What operating system do you use? Vista has a built in image editor in normal folder view, that you can crop the image, just choose "fix" in the folder view. Any other version of windows, use MS Paint :)
If you want a more fully featured program, I can recommend GIMP, which is a free alternative to Photoshop and has versions for most OS's. But thats got a steep learning curve so isnt exactly easy to use :)
I use Windows XP and I have tried Paint but think it sucks:P or maybe it's me.
Thanks for the fast respons them00ch and MisterZob. I will be happy to see a tutorial MisterZob, I don't think I'm the only one that have the problem with black bars :)
Cropping should be fine Rozzomega. That should keep the image in its original aspect ratio. I havent used Photfiltre, but unless it behaves very different from all other programs, it should be fine.
Yes, all you need to use is those two features : - crop - resize (but ALWAYS with "Preserve the aspect ratio" on) You should NEVER alter the aspect ratio of the snapshot you took from your DVD.
Nice, tliff. I always use irfanview ( http://www.irfanview.com/ ) for my image editing needs. It is small, has every basic image editing feature and is totaly free. Just select all without the black bars and select crop from the menu.
@ tliff As I never tried that, what would happen if the picture uploaded is smaller than the 720x400 WTM frame ? It can happen with NTSC non anamorphic DVDs : you get a 640x480 snapshot. After removing black bars, it could be like 640x350 only. Does the WTM upload system turn those shots into bigger ones ?
I use MS paint - I really don't have patience to learn how to use other softwares.
- Open the file with MS paint - Edit -> Select all (Crtl+a) - Move the image up and left to remove up and left bars. - You end up with some white lines down and on the right side. - "Un"-select the image (just click anywhere out of the selection) - Use the small blue squares on the edges of the image to remove the white lines.
I think it is better help the user to see the black bars, befor finish the upload. We have the point Verify in this point must be checked on black bars, but now is the backgroundcolor black, to see black bars the wrong color. Better are purple, you can see black, gray, white bars now, and the user can correct its errors. Better as many "help and faq" who nobody read and many deleted good shots. :))
Well, you can always check the end result before clicking on upload. And black bars are not really a problem as long as the image itself is at maximum size, like http://whatthemovie.com/shot/43000 for example. And it's not that bad if a shot gets deleted because of this reason, you can always re-upload it without the bars.
I think SmileOne point is that I'd like the check to appear in a "not black" frame. Remaining black bars would be easier to spot this way. Kind of like I did on this page : http://siboul.free.fr/wtm/red-index.html
A bump here, people, cause I notice a lot of black barred shots lately.
The fact that we do not vote delete for small black bars of a few pixels, does NOT mean that you should just leave them. Crop ALL black bars off your shot, before uploading, it looks way better.
I don't care if the shot is awesome, black bars it's a straight 6 or less. I'm tired of voting delete, it's annoying, because its part of the rules and its not difficult at all to get rid of it, so I decided to give low ratings.
jeez, worry about the shots, not about 6 pixel BB guys. I am really getting tired of this. I deleted 3 delete votes because somebody thought any piece of black anywhere around should go......
This one needs a bump, because I notice LOTS of shots where the black bars aren't cropped. ALL black bars need to be cropped, not just the huge ones, people!