Uploading Maps/Photos Broken for Me

[foremost]

Hey there.

This has been a persisting problem for me; whether I hit the "Insert Image" button or use the "Manage Attachments" page, I cannot upload any maps or images to my posts.

The upload process itself seems to work. I use Google Chrome, and a blue bar with the words "Uploading: x%" comes up for both these options. But, after it makes it to 100% and goes away, nothing is changed. With the insert button, nothing appears in the post, and with the manage attachment page, no new attachments show up in my roster.

Is this a problem on my end? I can't imagine many others have experiencing this, since maps are posted every day.

Or perhaps I just have to wait an hour before the file is ready to be inserted? Dunno.

[Azélor]

How big is the file ? size in bytes and in pixels?

look at my signature, but it's not 100% accurate

[foremost]

This specific file is 9.44 MB, and is a jpg.

What do I have to do to make it smaller, just downsize it?

[Azélor]

Yes or you could reduce the quality when converting to jpeg.

[Bogie]

What I often do when I have to large a file, is to upload it to my gallery at Deviant Art in full size. Upload a greatly reduced version of the map here, and then provide a link to the DA Gallery ( or what ever gallery you like ).

[Chick]

You need to get it under about 4 Mb. I have found that (using Photoshop) if you make the "save quality" lower, the map is clearer and better resolution than if you make the map smaller and keep the "save quality" higher.

So I tend to save at the larger size and use the "save quality" about 3 or 4, as low as necessary to get under 4 Mb.

(Of course if you are using something other than photoshop, experiment a bit with those kinds of choices)

[xpian]

If you're using Photoshop, I recommend using the "Save for Web" command. It's more powerful in several ways than the basic "Save As". It launches an interactive window where you can see a preview of the quality you'll be getting. It allows you to re-sample the saved image on the fly, changing the pixel dimensions to make the image a bit smaller, if necessary. When saving as a JPEG, you get the option to apply a very subtle blur to the image while saving, which can help iron out areas of high grain or noise that take a lot of MB to save. Essentially, the blur makes the JPEG compression more efficient (but don't use it unless you need it). When I use the blur, I do it at 0.3 or 0.5 pixels. For the JPEG quality setting, I find that below 65 makes the compression artifacts too prominent, while above 75 just bloats the file size without much visual benefit.

You also get a live preview not only of the appearance of your saved file, but also of the exact size in MB it will be. And none of these tweaks you're doing--not the blur, not the re-sample--will affect the actual image itself. They affect only the copy you're saving. By using Save for Web, you get this interactive experience of being able to precisely adjust the quality of the copy you're about to upload, without having to guess about it.

In my experience, the size cutoff for uploads to cartographer's guild is about 4.6 MB, give or take. I can usually squeeze a big map into something uploadable if I aim for 4.5 MB or so.

[Jaxilon]

If you're using Photoshop, I recommend using the "Save for Web" command. It's more powerful in several ways than the basic "Save As". It launches an interactive window where you can see a preview of the quality you'll be getting. It allows you to re-sample the saved image on the fly, changing the pixel dimensions to make the image a bit smaller, if necessary. When saving as a JPEG, you get the option to apply a very subtle blur to the image while saving, which can help iron out areas of high grain or noise that take a lot of MB to save. Essentially, the blur makes the JPEG compression more efficient (but don't use it unless you need it). When I use the blur, I do it at 0.3 or 0.5 pixels. For the JPEG quality setting, I find that below 65 makes the compression artifacts too prominent, while above 75 just bloats the file size without much visual benefit.

You also get a live preview not only of the appearance of your saved file, but also of the exact size in MB it will be. And none of these tweaks you're doing--not the blur, not the re-sample--will affect the actual image itself. They affect only the copy you're saving. By using Save for Web, you get this interactive experience of being able to precisely adjust the quality of the copy you're about to upload, without having to guess about it.

In my experience, the size cutoff for uploads to cartographer's guild is about 4.6 MB, give or take. I can usually squeeze a big map into something uploadable if I aim for 4.5 MB or so.

I have never used the save for web but I'm certainly going to now. Thanks for the insight on this.