Enjoy Steemit's Art Revolution at Full Size! Here's How You Can See High Resolution Images.
Art and photography are such a great part of Steemit.
Whether you enjoy the fanciful reverse-glass paintings of @reinhard-schmid, the charming sketches of @silviabeneforti and her husband @paolobeneforti, the Nova Scotia landscapes @lyndsaybowes shares on her daily "Walk With Me" posts, the pinup-worthy nudes of @eveuncovered, the pro-grade caricature portraits of @artwatch, or the clever animal-inclusive fantasies of @donnadavisart (full disclosure on that last one - I married her!) there's a real feast for the eyes here.
I have a blast getting leaving comments and interacting with the artists I admire. And this is an aspect of Steemit that I haven't seen discussed, much:
Getting to vote on the work we love and talk to its creators is a revolution in the world of art.
It allows a level of participation to the fans that has never been a part of the art world before.
I've never been in a position to buy an expensive painting, but knowing that my vote can give a sense of validation and a couple of pennies to someone I admire leaves me feeling great.
Even a toad smiles when it sees something it likes!
So, why is it so hard to see the work at its full size?
When I first joined Steemit six months ago, I realized that the images I uploaded didn't display any larger than the width of the text. It seemed a waste of bandwidth to upload high resolution images, so I'd scale everything down to 800 pixels or less. When I wanted to share something larger, I'd host the image on my own site and mention that a click would take the viewer there, if they were interested.
But just recently I realized that most users were uploading much larger files, and it's trivially easy to see them in their full glory.
Maybe I'm the last person to realize this. If so, this post is old news to you. If not, I'll show you how.
You can save the file to your computer.
This is how I finally realized people were uploading larger images than Steemit was displaying. I'd saved a large watercolor by @enternamehere to enjoy later, and when I opened up the file in my image viewer (Irfanview), I realized it was huge!
You can do this by right-clicking the image, and then clicking "Save Image As..."
You can open the image in a new tab.
If you're using Chrome, right-click the image and click "Open image in new tab." In Firefox, the option is "View Image." I much prefer Chrome's "new tab" approach, since it leaves the original post open in the previous tab, ready for me to return.
Either way, if the author provided a bigger image file, it'll show up at its original size. If it's too big for the screen, a second click will zoom in to the original resolution.
From here you can save the image to your computer if you'd like to.
You can install the Steemit More Info browser extension.
Thanks to developer @armandocat, there is an extension available that adds a ton of valuable features to the Steemit website. You can see vote-values and weights, you can see graphs of posting frequency, and you can track mentions and votes right from your main dashboard. (I'll let you click that link to get the full run-down from the developer himself.)
It also changes the behavior of how the browser displays images in Steemit. Now, a single left-click on an image will expand it for you, and again, if the browser window isn't big enough to accomodate the whole thing, a second click will zoom it up to 100% of its uploaded size.
Here's what it looks like when we click on @gric's latest super-intricate, surreal fantasy with Steemit More Info enabled:
With a second click, we actually get to admire his brush strokes!
If we got that close to a painting in a museum, I think the guards would probably kick us out!
I hope this is useful!
Again, this might seem like pretty basic stuff, but I was on here for ages before I realized how much visual richness I was missing out on - and I haven't seen any other tutorials covering this basic function.
I've tried to mention as many artists as I could in this post, but there are just too many worthy of respect. Oh, but can't forget @steemitadventure, the creator of my trading card and many others. And @atopy, who is always pushing her boundaries and exploring new styles, and, and, and...
Well, I'm sure I'll have more to share later. You'll just have to subscribe, and please, if you like,
Thanks for reading. A full catalog of my posts arranged by subject is available here.
you can open it directly on steemit if you do he following:
![DECALCOMANIAC TRANSMISSION TOWERS - with logo-WEB1650.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYnDC8n378Yutu3LciU5PFmJPXcjBGTsAMesxyDJWgp1r/DECALCOMANIAC%20TRANSMISSION%20TOWERS%20-%20with%20logo-WEB1650.jpg)
![steemitLargeImage.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmQrchNhZdW4EMZLnqjkEtFixiy8qWyebcYFiaPB11zBqy/steemitLargeImage.jpg)
put your complete steemit image URL into these brackets [insert complete stemmit url] - then right underneath just the part of the image URL (insert image url) including the brackets.
This is a example of my work - click it for full view:
I don't do it every time, but on some of my images I use this trick. I did not invent it, I got it from a photographer I follow who posts his pictures that way.
this is a high res image, when it opens you can click it again to zoom in! click the return arrow to come back to the blog.
This is what the code for the above looks like - I put it onto a image that you can click on to enlarge:
Cool!
it is basically from the markdown guide, similar to creating text links - you have to make sure there is no space between the elements otherwise what you get is just 2 images over top of one another.
LOL just so people can look at all my printers shitty lines lol. >.< bigger not always better. Thank you for the shoutout. Some great feedback to be had on the platform. Like minded people coming out of the wood works each day. It is nice to feel the foundation of a strong community being created each day.
Thanks for being a part of it with us!
Someone posted a site address where you can see (your own and other people's) photos on steemit in thumbnail size or you can expand them to original size. I only found it out at the beginning of this week at it's absolutely fabulous!
http://steemit.pics/IMGManager/
Have way too much fun! I've been peering at my fav artists' posts now for a couple days!
That site is a great find - thanks for sharing!
awesome - I had it before, but lost the address. Thanks!
Thanks for some very interesting, useful information. I need to peruse this, as I didn't know this 'how to' either. Then again, I seem to be behind most curves. So all is well. Thanks again for putting it all together for us.
Don't feel bad - it took me six months to realize that the bigger images were there!
It seems crazy that Steemit doesn't make it easier to see them. If the image-hosting service is already handling the bandwidth of the larger files, why not make them easier to see?
Don't look too closely, the devil is there in the details! Just some weak humor there, thanks for sharing. I'm certain someone will be able to say, "Well thanks to winstonalden, TIL there are images >800 px on steemit!!"
I knew I saw someone hiding in the details!
Really nice and informative post. Although I discovered the option to see full size quite some time ago, I think its good to spread the info. By the way, in Firefox I can rightclick on the image and choose "open link in new tab".. opens it in a new tab like you describe with chrome.
Thanks a lot for mentioning me. Feel very honored! If you ever consider getting your own piece of art from me... I take steem ;-)
That's seriously tempting - I will probably take you up on that offer someday! And thanks for re-steeming my post.
Firefox gives me the option to open links in a new tab, but it isn't there when I right click on a picture. But my version of Firefox is dusty and probably out of date.
Thought this is such valuable info and it should be distributed as much as possible.
You should update Firefox... also for security reasons. Is just a click or two :-)
I sometimes post my images so you can open them directly on steemit. Further down in the comments, I explained how.
Great post! I was trying to figure this out as well and found myself telling people to open the image in a new tab to see it full. I will definitely try that extension!
Good tip and something I did not know, thanks for sharing and thanks for the shoutout :)