[ How do I tell how big my signature pictures are? ]


There are two signature size limitations on Gaia. Pixel Size and File Size.
Gaia’s Rules & Guidelines
Please keep signatures less than 500 pixels wide in both width and height, and a size of less than 100k. Ability to post signatures may be removed if you do not comply with a moderator’s request to follow this standard.


[ Pixel Size ]


What is a pixel?
The basic unit of the composition of an image on a television screen, computer monitor, or similar display.

A pixel is the tiniest little dot you can see on your computer moniter. Depending on your moniter’s resolution, which dictates how many pixels you can see at one time, things may appear larger or smaller on your screen- but they are actually the same size measurement wise.


How big is 500 pixels tall and wide?
Here is an example of an image that is 500 pixels wide, and 500 pixels tall.

User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.


The reason this looks taller than it is wide is because the vast majority of moniters have a rectangular resolution. Try measuring the viewing space on your moniter with a ruler- it should be longer than it is tall. In reality, both sides are 500 pixels (or 500 tiiny little dots) wide and tall. Your total signature may not go over either 500 pixels in width, or length, even if the other side is a little shorter.

How do I check how many pixels are in my picture?
If you edit your image in a more advanced image-editing software, such as adobe Photoshop, you may be able to view the image’s height and width from within the program itself very easily. MS Paint can also do this. Open the picture you want to check, and press the keys Ctrl+E on your keyboard, or, click the word Image at the top menu and scroll down to Attributes. The resulting menu will display your current picture’s width and height in pixels.

If you have more than one picture in your signature, you have to make sure the total height and width both stay within the limit of 500. If you have images that are on top of each other, add up their heights. If you have images sitting next to each other, add up their widths. If both stay within 500 pixels, then the only thing you have to check is your signature’s File size!

[ File Size ]


What is file size and why is it important?
Everything on your computer is stored on your hard drive. You’re probably familiar with the word “kilobyte” (KB), or perhaps “megabyte” (MB). A kilobyte is a thousand (1,000) bytes, which is just about the smallest file increment you’re going to encounter. (A bit is actually smaller, as there are 8 bits for one byte, but it’s not important for this lesson.)

You may not care how big the files are on your computer- you might have plenty of space and don’t really have to worry about it, but on the internet the story is very different. Your hard drive can write to itself faster than any internet connection can move. The average dial-up user may download and upload data at an average of 4KB/s, or 4 kilobytes per second. Want to know how fast that is?

Let’s make an example. In Gaia, up to 14 posts can be on one page at a time, as the 15th post will start the 2nd page. If every person on the first page is a different poster, meaning that all of their signatures show up, and all of their signatures are 100KB in file size (the maximum allowed), that would be 1.4MB of images the person has to download. 1,400 divided by 4 equals 350. It would take this person almost 6 minutes to finish loading all of the pictures, and that’s if they are not doing anything else with their connection! If you have dial-up and you don’t care, that’s fine- but most people do. So please, be respectful of their time and connection.

How do I check on file size?
Find the image(s) you want to use and right click on it, then select properties. This will display the image’s file size. If there are two size values, use the larger value for your calculations. Your signature must not go above 100KB, or 100,000 bytes.

Can I use a bitmap (.bmp) in my signature?
NO! Please do not use bitmaps in your signature, or anywhere else on the internet! If you do not know how to compress your bitmaps, you may read the following article.

What bitmaps are and how to fix them!