Blogger storage space tips... Updated

I updated this post after finding some new information :) The changes are in bold.

I have seen several Facebook posts lately with people explaining that blogger wants them to start paying for storage space because they have used up all of their free space (you get 1 GB of photo storage when you upload your photos through blogger. Your photos are then saved online on Picasa web albums). So many people are really frustrated with this (and I can't blame them, I didn't know for a long time that there was even a limit), and a lot of people didn't even know they could run out of storage space. I thought I'd post a few tips on how to save storage space and also what to do when you have used up your free space. Some of these tips are my own, some I found on Google and some are tips that I have seen other people suggest on Facebook.

1. Size down your photos before you upload them to blogger. Photos sized 800x800 and smaller will not count toward your 1 GB of free storage.  This is how I blog my photos and I am so glad that I do, it's the reason why I have never had to deal with running out of free storage space.

I typically have my original photos saved on my computer along with a COPY (don't re-size the original!!) that is web sized in a separate file. When you upload a smaller resolution this won't count towards your free space (as I said before) and it will speed up the uploading process as well. I would not suggest this if you want to use blogger as your online photo backup. With the photos sized down they are only good for online sharing... not printing.

In the above link I also learned that if you max out on your free space, and don't pay the fee then anything uploaded later will be automatically resized to 800 pixels by blogger. So if you don't pay the fee and continue to load photos, be aware that they will not be at their full resolution.

2. You could always just pay the cost of the photo storage. It is always nice to have your photos backed up online and this may be a good option for you.

3. Start a new blog with a new account after you max out on storage space that way you can continue to load photos at their full size without having to pay.

4. Open a new Google account and then add it as a second admin to your original blog. Someone posted this idea on Facebook and I thought it was brilliant. This is so much better then having to start a whole new blog.

5. Use a different photo host rather than uploading your photos through blogger (Photobucket or Flickr for example). Upload your photos to their site, then copy and paste the URL and use the photos on your blog. Just be aware that these sites will also have a limit to your free storage. If you aren't worried about backing up the photos that you blog, I would suggest just to size down your photos and continue to upload through blogger for free (#1).

If you have any questions on how to do any of these things I can help you out, just let me know. I am crazy busy this month, but after the holidays I will have more time on my hands. You can also use Google and YouTube to find tutorials on how to do some of these things.

Just a couple more things I want to add in...

Do not delete the photos from Picasa web albums if you still want them on your blog. If you delete them from Picasa web albums, they will also be deleted from your blog. I also wouldn't suggest deleting posts or pictures from your blog just to save money. First try one of the above tips before deleting anything. You may later regret not saving those blog posts and pictures.

I hope that this wasn't a crazy boring post... and that it helps at least one person!

Blogger stuff ~ Uploading pictures

**Update July 2011: Blogger in Draft has changed recently, so it looks different from the images I have below. Everything should work the same, let me know if you have any problems.**

So I have had a few people ask about uploading pictures.... and how I get them to look clear on blogger. I am here to FINALLY answer your question :) When I started photography I spent a lot of time looking at my photos and editing. Then I would upload them to blogger and BLAH. They looked kinda pixelated and it bugged me. I asked my sister in-law what to do and she was able to fix my problem :) Now when I am looking around at blogs sometimes I notice the same problem. I don't know why it happens, but I can tell you what I do when I load my pictures and maybe it will help you too :)

First and foremost resize your photos. This will make loading time SO MUCH FASTER. It also helps protect your photos from people who steal images from the web. To make your pictures even safer you can watermark them or disable the right click button... which I still don't know how to do.


To resize your photos in Picasa (the easiest way for me):

• Click and highlight the pictures you want to resize.
• At the bottom of the Picasa screen there is a button that says Export with a file above it. Click it (this will export each photo you have selected into a new file).
• Then you can label the file where you want your photos saved (ex: Evan's Birthday (sized for web))
• Type in or use the slider to choose the size you want the photo to be (I resize mine to 800 pixels because it fits my blog screen perfectly). 
• Click Export.

Now when you load your picture to your blog post you can use the file you just created, and the pictures will be sized small and will load quickly :)

Now for loading pictures into blogger...

Option 1:

• Go here.
• Add Blogger in Draft to your personal blog dashboard (if you already have it then the link should take you to your dashboard).
• Then create a new post. 
• When you upload a picture things will be a little different from the regular blogger. You can choose a file and select as many photos as you like and add them all at the same time. It's wonderful!
• Now you can change the size of you picture (before you publish your post, but after you load your picture). Click on your picture and underneath it a bar will pop up with some options. Click on the size you want (I click on the Original size because I like my pictures to be BIG. My pictures are 800 pixels wide). You can also align your photo, and there are some other options you can play around with too. 

• If you choose the original size then you are done! The picture should look clear and not blurry.
• If you don't want to use the original size and choose one of the other size options then continue on and use Option 2 as well.

Option 2:

This option is for users who don't want their picture in the original size. It is also for users who don't have Blogger in Draft.

• Load your pictures and change the picture to the size that you want. Click on the Edit HTML tab above and to the right of your blog post (next to compose). You will see text like this for each individual picture:

• Change the 320 (or it may be 200, 400 or 640 depending on the size you chose) to 800 (leave the s), your picture should now look crisp and clear.
• If you want your picture to be the original size, just delete the text that I highlighted in blue. 

This can get confusing if you have a lot of text and a lot of pictures. When I used to use this option, I would load all my pictures first... before I added any text at all. I was sure to leave a space or two between each picture. Then I would go into the HTML window and change all the numbers. This made it all less confusing, and I could find each piece of code for each picture. Then I would go back to the Compose window and type in my text.

Here is a before and after for you... I left the size at Medium and simply changed the 320 to 800:

Before:

After:

To me it makes a world of difference! If you look at the faces in the top picture you can see how they look kinda blurry. In the picture below the faces look a lot clearer.

Try it all out, and let me know if it works for you. If there are anymore questions out there feel free to ask, I love to help. I don't know a ton though... I get a lot of help from youtube tutorials... and my sister in-law, Candi :)

Picture Uploading Update

I had a chance to play around with the picture uploading today. I noticed that even using Blogger in Draft my pictures still looked slightly blurry/pixelated, unless I used the original size. If you are not going to be able to use the original size on your blog or if you don't want to, then I'd recommend that you use the second option I listed in my blog post yesterday (Now updated and posted above this one). All you have to do is go into the HTML and change the number from 320 (or it may be 200, 400, or 640 depending on the size you changed it to) to 800.

Changing it to 800 will make the picture crisp and clear. Test this by uploading two photos and changing one and leave the other. Do you notice a difference?

Here is an example... I can see a difference, can you (or maybe I am just extremely picky)?

Before:

After:

If you select the original size (and if you resized your photo before loading) then there shouldn't be a problem and you won't have to change the HTML.