I Still Need Help in Posting Images

[Dave Ronyak]

OK,  I have read through many posts on how to take, resize and otherwise modify digital photographs and now am trying to post my first photo.  All of this information relating to PCs, digital photos and various software applications is too much for me to absorb and successfully apply.   I'm trying to do this, using a Dell Inspiron E1505 PC running VISTA, a cheapo Radio Shack Camera ($70 2 years ago, fixed focus an aperture and about the size of an overgrown Minox!), and IrfanView which I have no previous experience with.   

I now have many photos to clean up and share relating to a wide variety of setups and techniques that I used in constructing a large entertainment center.    And many others not relating to this my most recent project.

Rather than creating the message from scratch and inserting the photos here  using this Simple Machines software, is it possible to first create the whole document, or chapters of it, using Open Office into which I do know how to insert in-line images?

I have edited one photo within IrfanView and tried to save it several times under a new name, e.g. 021_sml, but thereafter I cannot locate that image on my PC to reopen it, and the "copy" command on IrfanView doesn't operate anything near to that in Windows.  In IrfanView it gives me a popup window that makes no sense; it never displays an option to direct where that copy can go.  I tried control C followed by control P and that doesn't work, either.  I also tried the "capture screenshot - window on top" command and I failed at that, too.  The file did not showup on my desktop as I had selected.  Help, Please!!

Is it possible within IrfanView to add text boxes and lead lines from the text box to a feature within a photo?  If so, how is that done?

This should be a screenshot.  [attachthumb=1]  Obviously, it is not, but it is the image I hoped to actually post - a photo of my TS 55 setup for ripping long narrow strips.
[attachimg=2]  (Which then should have been the screenshot.  Maybe it is too large to be accepted, or I made other mistakes.

I have no idea if any of this is going to work.  Please accept my apology for crying for help from members of FOG; I just find this PC stuff very frustrating.

Dave R.

Hooray!! It worked!!

 

[Matthew Schenker]

Dave,
Wow!  You raise a lot of questions in your message.  I'm not very good with graphics myself, so I do understand your frustration.  I've spent many nights trying to get graphics to work just right, and very often I've done this kind of work for the FOG!  Be confident that in the end you'll get it.

I'll let other people who know more than I do jump in with better answers.

But let me say a few things about Irfanview.  I like that program, and it does a few things very well.  But it is limited.  I use it for these tasks:
- Opening/viewing photos
- Resizing & resampling photos
- Cropping photos
- Re-saving photos in different formats

It is great for these things, but if you want to get into captioning, text boxes, lead lines, and those sorts of things you will need to use a different application.  Sorry to break that to you (I had to learn the hard way as well).  When I have to get into more advanced photo work, I use OpenOffice Draw.

I'm glad to hear you use OpenOffice!  I'm a big fan of that application, and I try to tell everyone about it.

OK, I'll try to put together some notes for you on the rest of your questions.

Let's see if other people can help you in the meantime.

Hang in there!!

Stay in touch,
Matthew

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks, Matthew!!  Your reply means two good things to me: (1) my post was successful, and (2) IfranView is not designed to do the labeling I'd like to use to help coordinate written and photographic descriptions in a post.  My son has CS3 on his "Super-Mac" and thus has Photo Shop, so I guess another route to my goal is to massage the photos on his PC then insert them in posts to FOG.

You are far too modest in characterizing yourself regarding PCs, websites and software.  I wish I had 1% of your skills and trouble-shooting abilities!

Dave R.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dave, I agree with Matthew, IrfanView isn't the greatest at what you are trying to do, you can add text to a picture pretty easily however. Here's how it is done with Windows XP, with your picture opened in IrfanView select the area you'd like the text by creating a box by left clicking and drag to create the "selection" box.
[attachthumb=#]
The "selection" box is in the lower right of the picture.

[attachthumb=#]
Now click on the "Edit" option at the top then "Insert text into selection...".

[attachthumb=#]
A new window will pop up to create your text, choose the options you want (font, size and so), type in your text, then click "OK" to place the text in your pick.

[attachthumb=#]
Here's the text in the picture.

Have you tried the "Save as" option to choose where your picture will be saved? A new window should pop up to allow you to select where and how to save your picture.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks, Brice.  I used that selection tool last evening for cropping photos in IrfanView.  I don't recall seeing any drop down menu including a text box.  I'm running VISTA.  I'm going to try a few things with the information you and Matthew have provided.

I have figured out how to add text boxes like those used in cartoons to the same digital photos using Open Office, but those caption boxes are separate from the photo itself which can be moved relative to the caption boxes.  I have not tried yet, but I doubt I can export a captioned photo out of Open Office Writer.

Dave R.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dave, I'm not running VISTA but I bet its pretty much the same as XP as far as IrFan is concerned. I don't know if you have SketchUp but you can add text and leaders to pictures with it. Let me know if you if you want any more info on how to use SketchUp for this.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks, Brice.  I updated my profile which resulted immediately thereafter in my being no longer able to sign on to FOG.  After less than 2 hour I got an email confirming the reset and thus can get on again, but what I am seeing now within FOG I think is somewhat different than before.  I may be wrong (my brain fries quickly when I get frustrated by PC stuff!!), but I think the attachment protocol may be different than what I was seeing yesterday.

Anyway, here is a photo with a text box within.  Now my problem with IrfanView is that after cropping the saved image appears to continue to contain the deleted area, displaying it as black in color.  I did not have that problem yesterday.
[attachthumb=#]

For reasons I don't understand, cropping the photo results in a black area remaining around the desired subject matter, and resizing and saving to a new file name does not remove that junk area.

Thanks, again, for your help.

Dave R.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Brice,

I think I have figured it out!  The right cropping command needs to be chosen in the right order!  Possibly a classic Windows issue.

Here's a photo of one of my setups for repeat rip cuts.  Actually this is just a mockup for the purpose of obtaining a photo.

[attachimg=1]

Dave R.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Dave I'm glad you're getting things figured out, if you run into anymore trouble let us know. One more thing, I noticed your text has a white background, if you look at my third picture, with the "Add overlay text to image" window, you'll see, under the area where my text is, the "Text is transparent" box is checked. This make places the text without a colored background.

Thanks, Brice.  I updated my profile which resulted immediately thereafter in my being no longer able to sign on to FOG............ 

Yeah, you were temporarily removed from the members list, I tried to send you a PM but message couldn't be sent. 

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Thanks, Brice.  I noticed that command box regarding "transparency" of the background but intentionally chose to use a contrasting color within my text boxes to help direct the viewer's attention to the text.

I still have not figured out how to add arrows or lead lines from text boxes, or to insert a caption box like cartoonists use.  From my perspective, the ideal photo editing software for purposes of using photos to teach others would include such lead line and captioning features, and the software would automatically adjust the size of the caption box to fit the text that is typed in the box.  An example of this sort of feature is found in the comment boxes that MS Word enables a user to create when editing or annotating a Word document.

Does PhotoShop or any other photo editing program have such features?

Dave R.