I need help on the best place and way to place my image and json files on IPFS. When I place them on IPFS Desktop and view my NFTs on Open Sea, the image attributes won’t display. And even when I visit the Share Link, for example, {https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmcxeMZNm5DYhqxz7jET5QJhNA78HiqqNBWXf4pRBAbiJe?filename=1.png}, its inconsistent wherein I often get a 504 Gateway Time-out error. So is there a cheap and effective way to host these files on IPFS without having to pay for a gateway service such as Piñata?
If you want someone else to keep your data available, you have to either pay them, or use their free tier. If you have your data on IPFS Desktop and only IPFS Desktop, then when your PC is running and discoverable, it should load (eventually). https://web3.storage/ is what I personally use to keep my data as public and available as possible on gateways as needed.
Gateway timeout errors can be because the gateway took too long to find your content, or the gateway is just strangled for resources. FWIW your image loads for me both over IPFS from my node, and over the gateway you linked right now.
Another way of doing things would be to have a VPS or similar. My blog I only keep alive on my laptop, you can access it at either https://blag.thedisco.zone/ or https://discordian.eth.limo/. I accomplish this mostly by simply keeping my laptop always connected to my VPS node, and blag.thedisco.zone is basically a personal gateway of mine that loads the data off IPFS as needed (IE: when the blog updates). Not really sure how the eth.limo domain works to be completely honest, but it’s just an ENS domain pointed at my IPNS address.