Expert: LizaL - 11/29/2005

Question
Hi, I'm not sure which category this question comes in, but as Photoshop is the only image editor  I have, here goes:-
I have an iMac running OS 9, and Photoshop v.5 and use Internet Explorer v. 5.1. I am trying to post an avatar on my favourite gardening forum, either from their site, or avatarity.com, or a custom one. All I can achieve is a red x. I have tried using the apple/shift/4 combination to capture an image, and editing to jpg and correct size in photoshop, then posting to Village photos to get URL, but no luck. Can you help, please?  Unfortunately the forum is small and no mac instructions.

Answer
Hi Liz,

When it comes to uploading to the Web, there really aren't any instructions that vary from Mac to PC (whew!). The method is pretty much across the board; however, the software you use will vary from platform to platform. Also, servers can differ in their requirements for how graphics should be uploaded. Some have size limitations and I wonder if maybe the size of your avatar isn't correct for the server you're uploading to, and the Web host is kicking it out when you try to upload it? Just a thought.

At any rate, it sounds to me like your avatar is not being uploaded properly -- or maybe you've accidentally missed a step and it hasn't actually uploaded at all. That would explain the red X you see when you expect to see your avatar, of course.

What you're doing as far as editing your graphic in Photoshop is fine -- and make sure you save it as either JPEG or GIF. JPEG is the format most used for things like photographs, and GIF is generally used for line art, graphics with type, big expanses of color, etc.

Anyway, it sounds like you'd done that, and my guess is that the problem lies in uploading.

It's kind of hard for me to tell you how to do this since I don't know the site you're uploading to, so if you like, feel free to email me with that information and I'll take a look at it -- and you can send that email to lizal@little-works.com.

You might also mention the software you're using to upload -- although it sounds to me like you're posting your avatar through the site, instead of uploading it from your machine.

So why don't you send me the link, and I'll look at where you're going with this?

Thanks,

Lisa