When creating or editing categories, you may decide you want to add a little more flair to them with graphics. FatCat allows you to upload images and icons to each category.
Size is the biggest difference between an image and an icon. Images are much larger than icons. The other difference is where they show up. Icons are commonly accompany information under that category. Images are usually only seen when some if reading information about the category itself.
Before we get started, let's lay down the rules for images and icons.
Images and icons should be of the gif, jpeg (or jpg as it is more commonly spelled), or png format. You can tell what format your graphic is by looking at the file extension (i.e. the last three letters of filename). Any other image types (e.g. bmp, wmp, psd etc.) won't be allowed.
Icons must be even smaller: 50 pixels wide by 50 pixels high or less.
Images should be around 200 pixels wide by 200 pixels high. Anything larger than that tends to gobble up space and detract from the description of the category.
Both icons and images should have a resolution of 72 dots per inch (or dpi). Remember, monitors don't need high resolution to show a clear picture. Anything over 72dpi is overkill and makes the image file bloated. Digital cameras usually store pictures at 300dpi to 1200dpi so be careful.
To upload an image, click the Browse button. Go to the directory that contains your image file and select it by double clicking or clicking OK. The directory path to your image should now appear in the text box next to the Browse button. Now if you create or update your category, the image will accompany the title and description on the view page.
You can upload an icon the same way. Click Browse, choose your icon, and save the category.
After uploading at least one image or icon to the system, you will see a drop down box with that graphics file name selected. If you decide you do not want to use a graphic for the category you can choose <None> in the drop down box. If you later prefer to use a different graphic entirely, you can select it from the drop down box as well.
Finally if you never want to see a graphic again, select the file name and click the Remove Image or Remove Icon button.
One other feature you can take advantage of on this page is thumbnails. These are small versions of the currently selected image. Once created, they can be used as icons. Creating them is easy, either Browse to the image you want to use or select on from the image drop down box and then click the Create Icon from Image button. Your new icon will then be set!
A few rules about thumbnail icons. First, not all images lend themselves well to icons. A landscape for example would be unrecognizable as an icon. An image of a object or a portrait would lend itself well to an icon. Experiment with them. Second, you can only make thumbnails from jpg or png image files. Sorry, but gif files are copyrighted material and you have to pay to alter the format.