I was thinking of passing this link around for whomever wanted to chat.. share thoughts.. just say; "hey".

Only thing is.. not sure if the link works?
And, more so.. and to my point of resurrecting a discussion thread can people "Subscribe" to the discussion.. for updates / posts.


We shall see..

Les, I do hope this feature returns. Over the years, many of the site's features that added value have disappeared. I hope we get the discussion thread and have it on our left panel.

Also, for some time now, I have made attempts to renew my donation. I'm not sure when the PayPal link was disabled, but if Caedes would like a donation, it should be restored also. I did mention this before but did not hear back from anyone!

Another also, thanks for the fresh paint to the main gallerie and the timely upgrade of posts to "New Images." You are quite the morale builder.

Nice nice.

:)

___________________________________________________________


More to come, John, and I'll see about your queries as best I can. A number of navigational site items are gone.. need to re-familiarize / poke around some more.

Oh, and feel free to share this link with other members, I went through the "Most Active Members" list to reach some members.

I will do that. Good luck with the "Most Active Members" list as it has more than a few "non-artists" spammers. I think that in part, the reason our discussion threads were discontinued was because spammers took over the links and filled them with junk.

Les I'm here and link works fine. I'm glad your active again, the site could use refreshing! I did not know the paypal link was gone! I did use it the last time I did my membership. This is a great idea, and again thanks for giving new life to caedes I was able to subscribe.

Les, after reading Sandi's post, I went back to see if PayPal was now working and if so, I'd give it a go again. If it is in working order, it's being selective in that it is not working when I attempted to donate.

Les, thanks for this lovely initiative. In my comment on THIS IMAGE of Sandi I have given the link to this thread, in the hope that I've provided an easy way for Caedes-friends to check it out.

Hello everyone!

Ok, in no particular order..

John.. I went to the "Join The Cadre" link.. and, tried to make a donation / become a supporter. No go..

"Things don't appear to be working at the moment. Please try again later."

________________________________________________________________


I did get a little further into the 'donation process'.. by not entering a dollar amount directly while still on Caedes site.. and got to the PayPal site..

PayPal | caedes@caedes.net

But, in the end.. same thing..

"Things don't appear to be working at the moment. Please try again later."

Will have to message *caedes to see what's up.

__________________________________________________________________


Right, with that said..

Feel free to post your thoughts in this discussion thread.

MCGA!

(M.ake C.ades G.reat A.gain!

T-shirts and hats coming.. )

It's like.. I never left..

"Flood Control Error
You may only make one post every 20 seconds. Please go back and twiddle your thumbs for the remaining time."

______________________________________________________________

A big thank you.. to the members and those that were working behind the scenes to keep things going.

Yous know who you are..

Fred Rogers: Look for the Helpers

:o)

I just tried pay pal and had no luck. :(

For those that were wondering about PayPal.. I've messaged Geri; aka *caedes.. will apprise once I get a response.

(*goes back to twiddling thumbs..*)

It is nice to have you return Les. I am sure that we all are hoping you are able to stay around.

Ok, little update..

When I first logged in.. there were over 3,000 images still in queue for the "New Images". I think these images had yet to have one of the Caedes Consuls or Praetors give their approval.


So.. been working through these "New Images" to one; approve and two; as a means of going through images that could be promoted to the "Main Galleries".

That number of "New Images" is now.. sitting at 620.

____________________________________________________

And if you've not taken a look as of late.. encourage you to do so.. and feel free to provide some feedback..

Caedes.net "Main Galleries"


After all., it is "our" site.

:o)

@Tomeast

"I am sure that we all are hoping you are able to stay around."

__________________________________________________________________

Careful what you wish for..

:oP

'K, wondering here.. pondering, too..


What is everyone using to edit their photos and / or create their images?

I had Adobe CS2?
I think it was.. but, that's long gone, sadly.

I did some googling and this was a decent listing of some options available:

Photoshop alternatives: The 9 best free photo editors in 2024

^ Anyone using any of those listed?


'Cause.. lemme tell ya.. Windows Photos ain't cutting it.

Les, I still use Adobe CS6.

I'm using Photoshop CC 2019
GIMP is free program for image editing, and Affinity photo is a pay once Photoshop alternative. If you're looking id suggest trying GIMP and see how it works for you.

@Phil2001..

Thanks for the information and suggestions.

I had The GIMP installed some time back.. definitively a powerful editor.. just not particularly intuitive (for me, at least). Might have to take a look at the recent version to see what, if any, changes have been made.

Affinity Photo 2.0.. might be worth a look as well.

Thanks, again.. appreciate your time.

:o)

Les! Here's some cookies for ya! Take a break (LOL)!

Nice to see ya back again!

"What is everyone using to edit their photos and / or create their images?"

I have several free programmes but hardly use them as my ancient Paint Shop Pro X does most of what I want to do. Perhaps what I am capable of doing would be a fairer description.

Occasionally I pop in to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.3 and waste time in there - then return to old faithful PSP :)

I use photofiltre studio on my computer and on my phone I use the edit options on the phone, and sometimes snapseed.

Thanks to all above.

I, for one, really appreciate everyone taking the time to add to this facet of the discussion. It has been most helpful and informative for me.. as I find myself without a decent image editor at the moment.

Going to sift through the comments once again.. add in some googling.. should be almost good good to go (finding the time, is the thing.. see further below) thanks, peeps.

:o)

________________________________________________________________

The backlog of "New Images" is now standing at..

(*drum roll..*)

... ** 235 **


Still finding "Main Galleries" worthy images to promote.

:o)

Just a quick update..

The "New Images" are, in fact, up to date now.

!! ** YaY ** !!

Ahem..


What remains is an odd assortment of mostly ad bots.
Left them for *caedes to slice and dice.
He likes carnage.

And.. speaking of "carnage".. this was a fun discussion..

How do You Pronounce Caedes?

... I don't think the matter has ever been settled?


How do *you* pronounce; "caedes"?

Update..

Just found out from an e-conversation with John; aka casechaser that notifications for images promoted to the "Main Galleries" seems to have been disabled, not functioning.

So..


No secrets here.. to give a glimpse of what has been transpiring behind the scenes regarding promotions to the "Main Galleries", what has been done, thus far, is..

For the most active members.. and depending on how prolific of a poster that member was/is.. went back in their personal galleries up to 50 pages of 12 images each. It was at this point in time of postings.. that images promoted by either; +animaniactoo or +Piner started showing up. So, felt.. had gone back far enough.. for the time being.

Then, as mentioned, and aside from the "Most Active Members" list.. kept an eye on the "New Images" and members/artists that might have overlooked.. and, again.. went to personal galleries.

And, as a result of the e-conversation with John.. another avenue.. member's "Journal" entries of images.

In short.. getting there and to everyone's personal galleries ... slowly, but, surely.


If *you* haven't looked at the "Main Galleries" in a while.. I heartedly suggest you do ... there's 30+ pages of 12 images per of 'new' promotions.

And, I bet *you* find yourself well-represented.

:o)

A big thank you Les for the work you have done so far. I'm so glad your back!! tigs=^..^=

I use Digital Photo Professional 4 that I downloaded when I bought my new canon camera. I try a few edits first before cropping and resizing to see if the photo is going to work out. I then undo all the edits and crop. I go back and start editing again. The last thing that I do it resize.I have found this gives me the best quality image. Not sure it is the correct way to do things but it works for me.

Tada!! I am here as well:):) Hey, Les. is anyone running the site at all? I'm not surprised so much has happened in the last 5 years, or to tell the truth, what has NOT happened:?):) My activity has obviously dropped off immensely over the last year or more but it's nice to see you back here. I have used Paint.net since the day I joined Caedes and have in the past used Xaos, Chaoscope, ChaosPro, Sterling2, but now I use Paint.net, inPixeo,easyHDR 3 and sometimes Photoscape.Did you say you were in contact with one of the Mods?:)

Ok, I think I found the discussion that will shed some light on the questions surrounding; editing, resizing and uploading to the site.

"Image Quality"

For those that prefer the "TL,DR" version.. this one comment from one of the site's most respected photographers/Praetor/Aediles; mayne sums it up..

"Everytime you save a jpg file you will loose quality. So the when it gets to Caedes it has been saved at least three times."

^ It is a comment dovetailing on previous posts.. but, end results still remain the same.

Edits performed will degrade your image.. some.

Resizing.. will degrade your image.. some.
And, possibly more.. depending on the file format chosen, ie. jpg, PNG, etc.

Then.. when the site gets it's mucky fingers on your image and creates the various sizes.. your image gets degraded.. some.
_____________________________________________________________

@Tomeast..

I think.. have to inform myself some more.. that.. I would, in terms of work flow on an image and post processing / sweetening..

1) Perform any edits, adjustments on the largest file size, or, what came out of your camera / phone.
Original size / file is what we want.

2) Crop, if needed.

3) Save as PNG file.. upload to site.
______________________________________________________________


Found another relevant discussion.. started by yours truly..

"Image sizes and resolutions."

^ Again, some of our resident heavyweights (read; "those in the know") weighed in on the discussion. Interesting read, im my opinion.

I am going to work on getting my images saved as a PNG file once again. I read the links Les. I have used photoshop and lightroom and did not really like the results. I believe that the photo software has advanced a lot since those last chats in reference to sharpening especially. For instance The DPP 4 photo software that I use is sort of idiot proof. It automatically sharpens the image and I find it to be to my liking and often leave it. With the click of a button it will optimizes things without having to get into a lot of editing. Some good and some not so good. I usually do the tweaking myself and do not rely on the auto settings available. I do use the raw files as well.

Geometry Dash
[url=https://geometrydashjump.com/]Geometry Dash[/url]
[Geometry Dash](https://geometrydashjump.com/)

https://geometrydashjump.com/

^ Oh, dear... 'they' found us..

Oh darn they sure did!

Just looking above us.. wondering where Tom(east) is / has been?

Noticed him missing in the new images queue, as of late.

:o|


Was looking forward to more scenes like this from Tom..

"Snow Upstream"

... ...

That sounds a tad selfish on my part.

Kinda sorta like a backhanded compliment..

"Ohh! That new haircut looks great on you since you've put on all that weight!"

'K, think we can call off the hounds where Tom(east) is concerned..

"Membership:6/08/07 19:41 - 14/01/25 18:38"

Been working long hours Les. Waiting for snow for photos but none so far. Hope to be present more soon.

Got a little.. little concerned, Tom.

Nice to 'see' you back.


No rush on the photos.. can push things off till next Tuesday..

Have a look for yourselves..

Main Galleries

... 'bout, five (5) + new pages of promotions.


Take a bow, peeps.

:o)

Sidebar: Finding the site a bit wonky today.

Got a double post.

And a redirect to a page with nothing on it, save the letter "I" or something.. while approving images.

Been alerted to a situation with regards to some unsavory spam bots leaving comments/messages on member's images and personal profile pages (I was one of the unlucky ones to experience this facet).

So.. what to do?


First.. submit a complaint.

By clicking on..

"6/01/20 4:50
complain message"

... this will open a page to summit the reason for complaint, etc.


And / or..

Contact *caedes directly..

"Any official communications and inquiries related to caedes.net should be directed to caedes via personal message or to caedes@caedes.net via email. For phone contact numbers, please make a request via email and a contact number will be provided."

That time again.. time to refresh the "Main Galleries".

And, once more..
About five (5) new pages (at 12 per page) of promotions have been added.


Colour me.. impressed.

:o)


Seriously.. good good work, peeps.

We'll forgo the taking of bows.. 'cause.. if your back is feeling anything like mine is after having shoveled snow last week (and the week before and..).. polite smiles and pats on the back all around.

"About five (5) new pages (at 12 per page) of promotions have been added."

I stand corrected.. make that..

'Six (6) plus new pages (at 12 per page) of promotions have been added.'

Good good stuff.

Ya know..

Ain't nothing stopping us from running a contest.. winner.. promotion to the "Main Galleries" as chosen by the participating members in the contest.

Give the "Main Galleries" a bit of bump and different perspective/look, possibly.


"We" can flesh things out for the contest here, if interested.

Something like..

Vote for topic
SIx (6) weeks to submit
One (1) week for voting
Announce "winner"

My opinion about the possible revival of the contest phenomenon is given in my comment on the Digital Artists contribution of Les.

I like to use this opportunity as well to express my sincere appreciation for the attempts of Les to breathe new life into Caedes and to re-enthuse members for this unique site.