Photos Help


This help page is meant to help you enjoy your photos at Web Baby Shower. It is divided into three sections to help you with all aspects of taking and displaying photos at Web Baby Shower:



Getting Photos Ready For The Web

Before you upload photos to your Web Baby Shower, please take a moment to read this important information about taking and optimizing photos for the Web.

Help with the Web Baby Shower Host Control Panel Photo Manager

The Photo Manager in the Host Control Panel helps you accomplish the following tasks:

Help with the Web Baby Shower Photo Album

Frequently Asked Questions and troubleshooting:



Getting Photos Ready For The Web

Before you can add photos to your Web Baby Shower, you need to take them with a camera and then prepare the photos and your computer for uploading them to your Web Baby Shower. The information in this section of the Photos Help page will help you to do that.

Tips for Taking Photos for The Web

No matter what kind of camera you have, start out by taking photos that will display well on the web.

  • Bright sunlight (sun behind photographer) or flash work best. Just be careful taking flash photos of newborn babies!

  • Zoom in on and frame the PEOPLE. This isn't a travel site. It's a baby shower site. Scenic photos are nice, but everyone who comes to Web Baby Shower wants to see Momma and Baby, not beaches and mountains. Don't be modest -- show off that belly and then the baby!!!

  • From Jeffrey Housenbold and Dave Johnson, co-authors of the book, "The Shutterfly Guide to Great Digital Photos," come these tips for getting your best digital camera pictures:

    • Freeze the moment with the two-step shutter release
      Know how to use your two-step shutter release. By slightly pressing down on the shutter release button, you can lock the focus. Now, continue to hold the button so you can recompose the picture without changing the focus. Once you have the perfect photo, press the button all the way to snap the final shot.

    • Eliminate the "lag time" by presetting the white balance.
      Cameras have an automatic way of adjusting for different lighting situations. It's called white balance. When your white balance is set to the "auto" default, your camera must adjust the colors each time you take a picture, and that creates lag time. Preset your white balance to the lighting you're in -- daylight, night, fluorescent, or incandescent -- and you'll get a faster response from your camera and bright, accurate colors every time.

    • Highlight the motion by panning the camera.
      Panning captures your subject in sharp focus while blurring the background. Position yourself to follow the motion of the moving subject. Press the shutter release and hold it down for a few seconds as you swivel your body to follow the subject.

    • Catch your kids in the act by getting close to the action.
      When photographing your next soccer game, move closer to the action and stay down at kid level by shooting from your knees or on your belly. Also, your picture will have more impact if you frame the action tightly and keep one or only a few players in the shot.





Optimizing Digital Camera Photos or Scanned Photos

  1. Most digital cameras use JPEG (.jpg or .jpeg) format.
    If yours does not, you will have to use a photo editing program, such as Adobe PhotoShop Elements, to SAVE AS JPEG format. Simply renaming the file with a .jpg extension WILL NOT convert it to a JPEG file. You must use a photo editor to SAVE AS .jpg
  2. Most digital cameras and scanners come with a photo editing program which was most likely installed on your computer when you installed the digital camera hardware and drivers. If not, Web Baby Shower recommends Adobe PhotoShop Elements for formatting and optimizing your photos.
  3. Once you have your photo editing software installed, the first thing you want to do is make a copy (use "SAVE AS") of your photo so you have an original "backup". Don't skip this step. If anything goes wrong, you'll regret it.
  4. CROP the photo. Pare it down to the people and get rid of any extraneous background.
  5. If your photo is still above 800x600 pixels in size, resize the photo to about 800x600 pixels; make sure that the resolution is set no higher than 96 ppi.
  6. Finally, if the picture is too light/dark red/green/blue, adjust the contrast and color balance. Again, you will have to see your photo editor's help section for instructions.
  7. When you are done, save the photo in JPEG format.




Film Photos

If your film is already developed, you need to have the photos scanned into JPEG format and then optimized for display on Web Baby Shower (see digital camera tips above). If your photos are already developed, you can scan the photos yourself if you have a scanner, or you can take them to a local photo, print or office store where they offer scanning services. Whichever route you use to scan your photos, make sure that the scans are in JPEG format.

If your film is still undeveloped you can save time and money by sending it to an online film processing service such as Shutterfly or Snapfish, who will develop and scan your film for you. If you use an online service, you will need to copy (download) your photos from your photo processing service account to your computer's hard drive before you can upload them to your Web Baby Shower.





Frequently Asked Question: Why Do We Have To Optimize Photos For The Web?

Everyone loves photos, but almost no one likes web pages that take forever to download or where you have to keep scrolling sideways to see a photo. Optimizing your photos helps to make sure that everyone can view your photos right on your Web Baby Shower with as little hassle as possible. Remember, photos have to be small in file size to download quickly and need to be sized to fit within the Web Baby Shower template so that everyone who visits your Web Baby Shower can view them easily.





Get ready to upload photos to your Web Baby Shower

Once your photos have been taken and are in digital JPEG format on your hard drive, and you are ready to begin uploading them to your Web Baby Shower, please check the following to help ensure a smooth upload:

  1. All photos must be in JPEG format. If any of your photos are not in JPEG format, you must use a photo editing software program, such as Adobe PhotoShop Elements to save the file in JPEG format.
  2. All photos must be under 1,600KB (approx 1.6MB) in file size. If any of your photos are larger than this, please use a photo editing software program, such as Adobe PhotoShop Elements to resize or resample the photo so that it is under 1,600KB in file size. Usually, photos that are sized at or under 800x600 pixels have a file size small enough to upload to Web Baby Shower.
  3. Make sure that your web browser's Temporary Internet Files or "cache" is cleared. Please check your web browser's Help section for information on clearing the browser's Temporary Files or "cache".
  4. Make sure that webbabyshower.com is listed as a trusted website in your web browser, anti-virus and firewall.
  5. Make sure that your web browser allows pop-ups and cookies from webbabyshower.com

Once you have checked all of the above, log into your Host Control Panel and click "Photos" to upload your photos to your Web Baby Shower.





Help with the Web Baby Shower Host Control Panel Photo Manager

This section contains instructions for uploading and managing your photos at Web Baby Shower.


Upload Photos

To upload photos to your Web Baby Shower, please follow these steps. Please make sure you have read and followed the instructions in the "Get ready to upload photos to your Web Baby Shower" section above.

  1. Go to your Web Baby Shower home page
  2. Log into your Host Control Panel
  3. Click "Photos" (camera icon)
  4. Under "What would you like to do?" choose "Upload Photos"
  5. Click "Go!"
  6. Please read the instructions at the top of the page carefully.
  7. You will be able to upload up to 5 photos at a time. This help ensures a smooth, successful upload of your photos.
  8. To upload a photo, click the "Browse" button next to the first photo upload box. An "open file" dialog box will appear. Navigate to the folder on your computer's hard drive where you photo is. Click on the photo name and then click "open"
  9. The photo's folder and file name will be added to the photo upload box for you.
  10. Continue adding photos to the rest of the photo upload boxes, as desired.
  11. When you are done, click the "Yes Upload Photos" button.
  12. A pop-up box with graphical "file loading" counter will appear while your files are being uploaded. Please note that photo uploads can take up to several minutes. The pop-up box will close automatically when your upload is complete.
  13. If the upload does not complete after several minutes and the pop-up box does not close, please see the above section entitled "Get Ready ..." for more information.
  14. Once your upload is complete, a preview of the photos you just uploaded will appear, and you will be able to choose to upload more photos, or manage the ones you just uploaded (see below for more information)

Notes:

  • Each photo you successfully upload will be optimized for display on your Web Baby Shower; if the file size of the original photos allows, a higher resolution photo will also be saved so that your guests can view a larger photo, and also for printing high resolution version in your Printer-friendly Keepsake
  • You can upload up to 100 photos to your Web Baby Shower, at any point during your Web Baby Shower.




Change the Order the Photos Appear in on your Photo Album page

Your photos will be displayed in your Web Baby Shower Photo Album in order you uploaded them. However, if you would like to change the order that they appear in, you may do so as follows:

  1. Go to your Web Baby Shower home page
  2. Log into your Host Control Panel
  3. Click "Photos" (camera icon)
  4. Under "What would you like to do?" choose "Edit Photos Sort Order"
  5. Click "Go!"
  6. A list of your photos in their current sort order will appear; each photo will be represented in thumbnail size.
  7. You can change the order of your photos by using the "Move to Top" button or by using the drop-down list to move it to a specific position.
  8. To move a photo to the first position, click the "Move To Top" button next to it. The "Move To Top" button is a blue up arrow, with a bar over it.
  9. To move a photo to a different position, use the "Move To" drop-down list next to it. Simply select the number where you want the photo to appear.
  10. You can keep changing photos' sort order until you have the display order you want.
  11. When you are done, you can use the "What would you like to do menu" at the bottom of the page to navigate to other sections of the Photo Manager, or use the links at the top of the page to go back to the Host Control Panel main page or your Web Baby Shower.




Edit Titles & Captions

You can add a title, description and date taken to each of your photos as follows:

  1. Go to your Web Baby Shower home page
  2. Log into your Host Control Panel
  3. Click "Photos" (camera icon)
  4. Under "What would you like to do?" choose "Edit Titles & Captions"
  5. Click "Go!"
  6. You will be taken to a form with the first photo in your Photo Album. The form will have a place where you can indicate a Title (up to 35 characters) as well as a longer description (up to 500 characters), and the date taken. Please note that for security purposes, you must submit the form within 15 minutes to avoid losing your form data
  7. You can use the navigation links to move among your photos if you do not want to edit the photo information for the first photo. If you have uploaded more than 5 photos, there will also be a drop down menu which you can use the navigate directly to any photo in your photo album.
  8. When you are done adding a title, description and/or a date taken to a photo, click the submit button. There are up to three submit buttons to help you both submit your titles and move on to the next photo you want to add titles to:
    • Submit & Go To Next: Use this button to submit your photo information and go to the next photo in your photo album so that you can edit its photo information
    • Submit & Go To Previous: Use this button to submit your photo information and then go to the previous photo in your photo album so that you can edit its photo information
    • Submit & Finish: Use this button to submit your photo information and return to the Photo Manager main menu, when you are done editing photo titles and descriptions

Notes:

  • Titles, captions, date taken and date uploaded appear only in your Web Baby Shower photo album page and on the photo pages in your Printer-friendly keepsake; they will not appear on your home page, birth announcement or other places where your photos may be displyed.
  • The date uploaded is automatically recorded when you upload a photo and cannot be changed or removed.




Choose a Photo for your Web Baby Shower home page

You can pick any of the photos in your Web Baby Shower Photo Album to display on your Web Baby Shower home page, regardless of what order it appears in your Photo Album.

  1. Go to your Web Baby Shower home page
  2. Log into your Host Control Panel
  3. Click "Photos" (camera icon)
  4. Under "What would you like to do?" choose "Choose A Photo for Your Web Baby Shower Home Page"
  5. Click "Go!"
  6. From here, you can choose to use a photo already in your photo album or upload a new one, if there is room in your photo album.
    • To use a photo already in your photo album:
      1. Click the radio button next to "Use A Photo Already in the Photo Album"
      2. Click the "Continue" button
      3. The next page will contain a thumbnail sized sample of all of the photos currently uploaded to your Web Baby Shower. Click the radio button beneath the photo you wish to display on your Web Baby Shower home page.
      4. Click Submit
    • To upload a new photo for your Web Baby Shower home page:
      1. Make sure you are familiar with the photo upload process at Web Baby Shower (see "Get Ready ..." above)
      2. If you already have 100 photos uploaded to your Web Baby Shower, you will not be given the option to upload another one for the home page; you must select a photo from your current photo album (see above) or remove a photo (see below).
      3. Click the radio button next to "Upload A New Photo for the Home Page"
      4. Click the "Browse" button next to the photo upload form.
      5. An Open File dialog box will open.
      6. Navigate on your computer's hard drive to the folder where the photo you wish to use is, and then click on the photo's name, then click the "Open" button in the Open File dialog box
      7. The photo's file location and name should now appear in the photo upload box form.
      8. Click the "Continue" Button
      9. A pop-up box with graphical "file loading" counter will appear while your files are being uploaded. Please note that photo uploads can take up to several minutes. The pop-up box will close automatically when your upload is complete.
      10. Once your upload is complete, you will be returned to the main menu in the Home Page Manager.
  7. If you wish to change the photo on your Web Baby Shower home page, simply follow these instructions again to choose a different photo (you do not need to remove the current photo first).

Notes:

  • You can choose to display a photo, Web Baby Shower clipart or a video on your Web Baby Shower home page. If you wish to use clipart or a video instead, please use the Home Page Manager to make your selection
  • This feature is controlled in conjunction with the Home Page Manager (see Help), so you will end up at the Home Page Manager when you are done. You will need to return to the Host Control Panel main page to return to the Photo Manager.
  • To upload more than one photo at a time, please see the "Upload Photos" instructions above.
  • The photo will also be displayed in your Web Baby Shower Photo Album, along with any captions, descriptions, date added information you add to it (see above)
  • Photo information such as titles, descriptions, dates are not displayed on the Web Baby Shower home page.




Choose a Photo for your Web Baby Shower Birth Announcement

You can pick any of the photos in your Web Baby Shower Photo Album to display on your Web Baby Shower birth announcement, regardless of what order it appears in your Photo Album. Please note that you must first use the "Announce The Birth" function in the Host Control Panel before you can choose a photo for it; the birth announcement page will not appear in your Web Baby Shower until you use the "Announce The Birth" form to announce the birth.

  1. Make sure you have used the "Announce The Birth" form in the Host Control Panel to set up the birth announcement page first.
  2. Go to your Web Baby Shower home page
  3. Log into your Host Control Panel
  4. Click "Photos" (camera icon)
  5. Under "What would you like to do?" choose "Choose A Photo for Your Web Baby Shower Birth Announcement"
  6. Click "Go!"
  7. From here, you can choose to use a photo already in your photo album or upload a new one, if there is room in your photo album.
    • To use a photo already in your photo album:
      1. Click the radio button next to "Use A Photo Already in the Photo Album"
      2. Click the "Continue" button
      3. The next page will contain a thumbnail sized sample of all of the photos currently uploaded to your Web Baby Shower. Click the radio button beneath the photo you wish to display on your Web Baby Shower birth announcement.
      4. Click Submit
    • To upload a new photo for your Web Baby Shower birth announcement:
      1. Make sure you are familiar with the photo upload process at Web Baby Shower (see "Get Ready ..." above)
      2. If you already have 100 photos uploaded to your Web Baby Shower, you will not be given the option to upload another one for the birth announcement; you must select a photo from your current photo album (see above) or remove a photo (see below).
      3. Click the radio button next to "Upload A New Photo for the Birth Announcement"
      4. Click the "Browse" button next to the photo upload form.
      5. An Open File dialog box will open.
      6. Navigate on your computer's hard drive to the folder where the photo you wish to use is, and then click on the photo's name, then click the "Open" button in the Open File dialog box
      7. The photo's file location and name should now appear in the photo upload box form.
      8. Click the "Continue" Button
      9. A pop-up box with graphical "file loading" counter will appear while your files are being uploaded. Please note that photo uploads can take up to several minutes. The pop-up box will close automatically when your upload is complete.
  8. If you wish to change the photo on your Web Baby Shower birth announcement, simply follow these instructions again to choose a different photo (you do not need to remove the current photo first).

Notes:

  • If you do not choose a photo to appear on the birth announcement, the clipart that you have chosen for your Web Baby Shower home page will appear on the birth announcement. To change the clipart selection, please see the Home Page Manager
  • Because the birth annoucement also appears in the printer-friendly pages of your Web Baby Shower, it is not possible to display a video on the birth announcement.
  • To upload more than one photo at a time, please see the "Upload Photos" instructions above.
  • The photo will also be displayed in your Web Baby Shower Photo Album, along with any captions, descriptions, date added information you add to it (see above)
  • Photo information such as titles, descriptions, dates are not displayed on the Web Baby Shower birth announcment.




Remove Photos

You can remove photos from your Web Baby Shower photo album at any time. Please note that removing a photo is permanent -- it is not kept "on file" or back up -- it will be removed from the Web Baby Shower system permanently.

  1. Go to your Web Baby Shower home page
  2. Log into your Host Control Panel
  3. Click "Photos" (camera icon)
  4. Under "What would you like to do?" choose "Remove Photos"
  5. Click "Go!"
  6. The next page will have a list of thumbnail versions of the photos currently uploaded to your Web Baby Shower. Check the box next to each photo you would like to remove.
  7. You can also use the drop-down box to select all of the photos, or reverse your selection
  8. Once you are done selecting the photos you wish to remove, click the "Remove Selected Photos" button at the bottom of the page.
  9. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to permanently remove the photo(s) plus any captions and any other photo information. Click "Yes, Remove Photos" to continue. If you change your mind, you may click "No, Cancel" to cancel.




Help with the Web Baby Shower Photo Album


This section of Photos Help is meant to address Frequently Asked Questions and trouble shoot common problems.

Where do photos go when I upload them?

When your Web Baby Shower is initially set up, only the Guest Book, Live Chat and Printer-Friendly pages are included, to help avoid any confusion of linking to pages that do not have any content. Once you use the Photo Manager in the Host Control Panel to upload photos to your Web Baby Shower (see above), a link to the Photo Album will appear in your Web Baby Shower navigation bar and you and your guests will be able to view the photos on the Photo Album page.





When does the photo album appear?

When your Web Baby Shower is initially set up, only the Guest Book, Live Chat and Printer-Friendly pages are included, to help avoid any confusion of linking to pages that do not have any content. Once you use the Photo Manager in the Host Control Panel to upload photos to your Web Baby Shower (see above), a link to the Photo Album will appear in your Web Baby Shower navigation bar and you and your guests will be able to view the photos on the Photo Album page.





I don't see any photos ...

First of all, please make sure that the host and/or expecting parents have actually uploaded photos to the Web Baby Shower. Most often, friends and relatives are expecting to see photos before anyone has had a chance to upload them -- please be patient!

If you are sure that photos have been uploaded and you cannot see them on the Web Baby Shower, please check the following:

  • Make sure that your web browser security settings, or any Internet filtering program, allow you to view photos at Web Baby Shower
  • Make sure that you have added webbabyshower.com as a trusted website to your web browser, anti-virus, and firewall software.
  • Make sure that your web browser and any pop-up blockers allow pop-ups from webbabyshower.com
  • Make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your web browser
  • Try closing your web browser completely, re-start it and return to the Web Baby Shower
  • To force your browser to update the page content, hold down the Ctrl Key and Click the "Refresh/Reload" button in your browser at the same time




The pop-up version does not work

A "larger view" of photos is available using a pop-up window. However, this feature is not always available, depending on a few conditions:

  • If a photo that is uploaded to Web Baby Shower is smaller than 400x400 pixels, it is not possible to create a "larger version" of it and only the original photo will be available for viewing -- there will not be a link to a pop-up larger version.
  • If a photo was converted from an earlier version of Web Baby Shower, it will not have a corresponding pop-up version.
  • You must allow pop-ups from webbabyshower.com in your web browser and any pop-up blockers you have installed.
  • Make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your web browser.
  • If you use the FireFox browser, it has an advanced Javascript option called "Raise or lower windows" which is deactivated by default. If you use the FireFox browser, you must tell it to allow pop-up windows as follows:
    • Tools
    • Options
    • Content tab
    • Advanced button next to "Enable JavaScript"
    • Check the box named "Raise or Lower Windows"




Will my photos be used for other purposes?

No! Absolutely not! The photos that you upload to Web Baby Shower will stay put in your private Web Baby Shower and will be removed from the system completely when your Web Baby Shower ends. Please note that your guests may download and/or print a copy of your photos for themselves.

The photos used in the public areas of the Web Baby Shower website are all licensed from stock photo collections, or are from my personal family photos. I would never use any of your photos without getting your permission first. Please feel free to see the Terms of Service Privacy Policy for more information.





Technical Information for Advanced Users

Any photos that exceed 350 pixels in width or length will be re-sized to have a maximum width or length of 350 pixels. In addition, photos with a file size of over 30KB will be compressed to a file size under 30KB. If you are picky and do not want the computer to do this for you, then I recommend re-sizing them yourself before you upload your photos. If you optimize your own photos, make sure that neither the length or width exceed 350 pixels and that the file size is below 30KB. If your photos meet these requirements, they will not be re-sized by the photo uploader script. If you do not understand this information, don't worry, the photo uploader will take care of everything for you!

If your photo is larger than 400x400, a hi-resolution/pop-up version of the photo will be saved as well. The high resolution version will be used for the "larger version" pop-up on the Photo Album. If all of your photos have a high resolution version saved at Web Baby Shower, then they will be displayed on the printer-friendly pages.





Terms and Conditions

  • By uploading photos to Web Baby Shower you give permission for Web Baby Shower to use the materials on its website, and confirm that you have the authority to grant such permission to Web Baby Shower
  • Web Baby Shower reserves the right to remove any photos that do not comply to these guidelines or otherwise found to be in poor taste or inappropriate for this family-friendly website.
  • See Terms of Service for complete information on using Web Baby Shower




Updated September 23, 2009






Important Note: At this time this website is offered in English only. Any language translations of this website are unofficial and not authorized. This website is not responsible for errors, omissions or mistranslations caused by unauthorized translations. Thank you.