On Images and Blogs - Summer 2014 Workshop at Highland Park Public Library

On Images and Blogs

Blog Workshop by Leora Wenger

At the Highland Park Public LibraryJuly 15, 2014

Why Talk about Images?

• Need to set image size• Need to place image within a post or page• Multiple images – image galleries• Thumbnails, lightbox, resize and crop• Images capture the eye – make one want to

read the text

Measure in Pixels

Print: Thousands of Pixels Web: Hundreds of Pixels

Convert to about 500px for blog post

Convert to about 200px for side of blog post

Put image to right or left of text

•alignright•alignleft

Works in many WordPress themes – CSS command

Free Photo Editors

• Pixlr• Picasa• Canva• PicMonkey• iPhoto, Photos (Apple)

Put pixlr here

Resize and Crop

• Select your tool• Crop first – know the crop tool (show it

here)• Resize from 1000’s of pixels to 100’s of

pixels

Crop Tool

Resize Slide

More on Pixlr

Set up a Free Blog

• Blogger Or

•WordPress.com

Platforms for Blogging

• Blogger• WordPress.com• Self-hosted WordPress <-my favorite• Tumblr• Google+• YouTube – video as a form of blogging? As a

complement to one’s blog.

CSS

Cascading Style SheetsGain control over images, format, font sizes, and much more – usually do *not* haveaccess to CSS on free blog sites

Importance of Commenting

• Meet other bloggers

Importance of Commenting

• Meet other bloggers• Get links back to your own blog

Importance of Commenting

• Meet other bloggers• Get links back to your own blog• Establish authority in your niche

Importance of Commenting

• Meet other bloggers• Get links back to your own blog• Establish authority in your niche• Respond to comments on your own blog

so that you can meaningfully engage with your readers.

Sample Comment Area

Images for Blog Posts

• Best method: create your own. Take photos. Make illustrations.

• Other ideas: use public domain photos. Or use Creative Commons photos and give credit if asked to do so.

• See: http://biz.leoraw.com/explore-free-image-sources/

• Pinterest: images can be pinned for more traffic to your blog.

• Alt tags: important for SEO, visually-impaired• Be aware of lawsuits. Don’t use images illegally.

Websites for Small Biz

http://biz.leoraw.com/

Series of Posts on Images

• Image Titles: Add Text to an Imagehttp://biz.leoraw.com/image-titles-add-text-image/

• Resize or Crop an Image with Pixlrhttp://biz.leoraw.com/resize-crop-image-pixlr/

• Pixels? My Image Has Pixels? http://biz.leoraw.com/image-pixels/

• Create Photo Gallery with WP Native Galleryhttp://biz.leoraw.com/create-photo-gallery-wp-native-gallery

Sample Art Blogs

http://illustrationfriday.com/

One Drawing a Day

http://onedrawingaday.com/

Cathleen Rehfeld

http://crehfeld.blogspot.com/

Why Self-hosted WordPress

• You own the blog (instead of borrowing space)• Lots of plugin and theme choices• Establish business authority – shows you take

your business seriously, and others should, too.

• Backups and ability to move blog to other hosts

What Next?

• How do you plan to use images?• Ask – how do I … ???• Have fun with blogs and post

creation – enjoy the experience.