Problem Uploading Photos to Listings

[cousinquiller]

When I upload photos to my listings, I have to rotate and then save any that are sideways, even though I already rotated and saved them beforehand. I've heard that this is due to the photo editing program that I use (which came with my Acer laptop) being incompatible with ebay's uploading function. Is this true? And if so, can anyone recommend another basic photo editing program that I can use that won't cause the same problem? Thanks.

[richardcm · Accepted solution]

Here is a copy of a post on eBay.com by eBay member shipscript explaining in detail the eBay photo updating issue and solutions to the issues.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Tools-Apps/Have-to-rotate-every-photo-taken-vertically-when-uploading/...

All photos are stored on cameras and phones in the default "landscape" orientation. On an iPhone, the default orientation is with the dimple on the right, and if you hold the phone in some other position, you will have a rotation issue for eBay.

The camera or phone will set a flag on the photo to indicate which side of the camera or phone was downward when the photo was taken. Many computer programs, and some browsers, know how to read that flag and will display a photo that is rotated back into the position your camera was held.

eBay does not recognize the rotation flag in a photo and strips that data away before the photo even reaches eBay's servers. That is why the photo always appears on eBay in the default landscape shape instead of a vertical shape. Thus the image, not just the flag, must be rotated before sending to eBay.

If you want to avoid rotating your photos, hold your camera in the normal position or hold your phone with the bottom dimple to the right. That is the default landscape orientation for all cameras and phones. Any other orientation will require a rotation, either in the phone/camera editor, desktop editor, or eBay uploader/editor.

eBay's photo uploader does have a rotation feature. Look on the photo edit screen when your image appears on your listing form, and rotate the image on the uploader screen. In some cases, the photo may appear correctly rotated on the screen, but won't arrive on eBay that way. If you know a photo was taken sideways, and you typically see sideways photos (if you held your phone vertically), just rotate it all the way around even of it looks okay onscreen and eBay's image uploader will make the correction.

Your iMac (My edit to add that your Acer program may also - richardcm) photo editor should have the ability to rotate and save a rotated version of the photo, but you may need to crop a little bit (or perform some other minor image task) to force the editor to write a new image instead of simply modifying (or not modifying) the rotation flag.

[richardcm]

Your photo editing program is not at fault. The eBay listing upload of the photos is at fault.

Most cameras today take photos in a set orientation like landscape mode and sets an attribute in the embedded properties in the photo as to what direction the photo is to be viewed.

The eBay upload ignores the orientation attribute and strips it out of the photo. So the original camera default orientation is used.

Your photo Acer edit program changes the attribute in the photo and since eBay ignores this you see no change when uploading.

To fix this you need to take the picture so that the camera default orientation is correct the way you want it or use the eBay photo editor to rotate it when listing or use a third party editor that actually rotates the photo and not change the attribute.

The easiest solution is to take the photo in the default orientation of the camera. For a standalone camera landscape mode is the default. Don’t rotate the camera from that orientation. Take the picture farther back to fill the frame and crop out the sides.

For an iPhone I forgot which orientation is correct. Probably with the phone upright. You can test to find out. I always take photos with my iPhone in square mode so never have the issue.

[richardcm]

For a more detailed technical explanation of the photo issue, please read this topic on the eBay.com forums.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Tools-Apps/Have-to-rotate-every-photo-taken-vertically-when-uploading/...

Here is a copy of the post 2 by ebay member shipscript.

All photos are stored on cameras and phones in the default "landscape" orientation. On an iPhone, the default orientation is with the dimple on the right, and if you hold the phone in some other position, you will have a rotation issue for eBay.

The camera or phone will set a flag on the photo to indicate which side of the camera or phone was downward when the photo was taken. Many computer programs, and some browsers, know how to read that flag and will display a photo that is rotated back into the position your camera was held.

eBay does not recognize the rotation flag in a photo and strips that data away before the photo even reaches eBay's servers.  That is why the photo always appears on eBay in the default landscape shape instead of a vertical shape. Thus the image, not just the flag, must be rotated before sending to eBay.

If you want to avoid rotating your photos, hold your camera in the normal position or hold your phone with the bottom dimple to the right. That is the default landscape orientation for all cameras and phones. Any other orientation will require a rotation, either in the phone/camera editor, desktop editor, or eBay uploader/editor.

eBay's photo uploader does have a rotation feature. Look on the photo edit screen when your image appears on your listing form, and rotate the image on the uploader screen. In some cases, the photo may appear correctly rotated on the screen, but won't arrive on eBay that way. If you know a photo was taken sideways, and you typically see sideways photos (if you held your phone vertically), just rotate it all the way around even of it looks okay onscreen and eBay's image uploader will make the correction.

Your iMac photo editor (perhaps your Acer laptop program also - richardcm) should have the ability to rotate and save a rotated version of the photo, but you may need to crop a little bit (or perform some other minor image task) to force the editor to write a new image instead of simply modifying (or not modifying) the rotation flag.

[ypdc_dennis]

mtpaint is a simple free program, available for linux and windows