New user Hints & Tips

[Andy Lunch]

Resize your pictures to look good on screen:
Today's digital cameras take superb pictures in high resolution designed to allow printing of high quality large prints. However these are huge files which can clog up the forum and take a long time to download. There are many methods to reduce the size of your pictures (also called resampling) so they will still look good on PC screens, but will be quick to download and take less space.

If you google "picture resize" you will find many techniques on offer including "on line free tools".

Here is one that we have tried and works well:
• Download Resize800.zip (see file attatched below below), unzip it and place on your desktop.
• Drag and drop JPG files or folders with JPG files on the Resize800 application icon.
• The tool will resize JPG images and save them next to the originals (the original remains unchanged). Names of the new pictures will be based on the original names, with a suffix indicating their new size. For example, the resized version of MyPhoto.jpg will be called MyPhoto-800.jpg, where the number 800 indicates the max size of the picture.
• This will resample your pictures (also see more detailed instructions below if you have any problems...)

There is a new version of the photo resize software (now supporting Vista and Windows XP etc.) it has loads of more sophisticated options which most of us will not need. However it is just as simple to use as the first version.

Here is the link to the author's official download file:
http://www.rw-designer.com/NT/3.0/PhotoResize400.exe

This is the link to the page with instructions:
http://www.rw-designer.com/picture-resize

Advanced options:
http://www.rw-designer.com/photo-resizer-advanced


For help on how to upload your pictures see enclosed "step by step" illustrated instructions file

More detail on the "resizing" subject:
Comments on file size.
Today's digital cameras and scanners are designed for VERY high resolution and produce HUGE files - for example a typical 8 Mega Pixel camera is likely to create pictures which maybe 3-5MB each! This is so that they can be blown up and printed in very high resolution (eg printed on A4 or even A3 paper and look superb). However these images are ludicrously too big for the internet - slow to download and take too much space on the servers.
To counter this problem there are two approaches (both are needed)

File format...
Your camera or scanner may save files in a number of formats. Technically these will be either "lossless" meaning they keep ALL the information (eg .bmp or .tif or .raw) or "compressed" meaning they use clever algorithms to dramatically reduce file size by throwing away data not vital to create the image (eg .jpg or .gif) Of these, .jpg is the most common and recommended for colour photos and results in file sizes which are much smaller than you would expect. For example a typical 1024x768 picture (ideal for typical "high resolution" internet viewing since it fills most people's screens) will only be a file of just 80kb - amazing!
So, to create these small files normally means reducing the resolution of the images AND storing them in compressed format

Typical resolutions
800x600 - Very small files (typically about 30Kb) - excellent for quick viewing, typically what one might send with an e-mail note to show some detail.
1024x768 - Small files (typically about 80Kb) - excellent for detail
1600x1200 - reasonable files (typically about 300Kb) - this is the maximum resolution we store in the photo gallery. This is good enough to print out a high quality image in "postcard" size - or to allow zooming into good levels of detail on screen. Nice examples are those superb Gregory archive photos which are of amazing quality.

Reducing resolution
This can be done using any number of photo processing software packages. Typically these "resample" the image to a lower resolution that you specify. So, YES you can use your normal photo editing software to do this.

Use of the "photo resize" application

This is a very unusual application since it "batch processes" several images one after another (you do not "open" the application in the normal way (see below), and is thus very quick to use - and easy when you know how!
Key points:
1. Store the application on your DESKTOP (it will appear as an ikon there.
2. You can rename the application as the means to tell it what you want it to do with the files. For example:
resize 1024.exe will resize to 1024 max resolution and store the resized images with a new file name such as:
image1234 1024.jpg
resize 800I.exe will resize to 800 max resolution and store the resized image under its ORGINAL file name (ie replaces the original! - that is what the I does)

To use it:
Have the "desktop" visible on your screen
Open a "windows explorer" window in which you can see the files you want to resize.
Now select a file you want to resize (hold down the left mouse button) and "drag it" across the screen until the cursor is over the "resize" application logo on the desktop. Now release it (release the mouse button). The resize application should automaticaly open in a little window (black background with white text appearing teling you waht its doing). It shoudlk tell you it has resized the image and then say
"Press Enter to Exit".
Press the Enter key and the application should exit and dissapear.

the enclosed photo is a screen grab showing the windows explorer screen, the resize ikon (i have drawn an arrow to it) and the "black" Resize window with text.

Regards,
Mike

[Mike Lunch]

• “register” by clicking the button at top left below the STD triangle logo. After verification of your membership status you will receive an e-mail confirming you have full access.
• When you next log on, tick the “remember me” box in the top right corner and your PC will store your password.
• If you forget your password, enter any word and follow the “error instructions” which will allow you to set a new password. If in doubt, call Mike Lunch +44(0)1372 456985 for assistance - he can reset your password for you.
  

Jargon
The forum (or Bulletin Board) world does have some slightly unfamiliar jargon, but it is universally used and pretty well impossible to change (i.e. built into the software).

Here are the key terms and what they mean:

• What is a thread? A conversation (could be a topic of conversation - eg "current items for sale on ebay").
• What is a post? A contribution to the thread (conversation)
• What is different about quick reply? Ignore this, its just a shorthand way to creat a reply quickly for users who spend all their lives on forums!
• What are smilies and why? An attempt in email to express emotions graphically - sometimes it can be helpful to show that one is joking when the words could be taken seriously! The simplest is the classic "smile" created using a : immediately followed by ) (Turn your head sideways to see the smile!) In this software (and also MS Word) these two characters typed one behind the other are automaticaly translated into a smilie symbol like this There are lots of different "smilies" but I would guess that whereas the basic is used by many people, the others less so.

Instant navigation tips:

• You can always get back to the main screen directly by clicking on the STD blue triangle logo (Home)
• Wherever you are in the forum (or gallery) you can spot where you are by looking at the "breadcrumbs" (as left by Hansel as she ventured into the wood) - these appear in the very small line of text in the bar at the top of the screen (when in the gallery, the breadcrumbs line is immediately above the top row of pictures). These track which "chapter", "section", "conversation" that you are in. You can click directly onto any of these items to take you quickly back to a higher level. For example, here are the breadcumbs for where we are now (except in the real bit above these are hyperlinks that work):

Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Register forum > The Register > About this forum

If you want a better explanation, follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadcrumb_(navigation)

Any problems call Mike Lunch - +44(0)7802 909090 mobile or +44(0)1372 456985 home

[Mike Lunch]

Yes, this is one of the functions of "Bulletin Boards".

1. Open the "thread" which contains your question.
2. Click on the "thread tools" and then on "Subscription".
There you will see some options such as "instant e-mail for every post" or "email once a week" etc.
3. Select the option you want - which will relate to JUST that thread and ONLY to you personally.

As an example, you might choose to be emailed when anyone posts to the "ebay items for sale" thread.

The system e-mails you the contents of that new post, so you don't have to go into the forum to read it.

The main purpose of this feature is to help occasional users who post a question and want to be notified of answers when they are posted, however they don't want to keep checking randomly to see...

Try it and see - you can always cancel it.

[Mike Lunch]

Please read the document attached which provides a "step by step" guide to uploading files as an attachment to a "post". Such an attachment maybe pictures or many other file formats such as Excel spreadsheets, Word documents or Adobe pdf files.


Problems uploading images are mostly to do with either file format or file size.

File formats
Only files of certain types are acceptable to the forum and also to its own e-mail system. For example,
These are the acceptable file types, size and image max width and height restrictions:

Filetype Max Filesize Max Image Width Max Image Height

gif 976.6 KB - - (ideal compressed format for B&W images, text and line drawings)
jpg 976.6 KB - - (ideal compressed format for colour images)
bmp 195.3 KB 800 600 (high quality, but not compressed = large files for a given image size)
jpe 19.5 KB 620 280 (little used format)
jpeg 195.3 KB 800 600 (little used format)
png 195.3 KB 800 600 (little used format)


Effectively this restricts people to use one of the "web friendly" compressed image file types - .gif, or .jpg either of which are permitted as files up to nearly 1MB.

However, when you scan pictures, the scanner is capable of making HUGE files of very high quality which would take forever to upload across the web.
Also your scanner may store the images is an uncompressed format such as .TIFF (excellent if you want to do high quality desktop publishing etc.)

So, I suggest you ask the scanner to save the file in one of the compressed formats .jpg (if a colour picture) or .gif (if a black and white image such as text or line art).

File size and Resolution
In addition, many scanners can scan at 1000dpi or more these days, which creates huge files of very high quality. If your .jpg or .gif files sizes are still huge (i.e. over 1mb) then scan in a lower resolution (e.g. 80 dpi which should be OK for viewing on screens). Alternatively you can resize the file using one of the many picture resize tools (see other detailed posting in this thread).

[Mike Lunch]

There are two fundamental sections of this forum - each has its own information which is stored and searched seperately

The Forum (this is where you are now). Consists of threads and postings - the dialogue between members seeking and giving advice, hints and tips etc. This section now also includes the index of STD Journals and Library of Reference Articles.
Searching in The Forum is done using the "Search" white text button within the blue line above this section. Here you can search for specific words within threads or posts (I recommend using the "posts" option in the first instance).

It is also possible to search for "parts of words" by using the * character to represent "any characters". So for example, to find discussions on Claudel Hobson carbauretters, you could search for:
Cla* (where * means "any other characters after Cla"). This is called a "wildcard" search since it uses * as a wildcard to represent "any characters". Of course this will also find other words that start Cla (like class, clad, clap etc etc). So, whilst this is a very powerful technique, it needs to be used with care to get good results.

A more sophisticated search is also available - this allows full Boolean searches - for example looking for multiple words, and the ability to search in specific sections. However, for most purposes the basis search works very well.

Advanced searching in the forum - select the "advanced search" which reveals a more complex search request form - here you can create some more sophisticated searches using additional words such as "AND", "OR", "AND NOT" - for example:

• brakes or squeal (insert all the words - the search understands "OR")
  This search finds postings that discuss either brakes or squeal.
  OR always broadens a search.
• brakes and squeal
  This search finds postings that contain both brakes and squeal.
  AND always narrows a search.
• brake and not squeal
  This search finds articles that are about brakes but not mentioning squeal.
  AND NOT always excludes postings with the specified "term".

Computer search order in the forum

The search engine processes your search terms from left to right, but it processes all the Boolean AND operators BEFORE processing any Boolean OR operators. To change this order, group synonyms (or terms that belong together) with parentheses. Anything enclosed in parentheses is evaluated first.

• The search: Ignition or Fuel and missfire combines Fuel and missfire andretrieves all postings mentioning Ignition, maybe this is not what you wanted!
• (Ignition or Fuel) and missfire combines Ignition or Fuel "ANDs" those results with missfire (this finds all mentions of Ignition or Fuel in the same post as missfire) - this is exactly what you wanted!
• Of course, you can use more than one OR in a search, as in: (Ignition or Fuel ) and (missfire or backfire or spitting or coughing) finds any mention of either Ignition or Fuel together with any of the words missfire or backfire or spitting or coughing.

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The Photo Gallery - uses a different software package and has its own search facility which we will shortly unveil!


If you cannot find what your looking for, contact Mike Lunch, Alan Eveson or Pat Durnford for help.