Acobox.com: Free Images for Your Website or Blog
June 15th 2009 18:54
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it isn't worth a thousand frustrations!
The Ups and Downs of Images
Need images to liven up your blog posts? Want a few photos to enhance your website's design? Most of us know that relevant images can attract attention--and readers--to our blogs. Yet, we don't use them nearly as often as we should, simply because it seems too much trouble to search for them, download, save, sometimes resize, and (finally!) upload them. If we were honest, many of us would have to admit that looking for just the right image to illustrate our ideas and then handling the myriad related details is far from our favorite pastime and definitely the least enjoyable part of writing/blogging. So, where do you go when it's time to illustrate your web copy with colorful visuals--that is, when you can psych yourself up for the ordeal? (Of course, if you happen to be a photographer and can illustrate your work with photos you take yourself, you are exempt from this question--though I'm sure that, at times, the image you need won't be one you have among your own photographic collection.) If, for whatever reason, you're tired of using the same old photo sites--or Googling and finally finding a new one only to discover that it charges for its "free" images--or if downloading and saving a multitude of photos to your hard drive before uploading them to your blog has lost its luster, try Acobox.com.
Acobox is a Little Different
While Acobox organizes its photos according to the usual system of categories (and sub-categories) and allows you to search for images via keywords, as most other photo sites do, it does offer one significant difference: It allows you to upload your images directly to your blog, eliminating the intermediate step of downloading and saving them to your hard drive first. This saves you time, trouble, frustration, and--no less importantly--disc space.
Acobox also gives you the option of choosing from four image sizes, so it's never necessary to edit and change the image size yourself. This is a service Acobox provides for you automatically when the image is uploaded to your site. (In fact, most images aren't even available for download but may only be uploaded directly to your website or blog. They must also be hotlinked, meaning that they must have a link to Acobox embedded in the image--though Acobox takes care of this for you by including the link in the code it provides when you upload your photo to your site.)
Try It for Yourself and See What You Think
To access Acobox's free images, you'll need to register for the site. (Registration is free.) You'll also need to list all the blogs for which you intend to use the free image upload service. (Be sure to keep this list up-to-date to continue to enjoy the privilege of uploading free images directly to all your sites.)
Acobox makes using images on your website or blog faster, easier, and more convenient. So, why not peruse the site at your leisure and see what it has to offer. Browse its image library and see if you don't find something that will be just right for your next post--or something that might even inspire your next post.
Check it out, sign up, try it, and let me know what you think!
Happy "imaging"!
Jeanne
Note: To access Acobox.com, please click the hotlinked image in this post.
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Comment by Nevar
Is Why
Thanks for another quality bit of advice.
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Nevar
Is Why
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Nevar
Is Why
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Comment by Nevar
Is Why
Comment by Lillie Ammann
Thanks for this info. For anyone who has a WordPress blog, there's a nitfy little plugin (PhotoDropper) that links to Flickr. You type your keywords into the search box and thumbnails of all the photos tagged with those keywords appear in the admin area of your blog. You can click to see the full-size image at Flickr, and when you decide on the image to use, you select one of three sizes.
Like Acobox, it eliminates the need to resize, download, and upload images with the added advantage of being able to do everything from the admin panel of your blog. However, it only works with WordPress.
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Glad to help!
Sorry to censor you again, BTW, but I do want to keep this blog both family- and scripture-friendly. (I'd rather use slightly more reverent methods for displaying the Word of God here.) Hope you understand.
Appreciate the visit!
Jeanne
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Doing OK. Hope you are, too.
Glad I could provide you with one more great image resource. Hopefully, it will help make blogging easier and more fun for you.
Thanks for the visit!
Jeanne
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
Thanks for passing on the info about the PhotoDropper plugin. It should prove helpful to those with WordPress blogs who want more control over--and less hassle with--the image-posting process.
I know that some Orble bloggers have other blogs on different platforms, and I'm sure that WordPress is one of them. (Of course, the info you've shared will also help Writer's Notes readers who have WordPress blogs.)
Thanks again!
Jeanne
Comment by Nevar
Is Why
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
I'm sure you had no intention to offend. I just prefer not to post certain things here. This is one reason I've disabled images in the Orble posts lists displayed in my sidebars. Other bloggers and I simply don't always agree on what constitutes appropriate content.
No hard feelings,
Jeanne
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
Sorry that we had an entire conversation on your blog.
Thanks again for the resource.
Tracy
Comment by Jeanne Dininni
Writer's Notes
No problem about the conversation. Conversations between commenters increase my comment numbers--and who can complain about that!
Hope you find lots of good images for your posts!
Thanks for stopping back by!
Jeanne