We believe the single most unique aspect of our tours is the very large (nearly full-screen) image size. So, when you go to make the pictures of your next listing … “get the Big Picture”. The potential buyers that view your Buildatour.com Tour will appreciate it. Agents have gotten so accustomed to their property images being squeezed down for MLS’s and other websites, that they regularly shoot the images at the lowest resolution setting their camera will allow (generally 640 X 480).
Our tours display images at 800 X 600. Therefore, images uploaded to our tours that are smaller than 800 X 600 do not fit our viewer window properly.
Most consumer type digicams create images that have a 4 to 3 (1.3333 to 1) aspect ratio. Uploading images to our tours that are at least 800 X 600, and have an aspect ratio of 4 to 3 (1.3333 to 1) will result in a perfect fit in the viewer window. Most digicams will not shoot images at 800 X 600, so we recommend setting the camera to the next size option larger than 800 X 600 (usually 1024 X 768 or 1600 X 1200). Images uploaded to your Buildatour.com Tour will be automatically downsized to 800 X 600, but we can’t stretch them to fit the window if they’re too small. That’s a bit like painting a very large house with a half-gallon of paint … you wouldn’t like the result.
In a prior article, “Image Size and Aspect Ratio“, we discussed this same topic along with a few reasonable methods of dealing with the aspect ratio of higher-end digital SLR’s (1.5040 to 1). Mark Reibman of Blue Light Imaging utilizes one of these methods for all the tours he creates … Click here to view one.
There are photo editing software packages available that allow script recording, therefore allowing one to add a gray strip at the top or resize an entire directory of images all at once. One of the least expensive yet very versatile alternatives is Paintshop Pro 8.0, which is now an older version. This version can be picked up for around $20.
So remember, when your making the photos of your next listing, “GET THE BIG PICTURE”.
September 2, 2006 at 7:05 pm
I have since changed my method of resizing to the 800×600 dimension by creating a Photoshop action that puts a gray strip along the top. I prefer this method primarily because I don’t think that enough people discover that you can lift the upper banner by clicking the arrow and so my original method will cut off more of the image than I would prefer. The action is fairly simple to create but if you would like it, please contact me.