For the past month or so, I've noticed that whenever I attempt to upload the amateurish photographs that help illustrate my posts to Blogger, something rather odd happens. Not so noticeable perhaps at first glance, but when one expands the images to their full capacity, they become rather blurry.
I was beginning to wonder if I should pay a visit to my ophthalmologist. It then crossed my mind that my trusty little camera might have packed it all in and demanded its retirement. Prodding further into this sorry state of affairs, having already wasted several frustrating hours fiddling with settings I didn't even know existed, I came to the realization that both my camera and my spectacles were performing as expected. There was only one thing left to do and that was to throw myself down the rabbit hole that is Google and figure out exactly what it was that was causing my crisply detailed images to become a blur.
The answer, as it turns out, is that Blogger has deemed it appropriate to degrade the quality of my carefully shot images and publish them at a mere fraction of their original size and quality. My hands were tied. I had absolutely no control of how my images were published. To anyone who cares about such things, you can only imagine the frustration this has caused.
I've finally discovered a hack to restore my previous month's foggy image postings to their maximum effect; a pain to be sure, but a step I shall have to endure for all future published photographs. I have now applied the hack to each and every photograph of the last four postings.
Below is an example of what it is I'm talking about (don't forget to stretch/expand the images for full effect):
A degraded image of an Iris I included in a recent post
Photo: Chronica Domus
The higher quality original image - with hack applied - insuring it is published the way it was meant to be seen
Photo: Chronica Domus
Please bear with me while I work out a better solution to this time-consuming "trick". I shall resume my regularly scheduled postings within a few days but wanted to keep you all abreast of the goings on behind Chronica Domus.
Hello CD, I am not sure what is going on, but the two flowers look the same on my computer. I enlarged them both by clicking on them, and also by opening them in new windows and expanding them by clicking on the + button. To test detail, I followed the veins in the petals, and they really seem identical and very high quality--not fuzzy at all.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what is going on computer-wise, but slowing down and examining your vivid blue iris in detail was still a real treat.
--Jim
Oh, I just noticed--both images are called Folgers4.jpg, and when I saved them were both 285kb. Perhaps for your demo you posted the same photo twice?
ReplyDeleteHello Jim,
DeleteThank you for taking the time to observe both images up close. It is indeed the same image, but I applied "the hack" to the second one only (in the html). There really is a difference in quality when I enlarge my window to 200%, or even when I expand the image on a tablet's screen. I'm not such a tech savvy blogger, but I'm thankful I found a fix, at least as it appears on my end of things.
Now, why you view both images as high quality boggles the mind.
I tried it in two browsers, Internet Explorer and Opera, and the same result--all sharp and clear. Perhaps the fix applied to both. Maybe you could try renaming the original image and appending it.
DeleteAlso, try rebooting your computer because the two images may be loading from memory rather than fresh from the internet.
Hello Jim,
DeleteThis is all very perplexing. My husband just viewed both images on his Android tablet and he could most certainly see the difference in clarity when he expands the images by pinching them (is that the term?) open. I just checked my iPhone and there is no difference in photo quality when viewed from the mobile site, but I can clearly see the difference when viewed from the web version, still on my iPhone. I'm now wondering if this blurriness only applies to certain platforms. All very, very odd!
It's all I can do to add a link. Your beautiful flowers, Frankenstein trees, hair art, tablescapes, etc. are worthy of a crisp clear image. I'll have to find some kid to do it for me.
ReplyDeleteHello GSL,
DeleteYes, I usually have a "little man" to help me out but Googling my query seems to have paid off in this particular instance, at least from where I'm sitting.
CD,
ReplyDeleteI hate to further complicate things...I see both pictures of the Iris as identical when I click on each image individually. I'm on a PC, not an Apple, could that play into the mix?
You could always switch to Wordpress. I love my account and while my son set it up for me, I've known many bloggers that did it themselves.
xo,
Karen
Hello Karen,
DeleteThanks for confirming what Jim has already tipped me off to - that both images look identical! I find that so very perplexing and I'm beginning to wonder if the problem is related to the platform I am viewing my blog on. If I view the html behind my post, I see that each time I post an image, there are two lines of code related to that image - one shows a higher resolution, the other a lower. Perhaps one is designed to be viewed on a mobile site (where I see that both images look identical), and the other for a web site/browser - where I see a clear difference in the images I show above.
Any techies out there I wonder?
I do my blog on Live Writer, which is pretty simple an works with the blogger platform. It lets you upload large pix and then size them by dragging the corner. Both the images look identical to me, too.!
DeleteThank you, Meg. It is interesting for me to learn how other bloggers keep up their blogs and which programs they use.
DeleteI think I know why both images are appearing identical to everyone but me.
I agree with Jim and Karen! The only difference I can see is that the second photo is a slightly lighter hue, but I don't think that's what is concerning you.
ReplyDeleteA l'heure blur perhaps?
Dear columnist,
DeleteYou win the prize for wittiest comment - I love it - l'heure blur! Thank you for that.
You can find CSS codes for improving the quality of the images and also removing the frame around them - just google (the codes are then added to the custom part under blog design template). I used it a few times for my old design and it worked nicely, but unfortunately I can't remember where I found the code. I think it may also be related to either picasa or google+, the place where the images are uploaded by blogger once you publish them. You can also change the maximum size of your photos inside the actual code, so they fill the page rather than stay in a middle. Start with codeitpretty.com and google. Good luck! x
ReplyDeleteHello Natalia,
DeleteYou've given me something to think about this weekend and a little homework to catch up on. I do believe you may have hit the nail on the head when you state that you think my issue has something to do with google+. Thank you for your suggestions. I'm now off to do my homework.
I edit all my photos on Picasa any blurriness is down to me and hand shake. I couldn't see a difference in your photos to be honest - I hope you find a solution to your problem permanently.
ReplyDeleteHello elaine,
DeleteYou too have confirmed what my other readers have said - that both images are identical. I think I've figured out why and it has everything to do with which platform you are viewing my images in - web site vs. mobile site - and if the photos get stretched for better viewing (larger images) vs. simply clicking to open them.
I hate to add to the mystery but both images also appear identical to me. Did you ever get Windows 8? they have a great photo editing program which I then fine tune with Picasa.
ReplyDeleteDear Lindaraxa,
DeleteThe consensus is that both images appear identical and I've figured it out now (see comment to Elaine above). I've tested my theory on two different Android tablets, a laptop, and an iPhone on both the web view of my blog and the mobile site. Mobile site is displaying both images identically because the only way to view them larger is by clicking on them. The web view, when photos are stretched by increasing the size of the text/screen shows a marked difference between the two, as does stretching the images on a tablet also in the web view. OK, I'll shut up now because it is difficult to explain but I've figured out my problem and have a fix for it - phew!
We software people like to blame everything on the hardware;).
ReplyDeleteEither way, it's a beautiful iris!
I was always taught a workman never blames his tools but there is something horridly wrong with the way the two iris pictures appear on my end of things - specifically when enlarged by zooming to greater than 100% on a laptop or PC and when viewing the web site on a mobile device and expanding the images by pinching/stretching. Very odd indeed!
DeleteI've noticed the same thing as you with my photos (and I see the two photos you posted differently as well), and had thought that my already poor quality photographs were getting worse. You've made me feel better! But as for help with coding etc… well frankly it's lucky I even manage to get a blog post up, I am not the most technically minded (or interested, more to the point). Funny considering my older sister was a computer systems engineer in her first career phase (now has a phd in finance for something completely different). The entire family lazily make her work out our computer issues when she visits from the city she lives in!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Heidi! You've confirmed what I see all the way across the miles - one blurry image vs. one clear one.
DeleteI've just emailed you details on how to fix your image problem too, if you are interested in giving it a shot. Please let me know if it works.