Before you start, you should have an idea of the general display size for your auction photos. of the people who view your auction will see the photos differently because the resolution of the their display will dictate the physical size.

A general recommendation is that the image not be larger than 500 pixels on its longest side. This is not a hard rule, just a guideline. If your photo is much larger, some potential bidders will have to scroll to see all the photo and that's not good! Click the sample image sizes on the right to help you understand this relationship.

We mentioned image size before camera for a reason. You may have a newer digital camera with so many megapixels that you can't even set it for the image size you decided above. This is regrettable. Many pixels of resolution are good for enlargement but bad for auction photos!

The reason? Because if you can't set you camera to a lower setting - something like 640 X 480 - that only means more work for you, your PC and your internet connection. Big pictures mean big files - lots of bytes to be processed uploading and slow downloading for your auction visitors on dial-up connections.

Best Practice? Take your photos at the lowest resolution supported by your camera. If the photos are still too big, move back from the subject so you can crop out part of the background and still have a sharp photo the size you want.

Low and medium priced Digitals are designed to use default settings and 'auto' mode to take good snapshots in a normal 'snapshot' circumstance. This usually means your camera will take a good picture of a person or group indoors or outdoors from a distance of a few feet. The flash will come on automatically if needed.

It is not likely this default or 'auto' mode will not work well for small items at closer distances. To take good pictures of your auction items, you'll probably be forced to read the operation booklet that came with your camera and learn how to change some of the settings manually.

Best Practice? Read your camera manual completely. Understand the meaning of each section and control. To take good auction pictures, you'll need to be able to control the field, focus, and exposure either by changing settings on the camera, or, by a manual technique such as moving the camera and controlling amount and source of the light.

Common problems

Picture is blurry.

• The camera is not in macro mode (closeup mode) Most cameras have this feature. Check your camera manual.
• The camera moved when you pressed the shutter. You need a tripod or solid rest for the camera. (in a pinch - try a bag of dry beans)
• You are too close to the item for the focal range of the camera. Move the camera back until the item is in perfect focus. You can increase the size of the image if necessary, then crop out the excess background with the photo editor.