Below are lessons that teach nearly everything you need to know about uploading, annotating and placing images, such as this family picture. For this tutorial, your computer will need access to a digital image and a photo editing software, such as Microsoft Paint® or Adobe® Photoshop® Elements.
- -You may want to open a new browser window or tab, allowing you to both complete and consult this tutorial at the same time. Alternatively, you could print this tutorial page for your convenience as you work through the lessons.
Lesson One: Preparing an image
Objective: This lesson will teach you how to prepare an image to post on WeRelate.
There are two restrictions on images that you may wish to post on WeRelate:
- You cannot post copyrighted material on WeRelate. Please read Help:Image licensing for information on determining whether an image is out of copyright, an appropriate license can be granted, or the image can be placed on WeRelate under "fair use".
- If you can, please limit your images to no more than 150 kb in size.
If your image is out of copyright or the copyright holder has granted an appropriate license, you may continue to Lesson Two to learn how to upload it. Otherwise, continue with this lesson to learn how to alter an image so that it meets "fair use" criteria.
Using a small portion of an image
Once an image is available to your computer, it is fairly easy to resize or crop it. The following instructions are for Microsoft Paint. Adobe Photoshop Elements works similarly. You will need to scan the image or download it from a CD or the Internet.
- Open Paint.
- Select File and click on Open.
- Double click on your image filename. Alternately, you can open the image and simultaneously press shift -- print screen. This takes a picture of the screen. This is helpful if you are taking images from an email. Open the Paint window and simultaneously press the control and V. You will see the image in your Paint window.
- Click on the rectangle at the top of the left menu bar.
- Position the cursor on the place in the image you want to begin your crop. Drag the cursor to the diagonal corner of your intended crop.
- Right mouse click on the cropped portion and select copy.
- Click on File and select New.
- Paint is rather erratic about whether or not you have a white work space. If you have a large white workspace, you will need to reduce the space or your cropped image will be saved inside a white box. Click on Image and select Attributes. Enter "1" in the first pixel field, tab, and "1" in the second pixel field. Select OK.
- Right mouse click and select Paste.
- Save your cropped image with a unique filename.
Reducing image size/Lowering resolution
Reducing the number of pixels your image contains can cause your image to comply with both restrictions, as reducing the number of pixels also lowers the resolution of the image, as well as the number of kilobytes it takes up. This resulting image should be low-resolution enough that the posted image does not affect the potential market for or value of the original image. Below are instructions for reducing pixels using "Paint" and "Adobe".
- You will need to scan the image, download it from a CD or the Internet.
- Open Paint.
- Select File and click on Open.
- Double click on your image filename.
- Click on Image and select Resize/Skew.
- Experiment with percentage reductions until the image is the desired size. Remember to make the horizontal and vertical percentage reduction the same.
- Save your cropped image with a unique filename.
- Using Adobe® Photoshop® Elements
- -The following is an easy way to resize your image using Adobe® Photoshop® Elements 2. (Other versions of the software might move menu items slightly, but the basic procedure will be much the same.)
- Open your image:
- Open Adobe® Photoshop® Elements.
- Click on the File menu at the top of the screen and choose Open. This will open a new window.
- In the new window, click the down arrow to the right of the box labeled "Look In" and click the proper folders to go to the place where your image is stored.
- Double-click on your image to open it in Adobe® Photoshop® Elements.
- Make a duplicate copy of your image (don’t work with your original image):
- Click on the Image menu at the top of the screen and choose Duplicate Image. You will be asked to choose a name for the duplicate image. Do so and click OK
- Drag the duplicate image slightly to the left by clicking on the blue rectangle at the top of the image – hold your finger down and drag to the left.
- Close the original image by clicking on the "X" at the top of the image box.
- Check your duplicate image size:
- Click on the Image menu at the top of the screen, choose Resize, then choose Image Size. A new window will open.
- At the top of the new window, you will see Pixel Dimensions followed by the size of your image file. If the file size is larger than 150 kilobytes you can use this window to reduce the resolution and/or document size.
- Resize your duplicate image:
- Change the Resolution to 72 pixels/inch. You will notice that changing the resolution changes the number of pixels.
- Look again at Pixel Dimensions. (The new size of your image file will be followed by the former size in parentheses.) If the size is now small enough, click "OK". If the file size is still too large, change the document size.
- Change the document size:
- Either in the boxes under Pixel Dimension or in the boxes under Document Size, reduce the size of the Width OR the Height – changing one will automatically change the other. Continue reducing the Width or Height until the image is small enough. Click OK.
- Don’t panic if your image looks tiny once the previous window closes. Click on the View menu and choose Actual Pixels to see what your image will look like on the web.
- Save your image as a jpg:
- Click on the File menu at the top of the screen and choose Save for Web. Click OK.
- Your image is now ready to upload on WeRelate.
Lesson Two: Uploading an image
Objective: This lesson will teach you how to upload a digital image.
What images can I upload?
- You can upload any image, so long as
- The image is relevant to genealogy.
- The image is not offensive.
- The image is not copyrighted, or you have the copyright owner's permission to upload the file. Please do not violate copyright law! See below.
- Typically, images on WeRelate are historical source documents (such as birth, marriage, and death certificates or marriage records) or family photographs.
Uploading an image creates an image page on WeRelate. Once it is in the system, you can include the image on any relevant page on WeRelate. For more information on including images on pages, click here.
- Click the Add button at the top of the screen. From the Drop-down menu, select Image. This will take you to the Upload file page.
- Click on the Browse button to to the right of the Source Filename field to see the images available on your computer. Click on a prepared image and select "Open".
- Enter a very descriptive filename in the Destination filename field. If your image filename happens to be the same as another already on WeRelate, you will need to give it a different name. Here are a few tips for choosing a unique filename:
- You could include not only the name(s) of the person(s), but also the location, date, and/or type of image, followed by ".jpg" (note the (".") dot). For example: "Daniel Phillips and Ella Grey at the ranch, 1917.jpg".
- Alternatively, you could label the image with the associated WeRelate person or family page title(s), including the person or family index number(s), and the Image ID number, followed by ".jpg". For instance, you could label the image "Daniel Phillips and Ella Grey (1) ID3.jpg", associating the family page named "Daniel Phillips and Ella Grey (1)", with the image, linked on the page with the Image ID number "3".
- Click on the down arrow in the License field and select the type of license. "Licensing" here refers to your right to post the image. You must choose a license for your image. See Help:Image licensing for help choosing a license.
- Enter the name of the copyright holder if known into the Copyright holder field. For most older family photographs the copyright holder will be "Unknown". Note: Copyrights belong to the creator or his/her heirs and often out-live that creator. Click here for more copyright information.
- Enter the date the image was made into the Image date field.
- Enter the name of the place to which the image relates into the Place field. To use the Place index, type the name of the city, followed by a comma. You might have to wait a moment while the search is performed. Click on the proper location from the drop down list of all the places in the world that have that name. This will geocode your image.
- Link the image directly to the people and families associated with the image by entering the exact name of each page in the Person page or Family page fields, including the person index number or family index number. If more than one relevant person or family page exists then click on the Add another person or Add another family links.
- If you are unsure of the exact title of the page, type the beginning of the page title (the given name for person pages or the father's first name for family pages is usually enough). A drop down list will appear after a moment and you can select the correct page. The drop down list contains pages from your current watchlist. This means that you must be watching a page in order to link to it in this manner.
- These links are bi-directional, so if a person or family page links to an image, then the image will automatically link to the person or family page, and vice-versa. Information about the people that the image links to (birth & death dates & places) automatically appears on the image page. Because you can now link directly to people and family pages, entering surnames for the image is no longer supported.
- Enter anything you would like to include on the image's WeRelate page in the Text field.
- Click on "Upload file".
- Click on "Save file".
Uploading an Image from a Person/Family Page
- From the Edit page of either a Person or a Family, navigate to the Images section toward the bottom of the page - it is located between the "Sources" and the "Notes" sections.
- Click Add Image
- Click Upload to the right of the "Title" box, to upload a new image
- Once it is uploaded, close the new image page
- On the Person/Family edit page, select Choose to find the image you just uploaded
- When you choose your image it will automatically appear in the Title box on the edit page
- Be sure to add a description
- If you want this to be the primary image and be shown at the top of the page check the "Primary" box to the right of the description box
- Click Show Preview at the bottom of the page to see how your page will look
- Add a summary of what you did to the page
- When you are satisfied click Save Page to save your work
Lesson Three: Annotating an image
You can add labels, or annotations, to any image on WeRelate. Typically, you would do this to label persons or landmarks in photographs. For example, if there were a picture of a family of ten, uploaded onto WeRelate, you could annotate the image, labeling each of the known children, as well as the family dog or homestead. These annotations are only visible on the image's individual page--not when it is included in the text of a person or family page. Annotations help you organize family images and effectively share important photographs with others. See this example of an image that has been annotated.
Objective: This lesson will teach you how to annotate an image.
- At the top of the image page that you created when you uploaded an image in Lesson Two, click on Edit at the top of the page.
- The first thing you will see on the edit page is the image itself. Above the image, there should be three icons:
- Click on "Add Note" to the right of the pencil icon, above the image. Two boxes will appear; a square box near the center of the image and a gray box below the image.
- To move the square box, click inside the box, hold down the mouse button, and drag the box over the person/landmark/item that you wish to annotate.
- To change the size of the repositioned square box, click and drag any of the eight tiny white squares around the edges of the box. Arrange the box so that it properly outlines the object of your annotation.
- Once the box is positioned and sized correctly, scroll down to the gray box. If you simply wish to label an object with a name, enter the name in the Title field. If you wish to add any further information, enter it into the Content field. For example, if I had a picture of my grandfather fishing, I could center the box around his head and torso, type his name into the Title box, and type "Fishing on the South Fork in Rigby, Idaho" into the Content box.
- Click "OK" at the top of the gray box.
- Click on "Add Note" again to annotate additional persons/objects in the photograph. Follow the six steps above.
- If you wish to change an annotation, click on "Edit Note" to the right of the paper icon, above the image. After you click on the icon, it should appear in bold color.
- Click inside the box of the annotation you wish to change. The gray box will reappear below the image.
- Now you can resize or reposition the box. Also, you can change the Title and Content of the annotation.
- When you are done making changes, click "OK" at the top of the gray box. To discard your changes, click "Cancel".
- To delete an unwanted annotation, click on "Delete Note" to the right of the X icon, above the image. It should appear in bold color.
- Click inside the box of the annotation you wish to delete. A dialog box will open asking you if you really want to delete the annotation.
- To delete it, click "OK". To leave it, click "Cancel".
- To save your annotations/changes/deletions, click on "Save page" at the bottom of the screen. The annotations will be visible to anyone viewing the image page.
- To view the image without the annotations, on the image page, click on "Hide Notes" above the image. If they are hidden, you can choose to show them by clicking "Show Notes".
Lesson Four: Placing an image on a page
Objective: This lesson will show you different methods of placing images on your page
Image on Left side of page
- To keep the image on the left side of the page simply create the image tag inside the text box and it will automatically be placed on the left edge of the page
- You type:[[Image:WeRelate.gif]]
- The Result:
Centering the Image
- To center the image on the page add the <center></center> tags before and after the Image tag in the text box.
- You type:: <center>[[Image:WeRelate.gif]]</center>
- The result:
- Note: The <right> </right> tag does not work.
Including an Image Gallery on your page
An image gallery will place multiple thumbnail images on your page with captions. The illustrations below will show you how to add this useful tool to your page. Enter the following in the in the text box.
- Replace the "xxxxx.jpg" with the page title of your Image file (not the URL)
- Replace "caption" with the text you want to appear below the image
- If you only have 2 or 3 images, delete the other lines beginning with the word Image
- If you have more than 8 images add more lines
- The Gallery will be placed at the left side of the page
Image:xxxxx.jpg|There it is again
Centering the Gallery
- To center the Gallery on the page, type the following in the text box.
- Add the <center> tag above the <gallery> tag.
- Add the </center> below the </gallery> tag.
Image:xxxxx.jpg|The same logo again
How do I delete an image?
- At the present, only administrators may delete images. Until we have it working for all users, please delete the contents of the text box, type [[Category:Speedy Delete]] in the text box and save. An administrator will remove the page.
What is metadata?
- The fields on the image upload screen create metadata. This is computerese for indexing information attached to the page. Each field is used to index the image and thus make it easier for others to find it. You can index your image by image date, place, person page, family page, and/or copyright holder.
- Image date:
- This is the date shown in the image. For instance, if the original picture was made in 1910 and you scanned the image in 2005, the image date would be 1910. Including the image date indexes the image by date. This helps others find images from a particular time frame.
- This is the place to which the image is relevant. For example, if you are uploading a copy of the census for Pratt, Kansas, you would enter "Pratt,"--note the comma--and wait a moment. The place field accesses the place index and will shortly give you a list of all the "Pratts" in the place index. When you select the appropriate place, the image will be geocoded.
- Person page and/or Family page
- Link the image directly to the people and families associated with the image by entering the exact name of each page in the Person page or Family page fields, including the person index number or family index number. If more than one relevant person or family page exists then click on the Add another person or Add another family links. If you are unsure of the exact title of the page, type the beginning of the page title (the given name for person pages or the father's first name for family pages is usually enough). A drop down list will appear after a moment and you can select the correct page. The drop down list contains pages from your current watchlist. This means that you must be watching a page in order to link to it in this manner. These links are bi-directional, so if a person or family page links to an image, then the image will automatically link to the person or family page, and vice-versa. Information about the people that the image links to (birth & death dates & places) automatically appears on the image page. Because you can now link directly to people and family pages, entering surnames for the image is no longer supported
- Copyright holder
- Enter the name of the person or company that created the material, not the person who created the copy. The government usually owns the copyright on its own documents. The photographer or his company usually owns the copyright on pictures. With older photographs, you often won't know who the copyright holder is.
How do I embed a link in an Image?
- You cannot embed a link within an image but to embed a link within the caption:
- [[Image:xxxx.jpg|thumb|100px|left|this caption contains a [[link]]]]
- Set up:
[[Image:Solveig.JPG|thumb|left|100px|Welcome to WeRelate! [[User:Solveig|Solveig]]]]
How do I keep the images from floating?
- When you put an image in the text box, the system will arrange them in as efficient display as possible. This means that smaller images are often interspersed in the text. You can force the next line of text to appear below your image by typing
- <br clear=all>
on a separate line under the image tag.
How do I include an image in a frame with a caption?
in the text box.
How can I change the size of an image?
- When you are adding the image link in the text box, insert a "px" size modifier. By changing the modifier number preceding the px in the link you can change the size of the image on the page.
- 100px [[Image:Robert & Elizabeth Coker household in 1850 census in Murray County part 2.jpg|100px]]
- 200px [[Image:Robert & Elizabeth Coker household in 1850 census in Murray County part 2.jpg|200px]]
- 300px [[Image:Robert & Elizabeth Coker household in 1850 census in Murray County part 2.jpg|300px]]
How do I create a thumbnail with a caption?
Where do I go from here?