Consider this question, where one answer from @EngrStudent brings a link to a nice picture of a bubble chart.
Although link usage usually makes questions / answers smaller, I thought in that case it would be very nice to have the picture appearing directly in the answer.
I have the impression that pictures and formulas encourage users' participation: upvotes, comments, and even downvotes.
So, I know it also depends on the question and the picture to be posted, but:
- Are there guidelines/patterns to follow when choosing between posting a picture or providing its link?
- What would be the best option: embedded picture on a link, or the picture / chart themselves?
Edit: I forgot to look on SO's meta, and they DO have this question too. The most upvoted answer guides to post the picture directly, even though CV content is more theoretical than SO's.
Here is another question on SO, with accepted answers towards pictures being posted directly in threads.