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Image Help & Support
We believe that high-quality photos of your old house are the key to attracting buyers. To help you get the most out of your listing, we offer these guidelines.
Do it yourself or leave it to us! See below, or visit our Seller's page, for more about our Image Processing Service.
Submitting Your Old House Images for Your Listing
To upload directly from your computer or digital camera:
- After you Start Your Listing and provide your basic listing information, our Listing Editor will allow you to upload your images directly from your computer.
- Click the "Add an image" link on the Listing Editor page. The Image Editor now displays with a form for locating your image on your computer or digital camera. Once you have located your image and added a caption and description (optional), click the "Add Image" button at the bottom and your image will upload to your listing.
- Once you upload your image, 4 sizes will be created to be used throughout our site. This will ensure that the best quality image is displayed for your listing.
- If you experience difficulties uploading your images you can email them to joe@oldhouses.com. Please provide your contact information and listing ID (if available).
To send your images to us:
- After you Start Your Listing and provide your basic listing information, you can send your listing images to us. We'll gladly add the images to your listing for you. You can email or mail your images.
- To email your images, attach your images to an email message addressed to joe@oldhouses.com. When attaching multiple images to an email, we recommend compressing them into ZIP or STUFFIT files. Please provide your contact information and listing ID (if available).
- To mail your images, burn them onto a CD and mail them to
OldHouses.comSorry, CDs cannot be returned.
400 Clement Ave.
Charlotte, NC 28204 - If you only have prints of your pictures please see our Pricing and Services for image processing information and pricing.
Be sure to include your contact information with your images. We also suggest including a caption and/or description of each image, and the year taken, if known.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Image Manager?
The Image Manager is a tool that allows you to hide, edit, and delete images, change the sequence of images and increase the number of displayable images on your listing.
How do I access the Image Manager?
You can access the Image Manager with the "Images" link in the right-side toolbar of the Listing Editor. If you have no images uploaded for your listing this link will go directly to the Image Editor where you can upload an image.
What is the Image Editor?
The Image Editor is a tool that allows you to upload, edit, and delete an image and its information for your listing.
How do I access the Image Editor?
You can access the Image Editor with the "Add an image" and "Edit image" links on the Listing Editor.
Why can't I upload my images using the Image Editor?
There are many reasons you may not be able to upload images including: corrupt image file, large file size, slow internet connection, and wrong image format. If you are not able to upload your images with the Image Editor, email them to us along with your contact info and listing ID. We'll add them to your listing for you.
Can't you just use one big image and display it in different sizes?
While this is possible, it isn't very effective. Browsers don't do a very good job displaying images in other than their native dimensions. Also, an image that actually is little has a much smaller file size, and display much more quickly, than a big image that is displayed as a little one.
Image Dimensions
For each photo in your listing, you can send up to four different copies, each with different dimensions, which are measured in pixels. Here is an image in four different sizes, all stacked on top of each other:
We use these image sizes in different places on the site:
- Small - up to 150 pixels wide or tall: used as thumbnail images on your listing page, and in some search lists
- Medium - 200-300 pixels wide or tall: used on search pages, and some featured house links
- Large - 300 - 450 pixels wide or tall: the main image displayed on your listing page
- Extra-Large - 600 pixels wide or larger: this image will pop up in a separate browser window if a visitor clicks on a thumbnail
Image Format and File Size
You must send images in JPEG format. This is the most popular format for digital photos and is best for this kind of site. Image files should have a .jpg extension.
The maximum file size for any image is 3100 thousand bytes.
Image Names
Do not include spaces or special characters in your image file name. Smash all the wordsTogetherLikeThis, or use underscores_like_this.
Images should end in .jpg.
Image Resolution
Resolution refers to level of detail in your image, expressed in the number of pixels per inch. The higher the pixels per inch, the more detailed the image (and the bigger the image file size).
Printed images have a resolution of 200 pixels per inch or more. Web browsers, however, only support 72 or 96 pixels per inch.
Your digital cameral is probably capable of taking high-resolution images at 200 pixels per inch or more, but these are too detailed for use on your listing page. So you need to 'process' your images, or reduce their resolution for use on the Web.
Your camera probably came with software for this purpose. There is also plenty of free or low-cost, easy to use image processing software available. We suggest searching for it in Google or another search engine if you need it.
If you want us to take care of these details, we offer image processing services. Please see our Pricing and Services for image processing details.
'Web-Ready' Images
Besides image dimensions and resolution, one other factor affects the quality - and download speed - of your listing images: the level of compression.
JPEG images can be compressed to make them smaller in file size while keeping the same dimensions, so they load faster in your browser. But the more an image is compressed, the more its quality suffers.
Image processing software allows you to choose how much to compress your images. Most images from digital cameras can be compressed quite a bit without any noticeable loss of quality.
Always compress, or optimize, your images, as much as possible, while maintaining the image quality you desire. Your optimized images display much more quickly, and your viewers will have a much better experience.
Let us process your images
OldHouses.com will gladly process your images for you. All you need to do is email us your images from your computer or digital camera. We'll take care of the rest!
For each image we receive, we will:
- crop and rotate the image as needed
- correct for color, contrast, and brightness
- create four optimized copies in different sizes
- add them to your listing
This service normally costs $5 per image. But for a limited time, image processing is included with your basic listing service.
Composing Your Images
You probably don't need us to tell you how to photograph your home at its best. But for best results on OldHouses.com, we offer the following tips:
- The Main View: a straight-on shot often works, but consider standing off to one side -- it adds depth to the image. If your image includes surrounding sky or land, the small sized copy will be quite hard to make out. Consider making it a closer shot.
- Streetscapes: highlight your surroundings if they add to the value of your listing. Have a sleeping porch with a view? Get a shot of the view from the window.
- Seasonal Photos: if your listing period covers a change in seasons, keep in mind that you can swap images anytime. Change them to reflect the new season.
- Close-up images: include a close-up of a feature that might not be noticeable in the whole-house shot.
- Historical images: buyers love to see and read about the history of your house. Old shots that have the same view as a recent image are especially good.
- Extreme Closeups: ornate doorknobs, arched doorways, transoms: these elements can tell buyers a great deal about your home's history and condition. If you enjoy noticing these elements as you live in your home, your buyers will probably appreciate them too.