Graphics in blog posts

Words are wonderful things. But too many of them, without any graphical relief, can make your blog less visually appealing than it might otherwise be. Not only that, the content of your blog could be enhanced by pictures.


If you're blogging about the same non-fiction topics as you've put in your book, pictures related to your topic would be outstanding to include. If you're a fiction author blogging about the experiences of your book tour, you can include some shots of the throngs of adoring fans. Either way, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand hits from excited users.


There are three steps required to put a picture on your blog: taking the picture, getting it on your computer, and getting it to the blog. For information on the first two parts, consult your camera's user's manual, or get a kid to do it. For the third part, getting the picture from your hard drive to the blog, follow these steps:

First, make sure the picture is in a web-friendly format. JPG is the typical format used by most cameras, and it renders fine on the web.

Second, create or edit your blog post, then click the icon that looks like a picture at the top of the Compose window.

A window appears the allows you to either select a picture from your hard drive or from an online source. For right now, we'll assume it's on your hard drive. Click Browse and select your picture.

Click Done when the window appears announcing that the image was uploaded. Unfortunately, Blogger's Compose editor is cranky about adding pictures. The picture gets added at the top of the post. If you need to insert it later in the post, as I've done here, you can drag it to where you want it to appear. You'll also need to clean up some extra white space.

Selecting an Image from the Web

You can also select an image that already exists on the web. If you upload your pictures to Flickr or Facebook or someplace else on the web, there's no reason to reload them. Instead, grab the URL (web address) and enter it into the URL field in the Blogger form where you specified the file name. To get the URL, go to the picture and right click, the select Properties....

Select the URL from the file, then press Ctrl-C to copy the URL. Paste it into the URL field.

NOTE: Pictures are considered intellectual property. If you pirate someone else's picture, you're not only inviting potential issues down the road, you're also taking money out of someone's pocket.

Next time: How to schedule future posts