How to quickly and easily host graphics for Your layout - no FTP needed!

This may come in handy:

There is no problem if You want to put some pictures to Your posts or illustrate Your articles with some images. However, if You'd like to compose the layout of Your site using Your own graphics - it seems there isn't so much You could do. At most You can use a gadget called "Image" - which is dedicated to display Your own graphics (a gadget per image). Using this You could very easily place an image on Your site - via very simple configuration window.

But if You need more flexibility, You could consider another way: a quick trick which will enable You to use Your own image files on Your Blogger website. You will be able both to easily send them to further use anywhere You want - and put them directly in place where You want to.

The simplest way You can do this is, as follows:

How to store images for further use:

1. Create a new post and give it a title recognizable for You (e.g. "Layout graphics").
2. Put Your images into this post. Remember their (file) names - they will come in handy.
3. Don't publish it - just close (using "Close" button on the top right).
4. Whenever You will want to use one of those images - open the "Layout graphics" post via Blogger Dashboard (You will find it in Drafts), choose a "HTML" view (a switch on the top left) and then find a particular image You need within the code - keeping its name in mind. More precisely: find a line beginning with "<a href="http://usuallyLongStrangelyLookingStringEndingWithYourImageName.xxx" (".xxx" is usually ".jpg", "gif" or ".png") and containing the image's name.

^{(click images to enlarge)}

5. Select and copy the fragment from "http" to ".xxx". Voilà! - You have the image's address - now You can use it wherever You want to display this image.

A good practice could be to paste this address into special text file on Your computer in order to have it available easier than through the dashboard.

How to place an image?

From now on You can use all those images as Your layout's elements, using an <img> HTML tag, e.g.:

<img src="InsertImageAddressHere" />