Help & Support

What is the file size limit for uploading images?

Images uploaded to Aminus3 must meet both of the following limits:
1. File size must be less than 3 MB.
2. Maximum effective resolution must be less than 6 MP (Mega Pixels).

A+ Members have double the limits:
1. File size must be less than 6 MB.
2. Maximum effective resolution must be less than 12 MP (Mega Pixels).

Note that instead of enforcing a maximum of 3000 pixel width (or height) Aminus3 limits the effective resolution of the image. This means that images with resolutions of 3072x2048 or 2048x3072 or 4000x600 (as examples) are acceptable being within the 6 MP limit (6,291,456 effective pixels). To determine the effective resolution of any image, multiply the width in pixels by the height in pixels.

For best results - from the perspective of upload time and image quality - it is recommended to resize your images before uploading to Aminus3. Specifically, we recommend resizing to 1200 pixels wide.

Why is there a limit? Most new cameras are 12+ mega pixel!
We do not store full sized images nor would you actually display a 12mp image on a web page. Therefore we recommend you resize your images before uploading to Aminus3. We have also observed that a large percentage of our members use some kind of post processing before uploading their images to the web in which case resizing the image before uploading is a generally accepted step.

What types of files can I upload?

Images uploaded to Aminus3 must be valid JPEG files (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe).

What is the maximum display width of an image?

For the free photoblog template., uploaded images are resized to 800 pixels wide for large images and 600 pixels wide for small images.

A+ Subscribers have the option to post larger 1000 pixels wide images as well.

Note: The resizing process may affect the quality of your images, especially if the width of the image you upload does not divide easily with 1000px/800px/600px. For example, an image with a width of 803 pixels will not resize well to 800 pixels whereas an image of width 1200 (or even 1600x1066) will work much better. To ensure the best image quality, it is advised to resize your image to 1200 pixels wide (or less) before uploading them to Aminus3.

What is the maximum display height of an image?

There is no restriction on image height.

How do I resize my image?

For faster uploads and better image quality, we recommend you resize your images before uploading to Aminus3. We recommend resizing to 1200 pixels wide.

There are several free, commercial and online programs which you can use to resize your images. See below for a short list of recommended products.

All Platforms
Acdsee (pay, workflow and photo editing, RAW editing)
Gimp (free opensource Photoshop clone)
Adobe Lightroom (pay, great professional workflow, RAW editing)
Adobe Photoshop (pay, industry standard photo editing, RAW files)

Mac Only
Apple Aperture (pay, professional workflow, RAW editing)
Apple iPhoto (free with some Macs)
Pixelmator (shareware)

Windows Only
IrfanView (free)
Paint.net (free)
Paint Shop Pro (pay)
Ultimate Paint (some free features)

Online
Fluantr (free)
Pixlr (free)
Picnik (some free features, cool photo editing options)
Photoshop Online (free)
Resizr (free)
Sumo Paint (free online Photoshop clone)

Is there a limit on the number of images I can upload?

There is no limit to the number of images you can upload to Aminus3. You can only display one image per calendar day but you can upload as many images as you want for different dates in the past, present or future. So what are you waiting for? Start posting!

Can I display/upload more than one image for a specific date?

Aminus3 is a photoblog website based on the concept of posting one image per calendar day. You can upload as many images as you want for different dates in the past, present or future but you cannot display more than one image for a single date.

You can, however, combine 2 or 3 images together using image editing software (like Photoshop), save the combined images as a single JPEG file and then upload that file for a specific date.

For example, to combine two images that are 800x533 pixels you would create a new image that is 800x1066 pixels and copy and paste the two original images into the new one then save this as a JPEG and upload to Aminus3.

How do I upload a new image for a different date?

On your image posting page there is a calendar displaying 3 months (along the right side). Select any day in the calendar and you can then upload an image for this date.

Note: Images posted in the past will not appear on the current community page nor on the home page of Aminus3 and, as a result, they tend to be overlooked by visitors. It is recommended to post images into the future where Aminus3 will automatically display the image when the day arrives.

How do I delete an image?

Go to your image posting page, select the image (date) you want to delete, scroll to the bottom of the form and click the "Remove this image" link. You will then be prompted to confirm the image deletion, after which your image will be completely removed from Aminus3.

Can I automatically watermark images I upload?

Yes, you can. In fact, we recommend it.

Watermark options are available on the Watermark tab during the image upload/editing process. Set the first option Watermark? to Yes, after that you can specify the coverage (size), the opacity (transparency) and the position of your watermark as desired. If you check the Save these settings as default option, the same watermark settings will be applied to all future image uploads.

If your watermark does not appear to be working, try changing the opacity slider to a higher number. On certain images, the text may not be dark enough to be visible over the color, texture or pattern of the image.

Upgrade to an A+ Membership to further customize your watermark by specifying the font, color and text.

Can I change the watermark position after my image has been uploaded?

You can change the watermark after uploading a recent image - in this case, the text at the bottom of the watermark options will say Reapply this watermark to current image.

However, after a certain time period, it is no longer possible to reapply the watermark and you will have to re-upload the image to change the watermark position. In this case, the text will say You will need to re-upload the original image to change watermark settings.

The technical reason is that we remove your original un-watermarked image after a period of time and it is then no longer possible to change the watermark without uploading the image again.

Can I customize my watermark?

The ability to customize watermarks is available to all A+ Members. If you don't already have an account, sign up today. You can then choose your watermark font (from a list of over 30 fonts), pick any color you like and even write your own text.

Can I change a posted image without losing my comments?

Go to the image upload page. Click on a calendar entry for the image you want to change. At the top it says Display Image Upload and Date fields?, click yes to show the date and browse settings.

Click browse to choose a new image and then click the Save button to upload the new image. Your comments and views will stay the same.

Can I change the date of an image without uploading again?

It is possible to change the date of an existing image.

Go to the image upload image upload page. Click on a calendar entry for the image you want to change. At the top it says Display Image Upload and Date fields?, click yes to show the date and browse settings.

Change the date to a new date and click the Save button.

Note that any comments and views for this post will also be changed to the new date.

How do I get EXIF data to display for my images?

(Most) digital cameras will embed EXIF data directly into the image file upon saving. Among other information, this encoded data specifies the make & model of the camera, the aperture (f-stop), shutter speed and ISO setting.

Aminus3 will automatically extract any available EXIF data during the image upload process and display the information to the right side of the image on your photo page. There are no additional steps that you have to take for this to occur.

Be aware that some image editing programs will remove the EXIF data when saving the file (usually for reasons of reducing file size). Removal of the EXIF data can also happen inadvertently by you during the image editing process. For example, if you open the image in Photoshop, then copy & paste the image into a new canvas window, you will lose all EXIF data.

If the EXIF data does not display for an image you have uploaded to Aminus3, try uploading the original, untouched version of the image (the file directly from the camera). If this original image does display the correct EXIF data then something is removing the EXIF data during the image editing process. If not, then either your camera does not embed EXIF data or it stores it in such a way as to make it inaccessible to Aminus3 code, in which case there's not much we can do.

Why did my image get rotated after upload?

We do not rotate images when they are uploaded. Some desktop applications will show you a rotated preview of your vertical or portrait image. Although it appears the photo is rotated correctly, the actual image file has not been rotated. When you upload this file it will appear incorrectly on Aminus3.com.

You can ensure your photos retain the proper orientation by explicitly rotating the photo in an image editing application and saving the file.

Why do my images look different compared to Photoshop?

Good question! How images are displayed in different programs (including your web browser) is determined by the image's color space. A color space tells a program how to display the colors in an image. The same image can look very different depending on which color space is used.

An in depth understanding of how color spaces work is beyond the scope of this FAQ. What is important, is to know that most web browsers ignore the color space of your image. This is why an image that looks great in an image editing program may appear washed out or have different colors when displayed on the web.

This can be tested by opening your image file directly in your browser. (In Firefox, for example, you can do this through the File menu > Open File...) Compare the image in your browser with the image in your editing program. Likely the two images will look different - with the browser version appearing washed out or faded.

To ensure your image appears similar in different browsers, you should save images in the sRGB color space. Most computers running Windows will already be calibrated to sRGB color. If you are using a Macintosh, it may be helpful to change your color profile to sRGB when editing images to ensure what you see is similar to what other people will see.

For more information on color spaces...

Can I post images containing adult content?

Yes, you may upload and display images that contain adult content (such as nudity, drug use, violence). The only condition being that the Adult? option is set to Yes (see your image editing page). This option allows us to identify adult content and hide it from those who do not wish to see it.

Marking an image as Adult does not affect the display of the image within your own photoblog. The image is only 'censored' when it's displayed with other images in 'public' locations (such as the community page or daily image page). On these pages a special thumbnail replaces the original thumbnail but only for Aminus3 members who have specifically requested to block adult content.

Please be aware that all images (adult or otherwise) are subject to the Aminus3 terms of service. While Aminus3 supports creative expression, we reserve the right to remove images that we deem to be offensive or inappropriate (whether or not they are marked as Adult). If you have any doubts as to whether your image will be inappropriate, please contact us before posting.

Can I post images that were not taken by me?

In general, if you did not capture the image yourself then you should know the person who did and have their permission to post their photo. Images found randomly on the Internet are generally protected by copyright and should not be posted on Aminus3.

We take copyright very seriously on Aminus3 and we reserve the right to remove your image (or your account) if you are found posting copyrighted photos. View our terms & conditions for more details.

Can I send an image to Aminus3 through my mobile phone?

Currently, there is no way to blog to Aminus3 from a mobile phone or other method besides using the image upload page. This functionality may be implemented at a later date but we have no development plans at this time.

If you are using an iPhone or iPad - please use the iCab Mobile Browser app which allows you to upload images from your photo library to Aminus3 on the image upload page.

Can people view the original, unscaled images I upload?

For reasons of disk space, Aminus3 does not store any of the original images you upload. We may offer this service in the future but for the moment we recommend hosting your full-sized image on a photo gallery site (like Flickr) and then creating a link to that image from your respective photo page.

How do I prevent people from using my images?

The only reliable way to prevent people from using your images without your consent is by adding a watermark. A watermark is a semi-transparent pattern or text on the image that identifies you as the owner and cannot be removed without altering the original image. (See the help topics above on watermarking your images.)

Some sites will attempt to prevent people from the saving the image by breaking right-click functionality, using Adobe Flash, or covering your photo with a large transparent GIF image. All of these so-called 'security'' measures can be easily circumvented by simply taking a screen shot of the browser window, pasting this into an image editor and re-saving. Essentially, this nullifies nearly all forms of protection. In some cases, these preventive measures can have an adverse affect on search engines which means your site may be penalized or perform lower in search results.

How does uploading an image affect the image quality?

The image upload process performs a few operations which may have an effect on image quality.

1) Resizing
All images larger than the maximum width (800 pixels) will be resized. Images that are slightly larger than 800 pixels (for example, 807 pixels) will be noticeably distorted. For those who are concerned about image quality, It is advisable to resize your images to 800 pixels wide before uploading (or a number that is easily divisible by 800, like 1600 or 2400). There is no limit on the height of an image - images are not resized based on height.

2) Borders
Aminus3 allows you to add a colorful border to your images. In order to add the border, we have to resize your image. Similar to the resizing information above, if your source image is close to 800 pixels (or 800 pixels wide), you may notice a loss of sharpness in the details of your image.

In order to ensure the best possible image quality using borders, we recommend an image width of 1200 pixels wide.

3) Compression
The cost of disk space is a constant expense for the Aminus3 team. In an effort to reduce the amount of disk space, we apply a compression algorithm during the image upload process. We believe that the trade-off between quality and cost is fair. Most images are not noticeably affected by the compression. The compression is most notable in images with large blocks of similar colours.

Compression is a percentage of the file size. Therefore, larger images (in kilobyte file size) are reduced more than smaller images. A 2mb file will be compressed more than an 80k file. However, a reduction in file size does not always equate to an observable loss of quality.

As a photography service, we understand that image quality may be a top priority for members. As a solution, we now offer 100% quality uploads to our A+ premium subscribers. Please note that this affects compression but not resizing. A+ members are still encouraged to resize images before uploading for the best possible image quality.

What are those stars next to my image?

In addition to leaving a comment, Aminus3 members can rate images. Image rating helps to determine Spotlight Images. Higher rated images will also show up first on the front page of Aminus3.com as well as on community and other common pages.

A general guideline for rating images is as follows:

1 star
- Poor photographic technique, needs improvement

2 stars
- Good attempt was made
- A typical shot, common subject
- No post processing

3 stars
- Reasonably well executed (good focus, exposure)
- Interesting subject and/or composition
- Decent post processing

4 stars
- Technically well executed (correct focus, exposure)
- Creative subject and/or composition
- High quality post processing
- Unique shot, not something that you'd see every day

5 stars
- Technically challenging and very well executed
- Highly unique subject matter and/or composition
- Conveys a mood, emotion or story
- Exemplary or original post processing
- Award winning and/or print worthy photo

We encourage you to bring your own judgment to the rating system. Try to vote with these ideas in mind in order to highlight the best images on Aminus3 and allow other people to improve on lower rated images.

Can I rate my own images?

While it is possible to rate your own images - it does not have any effect on image rating.

What is the color bar under my image?

Colors on Aminus3

We scan every image that is uploaded on Aminus3 and break it down into the top colors. It is possible to search all the images on Aminus3 by color and view spotlighted colors on this page
http://www.aminus3.com/color/

You can view images either by Most Popular (default setting) or all Recent Images.

The Color Bar

Under your account settings, you have the option to specify how the color bar (color sceme) is displayed on your blog layout. You can choose to turn it off, display for yourself, or to everyone.

If you click on the color bar under your image, you can see the color scheme that was created for this image. On the color scheme page, you can also click on one of the bars to see other Aminus3 images that contain this color.

Note that even if you do not display the color bar, your images will still be scanned, and you can see the color bar for all your posted images by turning this option back on again.

I added a tag to an image but it is now showing up in the list

Image tags are cached and may not update in real time.

So for example you may add a tag to an image and then go to the page to see all images with that tag, and the new image will not be listed immediately.

After some period of time the cache will clear and the image will appear.