Gather Help: Setting Photos in Articles

Pamela,

Here is a comment I left for another member a few days ago that may help...

There are a few ways to create image essays. They all work well, although each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages.

Method #1 is the easiest and thus the fastest, although formatting options are limited. Method #2 can be just as fast, with practice and some preparation. This method also provides the greatest number of formatting options, including background colors, title bars, centering images or placing images side by side. Method #3 I won't go into here, as that requires knowledge of HTML.

Method #1

1. Copy & paste or enter your article text as you would normally.
   
   
2. Upload all of the images for your article. It is advisable to upload them all at once.
   
   
3. Click and drag the images into your article, using either the large or intermediate (default) size.
   
   
4. Images are automatically left justified. To change an image to right justified, right-click on the image and choose 'Image Properties' from the mouse menu. You can only choose between right and left justification for images.
   
   
5. Using a combination of right and left justified images, plus the 'Indent' and 'Outdent' buttons on the article editor toolbar, you can create an acceptable photo essay that is fairly easy to work with, and will present your images well.
   
   
6. You may also alter the size of your images by clicking and dragging the small boxes at the corners (handles) in or out. Note: It is always better to reduce the size of a larger image, than the other way around.

I will document Method #2 in my next comment....

Method #2

This method uses a 'table' in MSWord. This will allow you to add multiple images, a background color behind the image or text, or even center an image on page. The end result is only limited by your own creativity.

Try this little experiment to see if the process works well for you:

1. Create a simple 2 column table in MSWord.
   
   
2. Turn borders (outline) off.
   
   
3. Adjust the size of the right-hand column ('cell') in your new table (click and drag the dividing lines) to be approximately the size of the image you want to include as a part of your essay. You may also use the 'Insert' menu option to insert the image from your hard drive, to see what it would actually look like. Then, delete the image before transferring your table to Gather.
   
   
4. HEIGHT of the table does not matter, only width. When you place your image into the table on Gather, the cell height will automatically adjust.
   
   Note: Total table width should not exceed 580. Otherwise part of your table and image may get cut off.
   
   
5. If you wish, you may also write some text in the left-hand cell, or change the justification of these cells from left-justified to centered, or other.
   
   
6. Copy the entire table.
   
   
7. Create your article on Gather....but, do NOT paste yet.
   
   
8. Give your article a title.
   
   
9. Upload an image to your article.
   
   
10. Now paste the table into your article, using the 'Paste from Word' button on the article editor toolbar.
    
    
11. Click and drag the image (large or small) to the right-hand 'cell' in the table (the table 'cell' boundaries will appear as faint dotted lines).
    
    
12. Adjust formatting and size of image if necessary.
    
    
13. Publish the article to 'Just Me' (this keeps your test article private)

You're Done!

If your article contains multiple images, you can choose to either expand upon this by adding additional rows to your table in MSWord, or pasting separate tables wherever you need them. This also allows you to place images side-by-side, or to the left or right of text VERY easily.

This technique is preferable to Method #1 because you have more control over how the article appears, and there is more spacing around the image, which you can also control. Method #1 places images very close to the text, which can look awkward. I have created three MSWord tables, which I can simply copy and paste into Gather anytime I need to use an image. One table has a narrow right hand cell, another has a narrow left-hand cell, and another has three cells to allow for the centering of images, or placing two or three images side-by-side. The narrow cell expands on Gather to accommodate any size image. This allows me to just copy and paste the empty table into my article, add text and images, and I'm done! I can then paste multiple tables, alternating from left to right justified cells, or even center images to add variety.

You can also use 'split-cell' and 'merge-cell' commands or background colors to really achieve some fantastic and professional looking results.

Good luck...and have fun!

Note: You may need to add some blank lines at the beginning of your test article to emulate the space normally occupied by tag and group lists. Otherwise the article image in the right-hand sidebar may overlap a portion of your test table.

Another option for Method #2 above is to create one table with multiple rows. Each row will have the image placement in a different position. This allows you to 'design' the appearance of your article entirely in MSWord. Then, just copy and paste the table and text into the Gather article editor, add images, and the table should appear almost identical to the way it appeared in MSWord.

Experimenting with different options is the best way to see what works and what doesn't.

If the table has text from MSWord, remember to copy the table to Wordpad before copying it to Gather (unless you are using the default font). This will allow you to use different fonts as well. -- I explain this within the article I link to below.

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Tame your article fonts! - Click HERE to learn how.

Kevin, thanks so much for this information, which I will study.

About option 3 -- I do have a "Video Professor" disc called "Learn HTML." It belongs to my daughter. Might be a good idea to take a look at it sometime.

Send me a message if you have any questions...I may not be 'Gathering' very much this weekend.

Good Luck!

Thanks for your help, Kevin. You must be the mvp here at gather.

looks like you have lots of help from Kevin - and I just viewed your wonderful photo essay - so it all worked out and looks great :)

thanks

Kevin thank you, I may be able to use your advice, if I ever find a way to get the images from my camera into my documents without spending hours. My grandchildren are all out of state. Nobody around my house knows anything about this computer operation. When My computer crashes it is ALWAYS the drivers fault. Oh, Wait, drivers are part of the System. I guess it is the human part of the human interface devices that is at fault.

HEELLLP. some one tell me who is at fault here, me? or the Drivers?