I just listed a ton of ex-library books and most of them don't have pictures... and reviews but I'm working on them!!! .. So, my question is ... Can I take a picture of the book and add it even though I already posted the book?

Thanks in advance!!

There is a link at the bottom of every page to upload book covers.  Just copy the ISBN and attach the book cover file.  The picture needs to be cropped so that it is only the cover, no white or anything around it.

Hey Sherry.....you can jump in here anytime!!!....lol.  (Sherry is our guru)

Janet, you can search for your book ...put the ISBN# in Google....and click on the sites until you find a picture. Then copy it to your computer, crop it so no white shows, save it, and then upload it.  You can upload covers at the bottom of the page of the book you posted and then it has to be approved.  However, first see if someone on PBS has the book listed,  and you can get the picture from there.

(How'd I do Sherry??)

June

I scanned most of mine with my scanner and then made sure they were cropped and then uploaded them.  Most of my bookshelf has the pictures on them now minus about 14 books which for some reason the system hasn't updated.  I haven't gotten any messages to why yet so I don't know if the system dumped them or if they are still pending or if there is a problem I need to correct with them.  The next step is to make sure all the book information is in for each book.

An interesting thing is happening...    I uploaded a number of book covers the other day.   Many were approved and entered.  Some were rejected and I was told why.   A few didn't show up and I was not notified as of why.  So I am now trying to re-upload those covers and every time I try to click on the cover to get the upload message nothing happens.  It is acting as if it already has a cover showing but trust me all I see is blue.  What do I do now?

Okay, got it and thank you ... Some don't have ISBN's but I see now that I can upload a cover... So much to do, so little time  lol

Mona - I've had the same problem, along with other problems in getting images uploaded.  Sometimes they've worked for me and sometimes not.  I'm pretty sure I'm following the proper criteria for image uploads (jpeg, cropped, etc).  I've also read that we should use the "Upload Book Covers" link at the bottom of every page rather than the blue image link on the book's page.  BUT I have cases where that doesn't seem to work either.  Here are two example ISBN's that have failed for me several times with no explanation:

0553242202 http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780553242201-The+Greatest+Success+in+the+World (this one is like yours - I can't click on the blue image.  I've uploaded images for this a few times through the upload link and they always disappear without explanation and never show up)  CORRECTION - I can now click on the blue image, but I used to not be able to.

0739463063  http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780739463062-The+Historian (this one I've tried a few times and it always disappears without explanation.  Funny because there's other editions of this book with the exact same cover and they show up fine)

Could someone clairify what the max size is that the covers can be? The Upload Book Covers page says 5MB (sounds huge) and the Edit Book Data page says 45kb. That is a big difference. Based on personal experiance, both seem to be wrong. I tried uping some on the Edit Book Data page that were between 40 and 44 kb, but no luck. Maybe the 5MB is a typo and should be 5kb.

Anyway, I shrank my covers down to just under 5kb and tried uping them just now. I think it worked this time but I would still like the issue clairified. I still have a few blue boxes on my bookshelf to get rid of. :-)

I hear ya, JB.  Another strange thing ..................  When I search the posted books to see if someone else has a cover already posted that I can use for mine................PBS tells me there are no books listed under that title.  So then I went through the checking method with the reminder list and see that there are numerous copies listed, including mine!!  I'm confused..........................

I just re-attempted those two books again for the heck of it.  Let's see if the umpteenth time is the charm ...

Now this book is back again to the state where I can't click the blue image: http://www.paperbackswap.com/book/details/9780553242201-The+Greatest+Success+in+the+World

JB,

I just approved both the images.  The Historian is showing in the database.  The Greatest Success didn't take, no idea why, I even tracked down a cover image myself and uploaded it with no luck.  I'm going to submit a report to Robert about this book since I have no idea what the problem is.

Kenneth,

It is actually 5mb, although that is huge and shouldn't be necessary.  Best size is about 500 x 300 pixels.  Don't use the Edit Book Data page to upload covers, use the Upload Book Covers link.  The Edit Book Data link doesn't put the pictures into the approval queue.

Thanks Sarra.  Hopefully Robert can figure it out.  From my experience, there's definitely something a bit buggy with the image upload stuff.

Kenneth; 5mg is correct.

Everyone else:  Sherry is the guru on this. I uploaded all my non-cover books except one.  That one, I cropped at least 3 times to see if it makes a difference, but it still does not upload. I do not get a reply as to why it doesn't work.  Sherry helped me out on a lot of them.   You must use jpg, and it must be cropped not to show any white around the edges. Like I said, all of mine worked except one, and that one is annoying me because I hate to see blue covers!!....lol....

Hey Sarra;  can you tell me if mine went through????  Name of the book is Lullaby & Goodnight; ISBN  0453005705. I've uploaded it quite a few times. Why doesn't it take???   Thanks. June

Well, I'm still having trouble with those two books ( Idol and The Film Book ).  I found covers but it won't let me upload.

Another question, how do you find covers for some of these books.  I feel like I have searched forever on some to no avail.  Is there a secret place I should be looking?  Some are VERY hard to find!!!!!

I have two books that there are absolutely no covers for!!!   I searched everywhere in the world on Google!  I may try to scan one to see how that works (when I have the time). 

There's big thread on this topic in the Book Bazaar and Sherry's been posting all kinds of great advice there.  I've been scanning the covers of my books and uploading those with no problem.  There are three books on my shelf that I keep uploading covers for, but they never appear.  I sent Sherry the files and she couldn't find anything wrong with them, yet after three weeks and 3 uploads, the covers simply will not appear.  The thread in the Book Bazaar is titled "suggestions for those offering deals".  I've bumped it to the front page if anyone is interested in taking a look.

I've actually posted on another thread about this, too.  I have tried several times to get photos up and at first I got a message that said that they won't upload because another image is pending.  Then, I got a message that appeared that they seemed to take, but never made it to my bookshelf. 

Anyone?

- Tracy 

Wow! Lot's of action on this topic so fast! Teach me to miss a topic!

I have posted guidelines written by Sarra, the co-coordinators for the Image team in this CMT topic:

Do You Have Books on Your Shelf Missing Pictures or Descriptions? 

I would suggest we consolodate our image issues there so that people can see some of the answers as well as the questions at the same time. If you are still having issues with an image, post it in that topic and either Sarra or one of us others will see what we can do to help you.

June :)   I may be good at pics, but Sarra is as good as me any day, AND she is the leader of our team so I have great confidence in her simply because R&R have a reason to have confidence in her and she has proven herself to be an asset to that position. She will help you anytime and just as well, she does a great job, as do the others that work on the image team. That's why we signed up, we are all good at what we do. I just happen to have enough extra time to be visible inthe forums. There are several others working on images too hahahahaha but thank you for the 'title' of guru :)

Mona, some books just don't have images on the Internet anywhere. I looked last night for one for someone else, and never did find it. And believe me, if there is one area I will accept the title of guru in, it is searching the Internet. I'm good at that beyond any reproach. And it's the 2nd image that I have absolutely been unable to find a cover for. I've found lots that other people haven't, but some just aren't out there. Weird. Lots of places have it for sale, but not a single one put up an image. How do they expect to sell it???

Thanks for all your help Sherry; I guess I was one of the people you couldn't find images for (I had given you two or three  I think that I could not find anywhere!!).  They're just not there.....  Anyway, what about the other one you said my images  looked good but does not upload??  Name is Lullaby & Goodnight.  You said you'd check to see if it was a glitch? 

No matter what....you're still my guru......lol.....:)

Hi everyone,

I have a stupid question!!

How do I crop my book images?  I am running Win 98.

thanks for any help inadvance.

glenda

Glenda, I just sent you a PM. You were too fast for me hahahaha

But, just in case someone else needs to know, I'll post what I wrote you here:

Do you have any type of graphics program? If not, you can download and install a free program called Irfanview. It is simple and will help you with three important things for images for PBS.

• You can crop images by using your mouse to "draw" a box around the portion of the image you want to keep.
  • (Click-Hold-Drag-your mouse from the upper left corner to the lower right corner-then release. This will create a box.
  • Place your mouse across an edge of the box to move it. The mouse will turn into a double arrow and
  • you can click-hold and move the edge in or out.
  • When you have the box the size you want, click EDIT then CROP SELECTION. 

• Images must be .jpg if you download one that is .gif you can open it with Irfanview and resave it as a .jpg format.

• You can look at images to make sure there is not extra around the image of the cover that needs to be cropped off.
  • Go to OPTIONS then PROPERTIES and
  • click the tab VIEWING and click the CHOOSE button to change the background in the viewing window.
  • Changing it black or white enables you to see the excess that is not part of the cover and needs to be cropped.
    
    I hope this helps you and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me. I'll help as much as I can.

What is the *exact* size needed for book covers.

UPDATE: OK, I see the problem - size probably doesn't matter as much as cropping the white from the image.  I didn't realize the cover I uploaded had white bars on each side.

You do realize you've bumped up a thread that was started in 2007, right?  It was a shock to see Sherry's replies. 

This is the answer I found about 5 or 6 replies up from yours:

"Kenneth,

It is actually 5mb, although that is huge and shouldn't be necessary.  Best size is about 500 x 300 pixels. "