Tech Forum

I'm a membership clerk. I can download "thumbnail" and "medium" versions of a photo, using right click and "Save this image". However, I have not found a way to download the full-size photo from the web. That is, how to get back the real photo that was uploaded (by me or anyone else).

Some people have posted pictures that would be acceptable if they weren't, for example, taken at midnight with a candle. For many pictures, I simply need to take them offline, do a few quick fixes, and put them back. The problem is the "take them offline" part! I haven't found a way.

Thanks so much for any help.

--Eben Visher, Sacramento, California

I don't believe there is any way of doing that.

I've not found a way of doing that, either. I save all the photos I take so I can get back to the originals later, if needed.

I could be wrong but I doubt the Church would set aside the resources to store everyone's 5-10MP photo. It is possible that the original images are scaled on the fly and never actually stored anywhere.
IIWM I would not alter anyone's photo without their permission and approval of the edits made.

Kiricks,

Thanks, it's good to be reminded. I naturally check with ward members about their pictures. Commonly they put up much better pictures than I take, anyway. It's good to be sensitive.

Regarding storage: I certainly agree. The Church, like Google does with their free photo storage program (Google will store *all* anyone's photos for free; I use that service), probably reduce very high res pictures down to something like 2400x2400 pixels. I don't know if they make various versions on the fly from those, or make all the versions at once. What I observe is that the website will offer me versions named MEDIUM.jpg and THUMBNAIL.jpg. From that, I infer that possibly there are a "FULLSIZE.jpg" or "LARGE.jpg" or "ORIGINAL.jpg" kicking around somewhere. One of those is the one I'd like to get.

I've found several reasons to download pics. One is that I lost my master copy. Another is that I see the version I posted has an error, I need to fix it, and I foolishly didn't keep the original that I uploaded. Last, people who are not photo-literate may put up a great photo that has a serious problem. In one example, it was nearly uniformly black. With a one-click "auto fix" in Photoshop Express, I made it so the person could be seen. I'm careful to keep the saints in the loop. Their wishes are supreme in my mind. Being ward membership clerk and in charge of photos has not yet raised me to mini-god status. I hope it never does.

--Eben