Learn how to optimize images so they will display properly in your course and on the web. Uploading overly-large images can cause your course pages to load slowly.
A web optimization tool can help ensure that images you upload are the correct size.
This tool will be useful to you if you are:
- adding images to your course online
- requiring your students to upload images for their projects
An additional issue is the possibility of students with slower connections (or mobile devices) not being able to view the image at all. Instructors have also reported difficulties with student who upload images that are too large for a discussion board or other project. If the student’s images are too big, they will not display well, or they may not display at all.
As an option outside of Blackboard, Web Resizer is an online tool that lets you optimize the size of images. It also will let you crop the image, add a border, adjust the image brightness, and several other editing features.
You can optimize your images using an application such as Preview (on a Mac) or Paint (on a PC). Or, you can use a web-based application such as Web Resizer, following the steps below.
How to web-optimize your image:
- First, go to a image resizing website, such as the Web Resizer site.
- Select the “Choose File” button in the upper left of the window. Select the image file from your computer. You should now see the image file name next to the Choose File button.
- Next, select the “Upload Image” button. You will now see two versions of your image: the original on the right, and the web-optimized version on the left. The green text next to the “size” will tell you the file size reduction (in the example below 15.83KB was a 86% reduction in file size) If your optimized image is “bigger” you should stick with the original.
- If this looks great, select the blue “Download This Image” link underneath the optimized image. Or, you can change the display size, crop the image, add a border or adjust the image brightness. A good “new size” to choose for Blackboard is 400 pixels.
- If you would like to crop the image, the “Crop Image” tool is a blue link above the optimized image.
- After you make any additional edits, select the “Apply Changes” button to view your changes. In the example below, we added a 4-pixel border, and you can see how this looks in the optimized image on the left.
- When your image looks good, select the blue “Download This Image” link underneath the optimized image. Save the image to a location where you can easily find it to upload to Blackboard.
