Uploading Image Files

Introduction – Click on Control Panel Button Typically, most instructors will post the majority of their images under the “Course Information”, “Course Documents” or “Assignments” sections of their course site. This acts as the first level of organization. Instructors can further organize their site by creating Folders in these sections. A Folder is a named placeholder which allows instructors group a number of files which have commonality. For information on how to create a folder see Step- By-Step Creating A Folder Step 1: To upload a image, click on the Control Panel Button.

Click on the Proper Content Area Step 2: This brings up the Control Panel page. Decide which area you want to upload your image and click on that area name under “Content Areas”

Click on the Add Item Button Step 3: In this case I clicked on the “Course Documents” area and this brings up the add content page for the Course Documents” Area. To upload an image click on the “Add Item” button.

Type Name and Description Step 4: This brings up the add content form. In section #1 type in a name for your image or choose one from the drop-down box next to the “Name:”. In this case I have titled the image “Edna St. Vincent Millay”. You can add any additional information about the image by typing (or cut-and-paste) the information into the “text” box.

Click on Browse Button Step 5: In section #2 click on the “Browse” button

Locate File On Your Computer Step 6: This brings up your computer’s file locator dialogue box. Locate the image file on your computer and highlight it by clicking on its name. Then click on the “Open” button in your file locator. (an alternative is to double-click on the file’s name) IMPORTANT: Never use spaces when naming a file that will be uploaded to an Internet Server. Re-name the file before choosing it.

See Path – Type in Link Step 7: After choosing the file, your computer’s file locator dialogue box will close and the path to to your chosen image file will appear in the box next to the “Browse” button. Type a name for the link (the words your students will click on to view the file) in the box next to “Name of Link to File”. Usually this is something which describes the action like “Click Here” or View Image”. If you do not type anything in this box, Blackboard will use the name of the file as the link.

Inline Option “Inline Option”: Blackboard allows Instructors to post images in an “inline” fashion. That is, instead of a link to the image, the image itself is displayed. To add this inline option use the drop-down box in Section#2 and choose “Display Media File Within the Page”. If this warning box appears on your screen click “ok”

Choose Options and Submit “Inline Option”: This brings up a file options form for Multimedia Options. Choose the desired Alignment option (where the image appears on the page). Choose the placement of the image (in reference to any text you typed in the text box). Choose an optional image border width. Type in an alternative text (if a user has their browser set to “no images”). Type in a URL (if you want uses to be able to click on the image and be diverted to a different web page). If you do add a URL, decide if you want that new web page to open in Blackboard or a new window. Finally, click on the Submit button.

Optional – Add Time Release Optional - If you want your image to be “time released” check the Display after and/or display until boxes in Section #3. Using the drop-down boxes, choose a date and time that you want the image to become available to students and/or a day and time you want the image to become unavailable to students. If you want the image available at all times then do not place a checkmark in either of the boxes. Images that are unavailable to students are always available to instructors through the control panel. Step 8: Finally, click on the Submit Button.

Confirmation Clicking on the Submit Button will bring up a confirmation page. Click on the “OK” button.

Click on the Course ID Name Step 9: This will return you to the Add Content page for the “Course Documents” area but now you will see the added link to the image. Note that you can either modify or remove the image on this page. After adding any content to you Blackboard course site, it is always a good idea to see what it looks like in the “Course” view. To return to the course click on the course ID name ( In this case ENG- 101_Nhirsig). Then click on the proper area (in this case “Course Documents”).

View Image “Inline Option”: When you return to the Course View / Course Documents instead of the link (as seen in slide 12) the image itself is displayed along with any options you have chosen.

Notes on Uploading Images Blackboard will accept and display images saved in.gif or.jpg format. All other image formats will require your students to have software installed on their local computer capable of reading the image file. It is best to upload only.gif and.jpg images. Most image editors will allow you to save your image as one of these file types. It is important to check the size of your image (in pixels) before you upload it to Blackboard. Images larger than 450 pixels in width or height will usually be to large for the Blackboard content screen and your students will need to use the scroll bar to view the image. To check the image size (in pixels) or to resize the image, you will need image editing software (example: Photoshop). Unfortunately the “Paint” program, which ships with most Windows operating systems will not allow you to resize or even save.gif or.jpg image files. All of the public computer labs on campus have Photoshop installed on their workstations. There are also many free or shareware image editing programs you can download from