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Need Guide on How to Upload Images to TMdb without losing it's original Color/Tone
posted by tmdb24407783STAFFMOD on December 4, 2018 at 1:01 PM
So, I've been noticing that waaay too many of the images I upload onto the db has its colors/tone changed (they become washed out/duller/greyer).
Instead of getting a moderator to reupload every single one of these uploaded images and future uploaded images, it would be so much more efficient if I could just learn how to do it myself.
I've tried looking at tutorials, but a) I don't really know what I'm looking for, and b) I have little to no experience/skills in photo editing programs (and don't understand all the technical jargon). Is there someone who has an easy to understand article/tutorial (video or text) for Paint.net or Gimp or some other free photo editing program? Or someone who can just explain in their own words?
Or is this just really complicated and can't be dumbed down?
To look at some examples of what I'm talking about here is a gracious moderator reuploading some of those problem images.
Reply by PT 100
on December 4, 2018 at 7:54 PM
Uploading images to the Internet and maintaining quality/color fidelity can be tricky, and many Websites have their own subtle ways of changing things unexpectedly. I'm not familiar w/the image formats allowed here, nor with any auto-formatting the site may do unbeknownst to you. (Maybe Travis or one of the mods could clarify how things work.) But you might want to study some online articles about lossless vs. lossy compression, and saving as sRBG instead of RBG color schema.
Jpeg is somewhat unstable (lossy), and many Websites automatically compress it w/out your knowledge when you upload it, thus sometimes changing resolution and/or color fidelity. If possible, you might want to try saving as png instead of jpg if the site will accept it. You will probably notice a difference when uploaded. Try experimenting a little w/png vs jpg. This discusses various image formats.
MS Paint is also notoriously cheapo (it still comes free w/Windows) and not the best for creating/saving high quality images. I think some of the tools for saving better uploadable images are not available in Paint, and to get the best results, you'd probably have to use a more professional package that costs more.
Reply by Rebecca
on December 5, 2018 at 9:43 AM
I use Gimp (it's free!) and I do not find any difference in color or tone when I upload here. I'll copy the image into Gimp, crop it and then save it. When I save as a JPEG I keep the quality at 90.
Reply by Moondoggie
on December 5, 2018 at 7:43 PM
So 90% is not noticeably different from 100%? Does it depend on the size/dimensions at all?
Reply by Rebecca
on December 5, 2018 at 8:01 PM
I've never really tried to save it at 100% to be honest, 90 is what it defaults to, so I really couldn't say. Obviously, increasing/decreasing that number will effect the file size and the quality, but I usually save every time at 90.
Reply by tmdb24407783
on December 7, 2018 at 12:00 AM
Just as an update (and for anyone who may also have this problem), I have tried Grimp and I have sucessfully used it to reupload images and upload new images with the original color & tone of the original image retained!
What I'm curious to know is, for me, this issue is solved by the fact that sometimes when I open new images on GIMP, it immediately shows a pop-up screen that lets me convert the image to sRGB. This pop-up with the exception of one, always came up immediately after opening those problem images. However, it doesn't sound like to me this is how @Rebecca is able to retain color & tone integrity when using GIMP
...
Reply by PT 100
on December 7, 2018 at 12:41 AM
Gimp is apparently doing what I suggested in my earlier post re: sRGB, which will give better image fidelity than the RBG schema used by most Paint-type programs. It would be interesting to see if Rebecca tells Gimp to use sRGB. There may also be other attributes of Gimp that we don't know about that help to preserve image quality. If you're interested, why not ask the folks at Gimp? They may have lots of info they're willing to share.
Reply by tmdb24407783
on December 7, 2018 at 12:50 AM
It's possible that Rebecca might be using a different version(? older version?) of Gimp than I am... she mentions the program defauting to 90, but with any amount of experience, Gimp- at least the version I am using, defaults to varying qualities when attempting to save (i.e. export) as JPEG (i.e. the only image type accepted in TMdb) and not just 90.
Reply by PT 100
on December 14, 2018 at 6:52 PM
One of these links might help (Yeah, I know I didn't bother to enter any descriptive text.):
enter link description here
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Reply by tmdb24407783
on December 14, 2018 at 7:13 PM
Mmm, I've read through all three and I don't think any of these will help with what I'm trying to learn how to do.
(Btw, I deleted my comment because I thought it would be more appropriate to create a new topic rather than ask for what I was asking here- I removed it shortly before you made your comment).
These instruct you on how to expand canvas size or, upscale images. But that's not what I'm trying to learn. I want to know how to expand simple backgrounds.
Here is an example of an image backdrop with a simple (but not monotone/solid color) background. I want to extend the image vertically (from the top and bottom) without having to distort the objects in the image (don't want them to lose their original proportions) so that I can upload that image to the right aspect ratio without having to destroy the image by cutting off some of the cast members. Here is a similar example for an image poster. In this case I only want to expand vertically from the top.
Additionally, it would be great to learn how to expand images like this that is a little more complicated- however, it still has a pattern-like background. EDIT: I tried doing on Gimp what this person is doing on Photoshop, but when I try to use the Stamp tool on Gimp after creating blank transparent space above and below my image (by increasing the canvas size's height dimension), the cloning doesn't apply to any of the transparent space and only clones onto the existing image.
~ ~ ~ ~
This is that deleted comment:
Reply by PT 100
on December 14, 2018 at 8:22 PM
Well, I think there's a fairly easy way to mimic what you're trying to do, and you could do it in nearly any photo editor--even Paint. If you're pretty well versed in photo editing, start w/a fresh, blank (white) canvass of the size/proportions you want for your background. Use an eyedropper tool to grab a sample of the current background color, if you want to keep that. Then use a flood tool to make your whole blank canvass exactly that same color. Then cut out the image from the poster, minus the background, and paste it onto your newly painted background, moving the pasted image around until it is where you want it. Then save and upload.
Reply by tmdb24407783
on December 14, 2018 at 8:26 PM
Yeah, I could do that and I know how to but I'm not sure that's what TMdb would like just from comments made by Mods on other threads about being able to expand simple backgrounds (i.e. sky/grass, etc.). And personally, if that is possible, I would rather learn how to do that and remain the "integrity" of the original image, rather than remove the background of an image and replace it with a solid monotone color.
But I dunno, maybe another mod might say that's okay for the db.