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• 1 2018-10-24T15:22:14-07:00 Working with Media 13 How to import media into your Scalar book plain 2018-11-14T15:07:05-08:00 Scalar has a very unique way of dealing with media. By media we mean images, video, audio, multi-page documents and more. Media files can take up a lot of storage space, so to get around this, Scalar imports the metadata for a media file, not the file itself. One consequence of this is that if the original file is taken down or moved, it will no longer load in your Scalar book. A benefit of this is that it keeps Scalar books small and easy to host, meaning that USC is able to offer the service for free.
  
  To import a media file into Scalar, hover over the media import button.
  
  
  
  There are four ways to import media in Scalar:
  • Affiliated archives- Scalar worked with these archives to develop a search tool. Their content tends to be the most stable.
  • Other archives- Sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Soundcloud
  • Local media files- Files from your computer, upload limit of 2MB per file
  • Internet media files- Files for which you have a URL, like from Google Images
  
  Today we’re going to go over the Internet Media Files option. If you’d like to read more about what options you should use when importing media, check out the handy table in the Scalar User’s guide.

  
  Let's get started

  Find an image online of the landmark that you’d like to feature in your Scalar book. For this project we went to the UT Libraries website and found an image of the PCL. You can use a search engine if you prefer. Keep in mind that images that you find on the Internet may be under copyright. Once you’ve found your image, right click on it and select “Copy Image Address.”
  
  
  Now, select Internet media files from the media import menu in Scalar.
  
  Paste the URL you copied into the Media file URL box. You’ll need to add a title and description, just like when you were creating your pages.
  
  Click Save & View. You’ve successfully imported your media file into your Scalar book!
  
  You should see a page with your media file title and the image that you imported. 

  Adding your media to a page

  
  To add your media files onto a page, use the Index to navigate to one of the pages that you’ve already created. It's in the upper left corner of the screen. 
  
  
  
  Click the pencil icon to edit the page. 
  
  The toolbar to insert media looks like this. Hover over the buttons to read about what they do. For now we're only going to use the first two, but we will use some of the other ones later. 
  
  
  Scalar gives you two options for placing media on the page: 
  
  1. Scalar Media Link- The first blue button on the left that looks like a play symbol. This option will embed the media file in a column on either the right or left side of the page. It works best if you have a lot of images that you’d like to link to specific lines of text. To use it, you have to highlight a line of text and then click the Insert Scalar Media Link button.
  
  2. Inline Scalar Media Link- The second blue button from the left. It looks like a play symbol with a box around it. This option will embed the media file in the middle of the page. To use it, click where you’d like the media file to appear and then click the Insert Inline Scalar Media Link button.
  
  Pick one of these options and play around with where you’d like your media file to appear. You’ll also have the option of choosing how large you would like it to appear.
  
  If at any point you change your mind and want to change the display options for your media file, hover over it and then click on the gear icon.