Dominant Ad Creator [ Tutorials - Uploading Images ]

Uploading Images

As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". Virtually every online auction ad you look at these days will have some type of picture included along with the description. Allowing the viewers to see exactly what you are selling will probably increase your odds of getting bids.

There are two major types of image hosts; those that are HTTP-based (you upload and manage your images from within a website), and those that are FTP-based (you use an FTP-client or third party program to upload and manage your images). Dominant Ad Creator can support either type of image service, and the tutorials below will teach you how to upload images using either method.

[ Using an HTTP-Based Image Service ]
[ Using an FTP-Based Image Service ]

Using An HTTP-Based Image Host

This tutorial will walk you through a detailed course in getting your images uploaded and hosted on an Internet site (HTTP). If you have an FTP server that you can connect to and upload images, please refer to the FTP tutorial instead. It would be to your advantage to locate a host that will provide you with FTP space, due to the simplified process of adding images to your listings.

Finding A Reliable Photo Host

There are literally thousands of places to turn on the internet to get your image(s) hosted. You have the option to choose between free image hosting and paid image hosting. Here's a quick summary comparing free and paid solutions.

Free Hosting

PROS

Never have to pay monthly or yearly fees
Free hosting services usually work fine for the average person
No difficult sign-up is necessary at most free hosting sites

CONS

Images may be resized and compressed upon upload to reduce image size
Images might have a watermark placed on them by the hosting service
Bandwidth is usually quite limited, so your pictures may not appear if you receive high traffic to the ad or post a lot of auctions
You can not be certain that free hosting sites will always be free, or even if they will always exist

Paid Hosting

PROS

Photos are not resized or otherwise tampered with
With paid hosting, your photos are typically more secure and stable
You will not usually have to worry about using too much bandwidth, your images should appear on your auction no matter what

CONS

You will be required to make monthly or yearly payments, or else you will not be able to upload or view your images
You will normally have to provide a valid credit card and other personal information for the billing process

Now that you understand the differences between free hosting and paid hosting, I will now walk through the typical upload process using a very popular (and free) image hosting service. If you are interested in seeing plenty more free image hosting services, click here. The same general instructions presented here apply to most HTTP-based image hosting services.

PhotoBucket offers both HTTP-based image hosting (free) and FTP-based (paid) image hosting. The free service allows you to upload and maintain your images via a website. The pictures will stay on the server until you delete them and are not resized or modified in any form after they are uploaded.

Uploading Images Using PhotoBucket

1.) The first step to uploading images (after registering with your photo hosting site), is to log-on. If you are using PhotoBucket, you can log-on as soon as you go to PhotoBucket.com. No matter what photo hosting site you are using, you will usually need to log in before uploading images.

2.) Lets first learn how to create an album to store all of your auction images (PhotoBucket only). To create a new album, simply type in the album name in the text field next to 'Add Photo Album' and then hit the 'Create' button. Since you can use PhotoBucket (or most image services) for more than just online auctions, it is a good idea to create a folder specifically for your auction images. I will call my album 'auctions'.

3.) After clicking the Create button, the newly created album name appears lower on the page in the 'Photo Albums' section. Now, you need to click on the album name (in this example it is named Auctions) to be taken to that particular album.

4.) Once inside of the album you selected to store your auction photos, you will be able to upload as many images as you wish. To do so, click the 'Browse' button next to the 'Add Picture' text field(s) and then select the picture from your local computer. If you wish to upload more than one picture at a time, you can do so by selecting the option available.

5.) After you have the image(s) that you wish to upload specified, hit the "Submit" button. This process may take some time, because it is transferring the picture(s) from your computer to the hosting site. As soon as it is done, you will be returned to a page where all of the images in the current album (auctions) are listed.

6.) Now the last step is to obtain the correct image URL. PhotoBucket presents the correct link in an easy to understand format. Below each picture you have uploaded, you will see several text fields. The main field you should be concerned with if using Dominant Ad Creator is the one titled, 'URL'. Double-click the address within this field and then press CTRL+C to copy it to your clipboard.

Upload Pictures - PhotoIsland 5

Once the image URL is copied to your clipboard as step 6 described, it can be pasted into any of the active fields within the 'Add Images' window of Dominant Ad Creator and will appear correctly when the ad is submitted to an auction site!

If you need to upload more images at a later date, simply repeat the steps presented on this page, skipping step 2 since an auction album will already exist.

If you are not using PhotoBucket to host your auction pictures, you may need to read your hosting site's help information to fully understand how to upload and get links from pictures. Most follow similar steps as outlined here.

Using An FTP-Based Image Host

In this tutorial, I will briefly discuss how an FTP-Based image service works, and why it is different from an HTTP-Based service. Specific details about Dominant Ad Creator's FTP feature can be found HERE. You can also get more information about using the FTP feature in Dominant Ad Creator to add images, by reading the tutorial HERE.

Finding An FTP Host

Unlike HTTP-Based services, there are very few (if any) free services which offer reliable FTP capabilities. The good news is that approximately 80% to 85% of all Internet Service Providers offer free personal space with FTP access for all customers. Under most circumstances, you can use your free space to upload and manage your images for online auction sites. You can also do a search on any search engine for 'FTP image hosting' and check out the results that come up. Below are some pros and cons to using an FTP service over an HTTP service.

FTP Hosting

PROS

Typically FTP connections are faster to connect and upload pictures
You do not have to go to any site and log-in to manage your photos
It is much easier to insert pictures using Dominant Ad Creator
You can use a variety of free programs to connect to the FTP server

CONS

Unlike web-based, you will need to install an FTP program to connect (not required if using D.A.C.)
You never will have a visual overview of the images being stored
None (or very few) free FTP services are available

Now that you understand the positive and negative sides to using an FTP-based service, I will quickly describe the generic way to connect and upload images.

NOTE: Dominant Ad Creator includes built-in FTP uploading capabilities, and thus you will never need to use an external program or worry about manually uploading the images you use in your listings. The information below is merely to give you more understanding of the FTP process.

1.) After you have setup an FTP account with either your ISP or another company, you will need to download an FTP client. I highly recommend FileZilla, as it is free, fast, and is very user-friendly. Once the software is downloaded, install it by following the directions it contains.

2.) After launching the FTP client, you will need to specify various fields of data including the FTP address, username, password, and port to connect to. You can get all of this information from the FTP service you are signed-up with. Enter this data in the appropriate fields within the FTP software (it will vary from program to program, but the standard fields are usually in the same area).

3.) After you have all details entered correctly, click the Connect or QuickConnect button. If all is correct, you will log-in and can then upload or manage your images without troubles. The method of doing so depends on your software. FileZilla makes it easy as you simply have to drag and drop any files into the remote directory to transfer them.

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