Picture size

Sharon_is_SAM

Good question.  Are our posts uploads?  I always thought a link involved a url address.  How is posting an image different than text?

ColoradoJon

A linked imaged is stored on a completely different server, like Google Images or the like.  Uploaded images are stored on this forum server either in the local database or as a file in the local file system.  It can be more complex than that, but for simplicity sake let's assume this is a single file server.  There is no difference in file size or download requirements/times.  The difference is simply where the file is stored.  Linked images take up zero space on these forums, but your browser has to download them from the storage location, so you still pay the price for large images.

Text is very small and is usually stored in the database itself.  Images can be stored in the database as well, but they take up much more space than does plain text.