can either download the image back to your computer or, on Picasa, you can get the url of the image.

Save to your Picasa album

Now you can download the re-sized image to a folder on your computer

Then, when you add an image into your WordPress post or page, it’s simply a matter of pasting that images url into the add-image pop up window. If you choose to download the re-sized image, then all you need to do is add your images the regular way and the smaller file size will take a load off your server!

Connections: Facebook, Flickr and your camera phone

Jan 032010
 

Although there’s an iPhone app for everything short of walking your dog, sometimes there’s an easier way to something that’s a little off the beaten path. I was taking photos of some artwork that a friend of mine did with our daughter on New Year’s Eve and in the midst of sending it to my twitpic account, I changed my mind and came up with a way to post a photo to a Flickr photo stream and Facebook simultaneously. Continue reading »

A Guide to Web Color-

Jun 282009
 

-right in your own (WordPress) backyard! I was ready to do a search for a good online hexadecimal color guide for a client, when I realized that they have one right there in the Editing window! Continue reading »

Getting Your Company Listed with Bing.com

Jun 252009
 

Bing.com is a new search engine that is being touted as the next big thing, at least that’s what Microsoft is hoping. They’ve pumped metric tons of money into marketing it as Google’s new competitor, but the jury still seems to be deliberating about that. Still, as Bing buzz builds, it couldn’t hurt to get listed on their local listings right?

I’ve talked a few clients through the process of registering their business with Google and, based on that experience, the idea of talking someone through the same process on Bing is a little more daunting, but doable. Here’s a comparison of the user experience for each site:

Google’s Home Page:

The process:

Step 1. Get a Google Account, if you don’t have one already.
Step 2. Go to Google.com and click on “Business Solutions” below the search terms window.
Step 3. On the next page, click on “Local Business Center” in the bottom half of the page.

Now you are all set to start listing your business with Google. One precaution: Make sure you are near your business phone so you can verify your listing with Google’s automated call to your business phone. They will call with a PIN that you will need to verify that this is actually your business.

Bing.com’s Home Page:

The Process:

Step 1: If you haven’t already, sign up for a Windows Live account (click on “Windows Live” in the top left corner of the page to get started)
Step 2: With your Windows Live email and password on hand, go to Bing’s home page and select “Maps” from the search options listed under the main search field.
Step 3: In the Maps page search field, enter either your business name or your location and business category.

Step 4: In the listing of search results, scroll all the way down until you see the words “local listing center” in page gray and click on that to get started with your listing.

Now for the real way to do this.
Go to: https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
-and sign up from there.
I only listed these steps out to illustrate the fact that Bing’s method is; 4 (non-intuitive) steps as opposed to Google’s 2 somewhat obvious ones and that trying to explain this to a client over the phone is not high on my list of fun and easy activities. The only bright spot in all this is that, at the end of the sign-up process, Bing.com promises to send you a letter for verification about your listing as opposed to a phone call that can take some people by surprise.

Spring is in the air…

Mar 302009
 


-and I am itching to do some freshening up around here! This post by (Anti) Social Development is great for organizing your spring cleaning to-do list ! Continue reading »

Getting Fans on Facebook

Mar 262009
 

I went to a seminar this week at Salem State’s Enterprise Center about managing social networking for small businesses. Neal Advertising’s Neal Bocian, Chad Foster and Jesse Friedman were great at not only explaining why social networking matters for business, but also incorporating the wide range of questions into their presentation. One business owner asked the question that I am sure most people do after they’ve brought their company’s Facebook page into being: “How do I get Fans for my business?”. Continue reading »

How Does Your Business Look Online?

Mar 112009
 

Here’s a good exercise to help you get motivated to update your site: Google your business name.

I am in the process of updating a map for a site I developed and it involves googling almost every local retail business in order to link to their websites. Surprisingly, quite a few don’t. Instead, when I google their business name, what tends to come up are: 1) Newspaper articles that mention the business, 2) blog posts that mention the business and 3) Review sites such as Yelp and Merchant Circle.

The last category is where a lot of businesses lose out on a great free tool for getting their name out there. Some sites are membership-based, requiring people to join before they can post their reviews of local businesses. Others are more focused on the business owner and helping them to develop a business to business network. Here’s a list of the sites that I visited and a little about the ins and outs of listing your business with them:

  • Superpages/Switchboard: When you land on this site, go to the bottom of the page where it says: “Add or Edit Listing”. Click on that and you’ll go to a page where you will be prompted to enter your business phone number in order to find out if you are already listed. If you are not, then you will need to go through the process of filling in your business info and then signing up for a free account. Of course, they will offer you options such as having your logo with your listing for “only” $25 per month, but there are free options out there, so try it, see how you like the services and then decide if it’s worth the money.
  • Yellowpages: Just like SuperPages and Switchboard, Yellowpages is part of the Idearc Empire and, like any empire, they want to control the world. If you own a business, you’ve probably received a few sales calls from them, but, it is possible to sign up for a free business listing. The only catch is that they inform you after you’ve gone through the listing process that it may take 30 days to display your listing and “you will be contacted by a sales representative”. Oh boy. To get started, just go to the home page and click on the black button at the bottom of the page that says “Get your free listing”.
  • Boston City Search: At the bottom of the home page, there’s a link entitled “List your business on City Search”. It does cost, and they don’t tell you how much it will cost until you start signing up for a plan. The “$30 off” offer tells me that it’s kind of costly.
  • Manta: Manta pulls its listings from Dun & Bradstreet. Therefore, you should get a listing with them first before attempting to get into their listings. I wish they had told me this before I went through the fairly involved process of setting up an account on their site. The site seems to be focused on business to business interactions, so if you are constantly scouring the web for suitable vendors, then this may be worth your time to set up.
  • Citysquares: Basically the way this works is that you search for your business, sign up for a free listing, and then they want you to pay upwards from $50 a month to upgrade your listing including being able to link to your site from the listing.
  • Merchant Circle: On the home page, you will be prompted to enter your business number, then it shoots you onto a page where you can sign up for a membership. They email you, you confirm the email and then you go to another page where there’s a list of the plans offered. They range from $30-$250 a month. Never fear, there’s a light gray link next to the plans that says “But I thought it was free!” Click on that. Now, on the next page, in the top right corner, click on “No Thanks, set up my profile”. You get a pretty meaty listing, with a link to your own site and the ability to generate coupons. I signed up and within 48 hours, my listing showed up near the top of a search for “Web Design” in “Salem MA”
  • Yelp: At the top right of the page, click on Yelp for Business Owners. From there, you simply follow the prompts to set up your business listing.

Then what?

Recruit your network of friends, relatives and loyal customers to support your business by asking them to post some reviews on the various sites. Trade reviews with other business owners, offer discounts/deals to customers who post reviews, cook dinner for people, whatever. Every little bit helps to enhance your presence online and drive traffic to your business!

Buttons and Chicklets and Badges Oh My!

Feb 182009
 

My most recent client is looking to upgrade the blog portion of their site by adding features to increase readership and create an online community. It’s something that’s fairly easily done via the web, but it’s the kind of task that requires a few simple tips to make sure your site makes the right connections with your readers. Continue reading »

How To Start A Forum Topic In WordPress

Feb 152009
 

Let’s face it, sooner or later you are going to have to check out the WordPress support forums for help with your WordPress site. So, to save you a lot of time-consuming trudging through the Codex and all over Google for information on how to find help with troubleshooting your site, I’ll give you some pointers to help you on your way. Continue reading »

How To Put A Link In A Facebook Note

Jan 282009
 

Putting a link into a Facebook note
Here’s an example of a link embedded in a Facebook Note

1. Create your note on your Facebook profile. Then, in another window on your browser, find the page you want to link to. Select that page’s url and copy it.

2. Go back to your note and find the text you want to transform into a link. Place your cursor in front of the first letter and type in these characters:
The beginning of an html hypertext link tag

3. Now, after the first set of quote marks, paste in the url you just copied and then put another set of quotation marks followed by a bracket after it like so:
The rest of the opening link tag

4. Next, go to the last character in the string of text you want to link to and after it type:
The closing tag in an html hypertext link

NOTE:  I have had a couple of readers tell me that this didn’t work for them.  If you try it and it doesn’t work as a link, please leave a comment below.  Facebook has an annoying way of changing things around so it never hurts to test again once in a while.

 

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