Useful images as background for Ridvan stories, prayers, readings

CC 3.0 Flynn-Burhoe. 2008. “Mel’s Multifaceted Rose.” flickr.com/photos/oceanflynn/2423836770 I am currently working on image management tools and Web 2.0+ open source, social media tools that provide easy access to images and PowerPoint Presentations available under the Creative Commons License 3.5. It is my intention to fully respect all copyright licenses with this Creative Commons open source Web 2.0+ blog.

Work in process interrupted by falling snow on cedars . . .

I am hoping that NGO’s will continue to use and develop these resources to enrich presentations through the arts without resorting to the use of visual arts materials that are copyright protected.

(Hopefully those who are able to perform similar services in regards to appropriate music to enhance NGO presentations are also working on developing, refining and making accessible their resources. It is often unfortunate that music that accompanies (PowerPoint) slide presentations under-represents what is available or is “borrowed” and adapted without permissions.)

There has been a request for images relevant events related to the Ridvan story that took place in a riverside garden near Baghdad in 1863: Friends gathered together ( acknowledging the March 26th date), Messenger delivering the communication for Baha’u’llah, Distribution of the money being distributed among the poor, Sharing the news of Baha’u’llah’s exile being spread, Declaration, Pile of roses, Roses being distributed, Nightingales, Visitors coming in from Baghdad, Sacred Tablets, Garden of Ridvan . . .

Creative Commons: eVeR GiViNG by Adib Roy, on Flickr

These might be useful to illustrate the Ridvan story:

Writing of the Tablet

This is a layered image 1440 x 900 pixels ready for use as a PowerPoint background. The public domain wiki digital image of one sheet of ‘Revelation Writing’ by Mírzá áqá Ján (original size 35×22 cm) which has been identified as the third Tajalí of the Tablet of Tajallíyát. See Taherzadeh, A. 1976. The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh: Baghdad 1853-63. I:110. There are similar images available at http://www.flickr.com/oceanflynn

This is the detail ‘Revelation writing-calligraphy’ by Mírzá áqá Ján (original size 35×22 cm) selected by Adib Taherzadeh (1976:110) sheet of ‘revelation writing’ by Mírzá áqá Ján (original size 35×22 cm) of the third Tajalí of the Tablet of Tajallíyát. This is one of the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. It has been published in the Tablets of Baha’u’llah. pp. 51–52) [2].

The third Tajalli is concerning arts, crafts and sciences. Knowledge is as wings to man’s life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words. Great indeed is the claim of scientists and craftsmen on the peoples of the world. Unto this beareth witness the Mother Book on the day of His return. Happy are those possessed of a hearing ear. In truth, knowledge is a veritable treasure for man, and a source of glory, of bounty, of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and gladness unto him. Thus hath the Tongue of Grandeur spoken in this Most Great Prison.

This image is 40% transparent 1440 x 900 ready for a PowerPoint background image.

Garden of Ridvan

This image is a fascinating photo entitled “Historical view of Baghdad and the Tigris River” (c. 1930) by Effie Baker.The photo has been made available through the http://media.bahai.org provided users take only 10 images and the link to their site is clearly visible. There is a page of detailed terms of use. This image is on Flickr adapted to PowerPoint Slide default size for use with Ridvan Holy Day celebrations.

Flickr

Looking under Flickr tag “Ridvan”  I found some great photos. Some images are available by writing an email request to individual Flickr account owners for special permission.

Others were found by looking in advanced search using keywords “Ridvan” and “creative commons.” While it is possible to let Flickr account author/photographers know you are using their images, it is not necessary as long as you respect the Creative Commons License.

These photos of the Garden of Ridvan fountain in present-day Israel have been generously made available under the Creative Commons 3.0 license by spraveenitpro.

Garden of Ridvan,
These photos of the Garden of Ridvan fountain in present-day Israel have been generously made available under the Creative Commons 3.0 license by spraveenitpro.

These photos of the Baha’i Gardens in Haifa have been made available with some restrictions by Guillaume Paumier, on Flickr

The Baha’i Media Bank is an invaluable source of visual materials including The Garden of Ridvan in what is now known as Israel. These images include historical photos taken prior to name change from Palestine to Israel. Images can be used following their terms-of-use guidelines. Users are asked to create a login and password before downloading images.

This useful site provides a fascinating photo entitled “Historical view of Baghdad and the Tigris River” (c. 1930) by Effie Baker.

I will provide urls and or thumbnails on this page linked to images. Images in PowerPoint can be inserted as backgrounds or simply as an added object. My personal preference is for images as backgrounds but unless images have already been cropped to fit PowerPoint slide size are shown as full image. As much as possible I will use AdobePhotoshop to edit canvas and image size to 1440 (width) x 900 pixels (height) with a resolution of 300 mg in a .jpg format. This is the largest PowerPoint will allow. I will also use AdobePhotoshop layer transparency feature to provide the same image at 40% transparency which is suitable for images as background with readable text fields.
Please leave a comment if anything on this blog is a copyright infringement and I will make changes necessary to respect the license of remove the resources in a timely fashion.

There are several open source services that allow PowerPoint authors to upload their presentations so they others might benefit. This is short presentation of an excerpt from the Tablet of the Branch using images of roses developed in Adobe Photoshop by Melanie Howe, 12-years-old. slideshare.net provides a popular free hosting service for .ppt files.

PowerPoint defaults for images

This flickr image and text might provide help with inserting images as background in PowerPoint slide presentations:

The resolution of this PowerPoint slide is set at W:1440 pixels x H:900 pixels which is the slowest speed and highest fidelity that the author can set under the Slide Show settings >> Set Up Show >> Slide Show Resolution. The background image of the PowerPoint program screen was frozen in Adobe Photoshop and saved as a .jpg at a resolution of 300 dpi (pixels per inch), 3.71 M, and a Document size of W12.19 cm x H7.62 cm.