? Step 1: Choose Your Equipment
? Step 2: Create a Great Photo
? Step 3: Copy Your Photo to the Web
Step 1: Choose Your Equipment
Make your item description come to life with a clear, vivid
photo. Here are some tips for getting started.
What will you use to create a digital photo of your item?
Digital camera！a digital camera lets you snap a picture of
your item and immediately have it in digital format, ready
to edit with your computer. Your digital camera will come
with instructions on how to transfer (upload) photos to your
computer. Many digital cameras are for sale at AJ.
Regular camera and scanner！take a picture with a film camera,
have it developed, and then use a scanner to convert your
picture into an electronic image. You may be able to place
small, flat items like stamps or jewelry directly in your
scanner (and not need a camera).
Note: Many copy centers such as Kinkos or Mail Boxes Etc.
can do the scanning for you.
Film-to-digital-image service！you can get digital images made
from your rolls of film with digital image services. You may
be able to access your digital photos on a CD or on the Web.
Here are some tips from experienced AJ sellers for taking
photos that will make your item look its best and buyers confidence!
Use proper lighting. Many people find natural, outdoor lighting
best. Indoors or out, light your item thoroughly.
Consider a backdrop. If appropriate, consider using a plain,
colored fabric backdrop to make your item stand out. Don't
use pure white, as it tends to create too much contrast in
your photo. If you don't use a backdrop, be sure to move other
things out of the way so your item will really stand out.
Get close up! Buyers want to see detail, so really make your
item take up the whole frame. Consider taking a close-up of
a section of the item in addition to the entire object in
order to give buyers a better idea of the item's actual condition.
Edit Your Photo
Once your photo is on your computer hard drive, you can often
improve it with photo editing software, which may have come
with your digital camera or scanner. AJ Picture Services
and Picture Manager also provides photo editing features.
You can also download basic editing software from sites like
Tucows and Shareware.com.
Tips:
Remove unnecessary background.
Balance the contrast and brightness.
Save your edited picture as a JPEG(.jpg) file (file types
other than JPEG and GIF should not be used).
Here's how (in most programs):
Choose Save As from the File menu.
Name your file.
Select JPEG (.jpg) or GIF (.gif) from the Save as Type drop-down
list.
Planning on hosting your own picture? File size should be
under 50 KB (kilobytes) for quick page downloads.
Step 3: Copy Your Photo to the Web
There are two ways to get your picture onto the Web so you
can include it in your AJ listing or your About Me page:
Use AJ Picture Services. AJ will store and display your
pictures for your listings. You can pay for AJ Picture Services
on a per picture, or subscription basis.
Pay Per Picture - You can upload one or more pictures for
each listing. Your first picture on each listing is free.
Adding pictures and Supersize or Slideshow enhancements have
additional fees.
Picture Manager Subscription - Using Picture Manager, you
can upload pictures as a group, store them indefinitely and
add them to listing after listing. Picture Manager works with
the Sell Your Item form and Selling Manager Pro, so you can
quickly load your pictures into your listings.
Host your picture elsewhere. Perhaps your Internet Service
Provider (ISP) gives you some space on the Web where you can
store your pictures. Or maybe you'd like to try out picture-hosting
services like Twaze or PixHost. The Sell Your Item form has
a field where you can enter the Web address (URL) of a picture
stored on the Web. That picture will be displayed in your
listing. To display more than one externally hosted picture
on AJ, you'll have to use HTML in your listing.
File transfer software, such as WS_FTP for PCs (includes
AJ user reference guide) or Fetch Softworks for Macs will
assist in uploading your picture file to your ISP or hosting
service.
Add pictures on your About Me Page
You can add up to two free pictures on your About Me Page.
The picture weight cannot exceed 2 MB. If you've already set
up an About Me page and want to add pictures, go the main
About Me page and select the Edit Your Page button.
Add pictures on the Sell Your Item Form
In the section of the Sell Your Item Form labeled Add Pictures,
you are given a choice between AJ Picture Services and Web
Hosting.
