Photographs can add to the enjoyment and understanding of a website. However, they also add to the download time of the site so too many of them on a page will cause the visitor to have to wait. Studies show that most website visitors are not very patient people. 

Here are some guidelines for submitting and using photographs on your website:

Photographs and other images such as line drawings, logos and buttons may be added to your website. These images are created and stored in many formats but only .jpg and .gif formats will be used for posting on your webpage.

Photographs are normally posted to webpages in .jpg format. These files are generally small in size which makes for a faster downloading and viewing from a webpage. If your photograph is large (greater than 150 pixels wide), we will create a thumbnail (smaller version of the picture) for placement on the website. When a viewer clicks on the thumbnail, the complete, larger version will be displayed on the screen.

Generally, photographs should be no larger than 600 pixels wide since this is the width that will fill the average monitor screen. Where necessary, we will edit photos for size and crop them to show the most advantageous view.

Line drawings or color images that have only a few colors will be posted in .gif format. All of the headers and buttons used on the site have been created in .gif format.

If you have your images in other formats and do not have capability to convert them to .jpg or .gif, submit them to us and we will make the conversion. Digital images may be sent to us as an attachment to an email.

Snap shots or color prints may be used for images on your website. However, this will require us to scan and edit the pictures in the proper digital format for posting. There is a small extra fee for this service.

If the prints need to be returned to you, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your submittal. Prints may be sent to us by U.S. mail.

Captions may be added to photographs included on your website. Just submit the text and identify which image it accompanies by including the file name of the photograph.

Example:

File - goutweeds.jpg  

Caption - Helen and August Goutweed in their native village of Gustrow, Germany circa 1879

Images greater than 150 pixels in width will be transformed into a thumbnail. A photo thumbnail is a small version of an image which is linked to the full image. By clicking on the thumbnail, the viewer may choose to see a larger version. 

The reason for thumbs is that, the larger the picture, the longer the time required to download and view it on the screen. Thumbnails let the viewer make the decision on whether they want to wait a few seconds to view the full-sized picture or move on.

Example: Click on the thumbnail of this picture of giant rhododendrons on the west coast of France to view a larger version: