sshayler
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posted on April 11, 2001 06:03:42 AM
Ok...my time to vent.
I know not everyone is a digital photography genius, but seriously, how much does it take to download even a shareware program for editing and cropping your photos?
I was browsing auctions this morning and I can't tell you how many HUGE photos I sat and waited for. To be honest, most of them I DIDN'T wait for, I just moved on.
The worst was, I was looking at a particular clothing item and in the (huge) picture was not only the person's cat, but her leftover empty pepsi cans, an overflowing ashtray and tons of assorted clutter around his/her house. Now, I don't know about you, but this does NOT entice me to bid on their auctions.
OK...venting done..I'm off my soapbox (for now) 
Sue
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insightwatcher
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posted on April 11, 2001 06:28:28 AM
It does make you wonder, doesn't it. I see the same thing from obviously experienced sellers with 3 digit feedback, and enormous photographs. Not only do these photographs look unprofessional, take forever to load, but normally include endless items which the buyers has no desire to see.
I see no reason for not cropping, and in fact not cropping and optimizing, unless some sellers think that psychologically it makes them look like a little home operation, and not a business - and that this "look" is some how appealing to the buyer.
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tomwiii
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posted on April 11, 2001 06:34:34 AM
Here is a FREE & super easy web-based image shrinker/cruncher/optimizer from Adobe:
http://webservices.adobe.com/save4web/main.html
I CRUNCH all my photos down to 11 or 15 & they still look great!
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BlondeSense
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posted on April 11, 2001 11:35:14 AM
You said it!
I love the ones where you wait and watch while somebodys kitchen wallpaper loads line by line. 
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newguy
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posted on April 11, 2001 12:47:34 PM
Try browsing ebaymotors where you get to look at sky, trees, a roof, a wall, the car, the driveway, the lawn, the curb, the street, all in a 500k photo. And they have 20 photos all the same size. They are the worst on ebay.
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smw
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posted on April 11, 2001 02:13:31 PM
Looking at walls, kitchen counters, busy print wallpaper, and the rest of it is annoying...but I found the Mother of bad images yesterday.
A bitmap that was 44 pixels per inch. Without a doubt the biggest image file I have ever seen on eBay. Not to mention that you couldn't tell what the hell it was supposed to be. I thought something was wrong with my screen or connection, the page was taking forever to load, and what was loading looked bizarre. I stop the page and then realized that I was looking at each individual pixel in this behemoth. I looked at the properties to try to figure out what could be so huge and shook my head and backed out. New seller with zero feedback too.
I am not sure which is worse; the huge files that look like blobs, or the compressed rotten images like IPIX. It may be a toss up.
I have also noticed that 4 out of 5 of the auctions I have looked at in the past week are by new sellers, and most use IPIX. I don't begrudge anyone trying their hand at selling, but what troubles me is that if bidders, especially new bidders, find a slew of auctions by new sellers with rotten images, misidentified stuff, high shipping, and the rest of it they will assume that this is representative of all eBay sellers. I know I was starting to wonder myself.
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BJGrolle
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posted on April 11, 2001 02:14:56 PM
There's no reason not to crop. When I bought my scanner, it came with photo editing software. I just bought a digital camera over the weekend and it also came with photo editing software.
So I assume that everyone who buys a scanner or digital camera also must get software?
http://bjgrolle.freehomepage.com
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toke
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posted on April 11, 2001 02:23:23 PM
BJ...
The fact that the photo editing software comes with the equipment may be part of the problem.
I didn't fool around...I bought my computer, scanner, Mavica...all basically at the same time. I knew NOTHING!
The sad thing was...the bundled software had no manuals... I had a horrible time figuring it all out...clicking the programs "help" every 5 minutes. They assume you know the rudiments. In my case, I surely did not.
I'm stubborn, and persevered. I'll bet a lot of these newbies just give up...and put it up no matter how bad it looks. 
I think a neophyte desperately needs a manual to hold in their hands...
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mrpotatoheadd
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posted on April 11, 2001 02:27:38 PM
So I assume that everyone who buys a scanner or digital camera also must get software?
Not necessarily. There is one seller on eBay that I am aware of who sells the software that usually comes with a hardware component separately, so unless he is making copies of the CD, the buyer of the hardware doesn't get the software that was originally distributed with it.
He also advertises this software in such a manner that a buyer would think he is getting a retail software package, just like you might find at CompUSA, but that's another story...
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BJGrolle
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posted on April 11, 2001 02:37:33 PM
True enough, toke, and the fact that each program you received was probably different didn't help any.
It does take perseverance to learn these programs.
I got Corel Photo House with my scanner and found it pretty decent to use.
Yesterday evening I decided to try the program that came with my camera, ArcSoft Photo Impression 2000 (who, what, you ask, me too, I think). I found the program surprisingly easy to use and I actually prefer it to Corel for simple rotating and cropping.
http://bjgrolle.freehomepage.com
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toke
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posted on April 11, 2001 03:12:53 PM
Aha! I have ArcSoft PhotoStudio...came with my Mavica FD71...love it. I still get nice little surprises now and then...like the oval crop. Who knew it was there? That can have a nice effect. Your program sounds like a newer version.
I bought PaintShop Pro, and find I still use my ArcSoft...simpler to use, and does everything I need.
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mouseslayer
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posted on April 12, 2001 04:55:40 AM
How about the high feedback sellers who's pictures are sideways? That drives me nuts! I'm not going to get a kink in my neck just to look at your picture.
~^~  Hippy wannabe  ~^~
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sshayler
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posted on April 12, 2001 07:21:09 AM
That has to be my SECOND biggest peeve! Those sideways pictures! And, like you said these are not newbie sellers.
I use a pretty basic program to edit my pictures and one of the first things that pops up is the option to rotate your photos, as well as to lighten/enhance them. Heck...If I can't see the item(s) it sure as heck is gonna be hard for the bidders to see them.
Sue
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rarriffle
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posted on April 12, 2001 09:37:58 AM
What is the best picture size to upload to AW for posting on ebay auctions? I have Fujifilm Eztouch software and also Picture It software. someone said size 11? I have no idea what size 11 means. I want my pics to load faster, I already crop everything.
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DrTrooth
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posted on April 12, 2001 09:47:35 AM
Moderators - this is not an Ebay issue, rather one for the more general"on-line auction threads, no?
I am sure that many come here to hear Ebay issues and not those unrelated to that company.
Shipping, troll, whining and rants that are not specifically related to Ebay belong somewhere else.....but not here.
In doing so I am sure that you will keep the Board "topic specific" and therefore totally in keeping with the AW themes.
Thank you for your consistency.
Dr. Trooth
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tomwiii
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posted on April 12, 2001 09:48:49 AM
yikes!
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sshayler
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posted on April 12, 2001 09:55:21 AM
Sheesh 
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luvmy2bears
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posted on April 12, 2001 09:57:21 AM
This DrTrooth character is posting this very same message on almost EVERY thread.
What gives?
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toke
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posted on April 12, 2001 10:01:45 AM
He ran out of Preparation H?
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eauctionmgnt
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posted on April 12, 2001 10:04:17 AM
Dr. Tooth:
As you seem to be posting this message on just about EVERY thread in this forum... perhaps your posts are becoming more distracting then the threads you are concerned with! Many of these threads are extremely relevant to eBay. An ebay seller and bidder can not limit themselves to ebay exclusively. Many other services interact with eBay, and it IS appropriate to discuss how other eBay sellers view them. Perhaps you should read the threads in closer detail to see how they truly do relate to eBay selling and bidding.
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luvmy2bears
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posted on April 12, 2001 10:05:44 AM
I second that notion!
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lanefamily
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posted on April 12, 2001 10:08:22 AM
They are taking a stand, that is all.
Jim
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eauctionmgnt
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posted on April 12, 2001 10:11:09 AM
It is fine to take a stand for what you believe in. However, the proper method would have been to create their OWN thread to discuss their supposed problem of irrelavant threads. Otherwise, all they're doing is clutting up other threads (like this one) with irrelavant information!
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luvmy2bears
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posted on April 12, 2001 10:15:41 AM
Hey lanefamily ~ What are we talking about cropping pics for?
For email? NO
For website? NO
For printing? NO
For EBAY? YES!!!!
Well. Sure looks like an ebay thread to me....
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musicman12533
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posted on April 12, 2001 11:03:20 AM
maybe dr tooth has a cavity
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rarriffle
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posted on April 12, 2001 11:18:07 AM
can someone please answer my question about best picture size to upload to AW for use on ebay auctions?
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amy
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posted on April 12, 2001 11:26:33 AM
If the worst thing we have to cope with in life is uncropped pictures in auction ads then we should be grateful
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KatyD
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posted on April 12, 2001 11:33:56 AM
You be grateful for us, Amy. Those pom poms look a little threadbare.
KatyD
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amy
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posted on April 12, 2001 02:23:39 PM
KatyD..pompoms? Who was I cheering for?
Just made an observation that uncropped pictures are a minor irritant at best....hardly worth getting up a full head of steam that needs to be vented.
Much better than ebay going down for 15 hours...or listing fees being increased 500%...or sending off $2000 to an ebay seller for a diamond ring that turns out to be glass....or getting notice from your bank that a customers $963 check bounced 45 days after you deposited it (and the item was sent already)...
PS...my pom poms are as fresh and full as they were the first day I got them
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BlondeSense
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posted on April 12, 2001 07:53:24 PM
rarriffle, try this: pull up your thumbnails on Picture It, position your cursor over one of them, then right click your mouse. You should get a drop down menu that includes "properites", this will tell you how many "KB" your pic is. After cropping and resizing mine are around 50KB. In my experience anything reaching 100KB will slow down loading time too much.
Hope this helps.
Edited to add: Although I have "Picture It" I use a different software, so if you need help with resizing pics, I'm afraid you're on your own unless someone else here can help.
[ edited by BlondeSense on Apr 12, 2001 08:00 PM ]
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