You can then continue editing the post, adding text above or below the photo:



That's it. If you know some basic HTML, you can also control the layout a little better and do other neat things like:

* Make images clickable links

* Specify the alignment of the photo -- left, right or center, using the following HTML:

Stuff you want to center

* Add alt text, which is text that describes the photo and shows up before the image loads -- this is important to visually-impaired visitors who use screen readers.

I will dive deeper into some of these things in a future entry.

FYI, one thing I find that makes blogging easier is the use of tabbed browsing (which is a lot like Tabbed IMs in the AOL software, only with browser windows). It makes it a lot easier to switch between different windows. Firefox and AOL Explorer both support tabbed browsing -- it makes things a lot faster for me.

This will insert the photo, and it will show up in the editing window. (This method also works for images that are hosted elsewhere, like if you're using third-party image hosting. Be careful, though, if you're hotlinking to someone else's photo -- you might want to save it to your own space first.)

Then, when you're creating your entry, click the little camera button that's in the formatting toolbar:

This will pop up a box where you can put the address of the photo you want to use. You then paste the image URL you copied from File Manager into this box (to paste, either right-click the mouse and select "Paste", or using the keyboard shortcut of Control-V):

(Or, if you prefer, you can simply click the file name to view the picture; you can then copy the URL from the address bar.)

Once you have it, click the "Add Picture" button.

This will stick the photo at the top of your entry, and depending on the size, will wrap the surrounding text around it.

Slightly Harder Way (that gives you more control): Refer back to Step 4 above: After you upload the photo to File Manager, right-click the file name and copy the photo's address (depending on your browser, it will be either "Copy Shortcut" or "Copy Link Location"):

Easy Way

In the entry creation window, click the blue hyperlink that says: "Add Pictures From Hometown":

Click the link, then choose the photo you want. If you use folders or subfolders to organize your pictures, you will have to dig down to the right subfolder until you find the photo you want (it will show you a preview of each photo):

How To: Add Photos (Step-by-Step)

Hi folks...we're getting more snow right now -- it should only be a dusting, though it will probably turn to ice and make driving tricky later on.

I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you again how I put photos in my blog.

Now, first off, there's nothing wrong with just clicking the big blue button that says "Add Pictures" when you're creating or editing an entry. This lets you upload pictures to a new AOL Pictures album (which you can also add captions to), and is quick and easy. Plus, it's great if you want to get that slideshow effect. (I used it myself just last week.) That's not what I did above, though.

Sometimes, especially for single pictures, you don't want the extra border, and you want to show the photos full-size. Here's what I do for that:
step 1:
First, of course, you have to take the picture and download it to your computer (if you're using a photo you already have on your computer, you can probably skip ahead a few steps.)

Step 2:
Then, you'll want to edit your photo. I've been playing around with the free Paint.NET application for Windows, which is very slick and fast for your basic image manipulations: cropping and resizing, adjusting color, contrast, brightness, etc. (I mentioned Paint.NET and some other tools and tips in my earlier entry on digital photos.)

Size-wise, for your typical three-column Journal (which is a left sidebar, a center column, and a right sidebar), a good photo width is about 450 pixels wide. Also, don't forget to try to keep the file size down -- ideally, you want to save it at the lowest JPEG image quality that still preserves the look of the photo (that is, it doesn't introduce the weird jaggies called Compression artifacts).

Oh, and one more thing -- photos are typically better saved as JPEG files; drawings usually do better as GIF files.

Step 3:
Then, you'll want to upload the photo to your FTP/Hometown space, using the Web-based File Manager -- I did a full tutorial on using File Manager here.

Step 4
After you've uploaded the photo, it should show up in your File Manager list:

Tips on HOW TO UPLOAD PICTURES

Many new users are confused about how to upload pictures to Blogger. There are three places in your blog where you may need pictures. One is in the template where you put pictures which can be seen from anywhere in the blog. You can put them in the header, in the background or in the blog columns. You can also make them into clickable links. The second place is in your profile. The third place to put pictures is in your post.................At the outset let me reiterate that you can only upload pictures to blogger and for all other files see Upload files to Blogger.To upload pictures to your post first login to Dashboard and click on +New Post. The Post Editor opens and click on the blue square icon in the top frame (see arrow in picture below :)