I hear there are no stupid questions - so here is mine. How do you find out the dpi of the picture you took. I read your posting with great interest as this image thing always has me confused. When I right click on the picture in my ebay auction to bring up the properties of the picture, it gives me the size in bytes and the dimensions in pixels. Would one of those be the dpi?

I use an old mavica floppy disk camera and always use the zoom feature. I "think* my pictures look good. Just trying to figure this whole thing out. Thank you, Sharon

Sharon,

Nope no stupid questions here. And besides all that, there are lots of questions about images, pixels, etc. Just ask away...

You have a Sony Mavica! I love mine! The hard drive went out. I need to get it fixed. That thing takes the best close up pictures of any camera we had on the place. You can read the fine print on a solder tip with that camera...

I think the dpi Garry is referring to is actually the monitor not the images.

We used the Zoom on that camera too. And for some reason it would just take the cleanest close up images. MY other Sony does not do that. If we zoom, the images can be fuzzy. It is better to change the setting to Macro and then move the camera forward and hitting the focus to pull the image in clear before taking a shot.

In all reality, it is the Pixels of the image that determine if the image is clear and clean. And how it displays in a browser or on your computer. So I wouldn't worry about the DPI too much.

I'll see if Garry will drop by and offer his insight.



Judy/blue

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Hi Sharon:

You are so right - there are no stupid questions. Maybe sometimes stupid answers, but that's a whole other story. As to the DPI of an image there are a couple of ways you can tell. The easiest way to tell is when the pix lives on your computer. Navigate to the picture using explorer (not windows explorer) and when you find the picture or in this instance any picture right click on the name or pix itself. This will bring up a dropdown box. Then click on OPEN. This should open the picture in Microsoft Photo Editor. You will see the pix - then click on FILE that will open another drop down box and just a little over half way down the list click on PROPERTIES. A box will open and give you some information about your picture. The Image type is given and just below that it will list a number followed by "pixels/inch". This will be the DPI of that particular image.

If you have ifranview then open the image in Ifranview click on Image then click on Informaton. Midway down the box will be the DPI setting for that image. Several other photo/image/paint programs will give you the same information with roughly the same headings to click on. Right clicking on an image in Internet Explorer will not give you that info, it will only give you the size of the image.

As far as your camera goes, you have a good camera, not to worry, and if using the zoom feature on it gives you good non blurry images then I wouldn't change what I'm doing. However, if you notice that there is some blurryness to the image I would simply move in closer to the object and not use the zoom feature. Also you are correct in using the highest setting available you are doing well. The best way to tell about the quality of your images is to run a quick test. Get something ready to photograph. It would be best if there was some writing/type on it, a lot of color, and has some shape to it also. Have a piece of paper and a pencil handy to write down the different settings you use for each picture. It's easy to forget and then you don't know for sure which picture is which. First take a photo of your "product" as you normally have been taking pictures. The next shot take with the highest image resolution available on your camera. Then set your camera to the zoom feature and take a third picture keeping your camera set to the highest resolution. Finally, still keeping everything the same, undo the zoom feature and move in closer to the object and take the fourth picture. Now download all of the images to your computer and look at them all side by side and see which picture "looks" the best to you.

Hope this helps. If not, the let me know and I'll be happy to have a better answer for you.

Garry

Sharon,

See I told you Garry could provide insight



Judy/blue

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Garry - thank you so much - your idea of trying the different pictures with different settings, etc is a great idea and one that I will try.

I opened a picture that I took for ebay in ifraview (I don't have microsoft photo editor) - I still can't find the dpi setting. Under "Information" it gives the pictures type (JPEG) under compression. Then below that is "Resolution" but both boxes are blank! I'm not sure what is wrong.

Because you said in your other message that the picture should be from 100 to 150 dpi, I'm trying to see if mine are that size.

Thank you for your time! Sharon

Sharon:

If you don't have Microsoft Photo Editor I'm sure you have Microsoft Paint. It's not much of a program but it will help you out trying to figure out the DPI. Open Microsoft Paint. START/Programs/Accessories/Paint.

Click on Open, then navigate to the picture you want. Double click it. When it opens click on IMAGE/Attributes. You will get a dropdown box that shows some information about the pix. The third line reads: Resolution - ### x ### Dots per Inch where ### is a number. That is your DPI.

Also another tip about photos in AW2K. To insure all the work you have put into your photos is worth it and shows a nice photo on eBay do the following once you have AW2K open:

Go to FILE/Program Options/ click on the GENERAL tab. Then on the right side of the box that opened under JPG Output Quality you will see a slider bar. Slide the bar to the left so that the number above it says "2" - higher quality. Yes it makes for a larger image on disk and on the server but it gives an overall better image on your eBay page.

Hope this helps Sharon. If not or there are other questions don't hesitate to ask. Good luck with your project to have optimal photos in your eBay auctions. I seriously think that a good description and title have a great deal to do with a buyer's decision to bid. However, a poor pix can take that potential bidder and cause them oftentimes not to bid. The combination of a great pix along with all of the other stuff helps to draw them in (Especially now with free thumbnails - well sorta free) and encourages them to bid. What's that old saying? "A good picture is worth a thousand words". Not sure if it is a thousand, but it certainly doesn't hurt to have the best possible pix you can produce.

Garry

Im just starting out so i am planning to fill up my inventory and then list items from my inventory. I will be listing about 25% of my auctions at $.99c reserve outside of my ebay store and then 75% inside the store at buy now price. Does it sound like a cost effective plan as i am unfamiliar with ebay fees? It will take me a while to fill up my inventory so i don't want to purchase a store until i am ready to list the items. Is it ok to purchase the store after i fill up my inventory?

Also how does AW2000 work with your customized ebay store categories?

Thank you for your help.

Also in the inventory items section there is catergories, shipping options and item specifics. Why do we have to select where we sell the item at this point. for eg. ebay or ebay store. Shouldn't that option be when you go to list?

I hope that makes sense.

(or in other words)

Say i enter an inventory item of which the quantity is 6 and i want 1 item to list into ebay and 1 item to list into my ebay store what do i choose when it comes to this catergories, shipping options and item specifics option.

HI,

AW2000 works slick as a whistle with your eBay custom store categories. After you create the Store category structure on eBay, go to AW2000 and import the store categories. You import Store Categories by going to the Auction lot tab/window, Click on the "Additional Fields" button. The Store category fields will appear. Right click and select "Import Store categories" Anytime, you make Store category changes on eBay, you just right click and import. Works slick as a whistle.

Is there a particular reason you wish to use a "Reserve" price in conjuction with the .99 starting price . The reserve fee is no longer refundable when your item sells. So you have to add that cost into your product cost. You might go to eBay Help and look at the listing and final value fees. Print them out. Then sit down with a pen, paper and calculator and find what price points will yield you the best return. Or the best chance of a good return.

Adding Inventory to AW2K for listing at a later date is one of the great features of AW2K... Add as much inventory as you want. You can create an Auction lot or numerous Auction lots any time you want.

Sounds like you have a plan!



Judy/blue

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Hi,

You can decide where you want to list when you get ready to list the item. But it is efficient to complete all the fields prior to listing. All those fields have to be completed regardless of where you list.

When you create an Auction lot, AW2K will ask you what profile you want to create the Auction lot for. If you only have eBay as a profile, the eBay store won't even show as an option. Once you add the eBay store profile, then when you create an Auction lot, AW2K will allow you to choose what profile you want to create the Auction lot for.

If you do not complete the fields when creating the Stock inventory Item, it is easy to forget to do it later. Meaning the category field, Item specifics and shipping options.

I hope that makes sense.



Judy/blue

Visit my eBay store!
http://stores.ebay.com/bluepennylady?refid=store
Visit our website too!
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