Hi Friends,
I've noticed that when I insert images into messages on this website's forum, the size of the image that gets posted is inconsistent. For example, this

and this

The 2nd image, the star shape, is taken directly from the center of the 1st image, which looks something like a flower. The star shape should be much smaller than 1st, were it even close to scale.

On the other hand, when I post my own smileys (that aren't available in this editor), they ARE much smaller, and more consistent with the size smileys should be. (For example: )

I'm not sure what is the source of this situation -- is it something to do with how the forum handles images, or is it something to do with how the image is hosted? Also, if I knew the right code, could I define the size I want the image to be after it's posted?

I guess it's not a big deal, but it just bugs me. Thanks for helping me understand this

It's not the forum. Your first two images are both 250px by 250px and your the smiley is 21px by 21px. The forum is displaying them at those sizes (the forum won't do any scaling). To check this yourself, copy the URL for the image and open it in a new window you should see that how they display in the browser on their own is the same as they appear in forum.

I don't think it has anything to do with Imageshack either. These pictures don't appear to have been scaled from their original size - they would appear blurry if they had, especially the smiley.

Are you sure you didn't export those two images at 250px by 250px? It's more than likely that you exported both images at 250px by 250px without realising it. If you want to make sure you always export at a 1:1 scale then you need to check the resolution is always set to 96 dpi.

I can't explain why the smiley is smaller than you expect. Where have you used it where it appears bigger?

Uh, no, there's no problem with the smiley. I was just using it as an example in contrast -- the 1st 2 images are inconsistent, yet smileys post as expected.

Oh yes, it IS possible I had created the 2 images at the same level of zoom. And then made the .png directly from them. Is that what you mean by 96 dpi? Does 96 dpi = 96% zoom? Otherwise, how do I make sure the resolution is set to 96 dpi. You're not talking about screen resolution, are you? And if the dpi resolution is the same thing as zoom, why would it be 96 and not 100?

dpi = dots per inch, not the zoom percentage. You can check the dpi that your graphic will have when you export as a bitmap.

Oh, ok thanks, tw2113.

But now that brings up another question. When microUgly said 'export bitmap', I thought he meant 'Make a bitmap copy'. What I did was 'Make a bitmap copy' (Alt B), and there are no settings available at all. The copy is made and that's that.

So I'm wondering if there is a way to check the dpi setting for 'bitmap copy'. Or should I use 'Export bitmap' (Shift Ctrl E) instead? Or does the fact I didn't 'Export bitmap' point to another cause for the inconsistent image sizes?

Thanks for your patience with my questions

I'd just suggest using "Export Bitmap" myself.

If anything, you could always post a link to the svg so that someone could test things out and see if they get the same results.

Well see that's the problem. The whole reason I use "Make a bitmap copy' is because I've had trouble with 'Export bitmap'. I even posted a topic about it a while back. And whoever replied basically said no problem, just use 'Make a bitmap copy'!

I have to admit, I have wondered why there are 2 separate commands that do the same thing....

So hopefully someone can clear this up for me?

The other thing is that I haven't found an acceptable (for me) place to host .SVG's. That's why I need the .PNG. I have looked at the free image hosting services that accept .svg, but for one reason or another (I can't remember at the moment) I can't use them.

Or you could just e-mail them. The problem with hosting them somewhere is that you can open a .svg file with a text editor and see usable information. My godaddy account renders them as text instead of images.

brynn wrote:Well see that's the problem. The whole reason I use "Make a bitmap copy' is because I've had trouble with 'Export bitmap'. I even posted a topic about it a while back. And whoever replied basically said no problem, just use 'Make a bitmap copy'!

I have to admit, I have wondered why there are 2 separate commands that do the same thing....

Do you have a link for that topic? I searched and couldn't find it. The purpose of that function is to rasterise objects within the SVG, making them no longer editable. Export Bitmap makes a copy which doesn't effect the SVG.

brynn wrote:The other thing is that I haven't found an acceptable (for me) place to host .SVG's. That's why I need the .PNG. I have looked at the free image hosting services that accept .svg, but for one reason or another (I can't remember at the moment) I can't use them.

Check the "Where can I upload my images?" topic for where you can upload SVG files.

tw2113 wrote:The problem with hosting them somewhere is that you can open a .svg file with a text editor and see usable information. My godaddy account renders them as text instead of images.

That's a server configuration issue. Godaddy is obviously sending the wrong MIME type header to the client for SVG. They are probably sending text/plain but should be sending image/svg+xml. You can check this by entering the URL for a SVG on hosted by GoDaddy at http://web-sniffer.net/. If you are allowed .htaccess files you can configure this yourself - http://wiki.svg.org/MIME_Type But I would ask GoDaddy change it in the main Apache configuration file.

microUgly wrote:

tw2113 wrote:The problem with hosting them somewhere is that you can open a .svg file with a text editor and see usable information. My godaddy account renders them as text instead of images.

That's a server configuration issue. Godaddy is obviously sending the wrong MIME type header to the client for SVG. They are probably sending text/plain but should be sending image/svg+xml. You can check this by entering the URL for a SVG on hosted by GoDaddy at http://web-sniffer.net/. If you are allowed .htaccess files you can configure this yourself - http://wiki.svg.org/MIME_Type But I would ask GoDaddy change it in the main Apache configuration file.

Yeah, I ended up messing around with .htaccess stuff within the past 2 days. I was wanting custom error pages anyway, so I was already in the file. I added the MIME type to get images instead of txt while there.

Oh dear!
I don't know how I lost track of this thread. It's not like me to leave threads without closure. My apologies

MicroUgly, here's the link to the topic I posted about having trouble rendering a .svg:
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=378&p=2093#p2093

After I post this, and while waiting for your comments, I'll try to render an svg, and figure out where to set the dpi. And I'll be sure to post back this time.

Although, I just installed v 0.46 the other day, so maybe the problem won't occur.

BRB

OOOooooohh!!

Ok, after looking back at what I was doing, and pondering my memories of it, regarding the message I referenced
(viewtopic.php?f=12&t=378&p=2093#p2093)
I realize it actually has no bearing on this particular issue. I was confusing "rendering" and "exporting". So please ignore my reference to the other thread.

I CAN use Export bitmap successfully, and I see the place where the dpi can be set. I do still have a couple of questions, though.

1 - It appears the default dpi is 90. If the appropriate setting for a 1:1 ratio is 96, why wouldn't 96 be the default? Is 90 relatively close enough to 96 that it doesn't matter? Or is there some other reason that the default is 90 dpi?

2 - Just to confirm that I understand the answer to my original question, why the images I've posted in these forums are all the same size (250 x 250) IS because I used Make a bitmap copy, instead of Export bitmap. And using Export bitmap, I should make the dpi setting 96, which makes the 1:1 size ratio, so I don't need to set the size (unless it's really, really big or really, reallly small).

And once again, I apologize for losing track of this thread before it was finished. And thanks again to those who reponded

brynn wrote:1 - It appears the default dpi is 90. If the appropriate setting for a 1:1 ratio is 96, why wouldn't 96 be the default? Is 90 relatively close enough to 96 that it doesn't matter? Or is there some other reason that the default is 90 dpi?

Sorry, I was incorrect. You should use 90 DPI. This ensures what you export is the exact same size as what you see in Inkscape at 100% zoom. I must have got confused because the default resolution of a computer monitor (Windows) is 96 DPI.

brynn wrote:2 - Just to confirm that I understand the answer to my original question, why the images I've posted in these forums are all the same size (250 x 250) IS because I used Make a bitmap copy, instead of Export bitmap. And using Export bitmap, I should make the dpi setting 96, which makes the 1:1 size ratio, so I don't need to set the size (unless it's really, really big or really, reallly small).

Pretty much, yes. Although 90 DPI as I said above.

Note that 90 DPI only ensures that the image you export is the exact same size as the image as it appears in Inkscape at 100% zoom. If you're exporting different parts of an image, using the same DPI for each export ensures each image has maintains it's relative size to each other.

Thanks again, microUgly and everyone.
All best