Request for larger than 700 pixel wide images in forums

[Mark Keefer]

<p>Will Photo.net ever go with a larger default view of images in forums and perhaps a slightly wider website over all. The 700 pixel wide images are seeming to be a bit dated and rather small. My 17 inch laptop has a default screen setting of 1920x1080 pixels. The site looks rather small on my screen. If I enlarge with the browser zoom to make the site appear larger, great for text but the photos look soft and blurry.</p>

<p>I understand when this format was created, internet speeds were slower, computer screens were lower resolution. I am hoping PN will soon move to a larger format, perhaps a default size of photos in the forums from 700 pixel wide to 1000 pixel wide, and perhaps a few hundred pixels wider for the entire site.</p>

<p>Technology and screen resolution has moved passed the 1280x720 pixels screens of yesteryear. Perhaps some larger photos here will attract some users from photo sites that are displaying photos much larger.</p>

<p>I believe for a photography site not to just survive, but to thrive today, it needs to adapt to the the technology the photographers are using. Our screens are much higher res, internet speed have moved from 56K to 50 megabits, our cameras are 18-22 mega pixels and larger, making the site a few hundred pixels wider would not cost anything but a little programming time, no real gear needed to do this.</p>

<p>So this is a simple request and I am putting this on my wish list and hope the Elves talk to Santa and the programers.</p>

<p>:-) Thanks for listening.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>There are occasions when I'd like to see larger photos (relative to screen size), but I'd imagine there are some complexities involved in optimizing the site for both desktop computers/monitors and mobile devices.</p>

<p>In addition to making the photos look their best for a given display, some folks continue to face challenges such as throughput and data caps. Fortunately my ISP has no data caps that I know of for our home devices, including wifi tablets. But mobile device data plans that would enable comparable access to photo.net via a mobile phone are out of my budget. My cell phone is the last of the pre-smartphone generation, with obsolete Java based web access which doesn't even work anymore - including email. I use it only for voice and texting.</p>

[gordonjb]

<p>The 700 pixel limit often stops me from posting images to PN. Everywhere else that I post images online I use 1000 or 900 on the long side. I sharpen after resizing. If I want to post an image to PN, such as on one of the weekly photo threads in the forums, I cannot just go and get the file from my resized for web folder I have to go back to the finished tiff or psd and resize and sharpen the file all over again. The end result is that I often have a contribution but not the time or inclination to rework it just to suit PN. Surely when the elusive new PN materialises this, out of sync with the rest of the world, limit will be changed. In the meantime I would be shocked and happy to see the limit raised.</p>

[rmuckey]

<p> I too, would like to see a larger maximum for photos submitted to different forums thus saving one more step in processing. As it is now, I reduce and convert RAW photos to 1000px on the long side for e-mailing, in LR or DPP, for additions to "my portfolio" - 1500px.<br>

Should I wish to participate in say, MIN or the Canon Thurs. forums I have to further downsize to 700px and deal with the loss of IQ and adjust accordingly. Should I choose to do so, this means I may have the Raw file,full size JPEG, and 1500px, 1000px and 700px JPEGs on my hard drive, so 1 more step - go back and delete, after submission, to save space. <br>

RE: PN restraints due to data limits on mobile devices, seems to me(an admitted "dinosaur") that most photo submissions would be thru PCs or laptops while casual review or "keeping up" would be on mobile devices. Guess bit boils down to wither PN wishes to be a "social media" site or one"For Photographers By Photographers".<br>

Bob</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>I believe that there is an underlying issue that the site code can't resize images. It's not so much about display as it is about the handling. Many sites allow you to upload significantly larger files but resize to what will fit. This is important as there have been beginners who don't know how to resize and can't even post inline here. I assume the new site will have the ability to resize images to fit the page/screen.</p>

[rmuckey]

<p>An after thought (AKA-brain fart):<br>

After having noticed many "non member's" submissions( perhaps due to having several accounts?) to different forums as well as the "critique forum" (several identified with "frequent poster" and POW icons) perhaps PN might, as an incentive to be a <strong>supporting</strong> <strong>member</strong>, increase maximum submission size in forums(to say 1000px) on the long side for "dues paying" members only?<br>

I understand PN might be liberal in submissions by "non-members" and even awarding POW based on quality only, in hopes of attracting new members but as it is now,I feel there is little such incentive to be a "paying member" - other than increased portfolio size and fewer advertisements.... <br>

Bob</p>

[johnkenthill]

<p>About a year ago or so there was talk and even a survey I believe concerning the entire web site being redesigned. Is that still in the works? My guess is, if so it will resolve the 700px size limitations. <br /><br />Most of my posts to other web sites are 900px or more. Whenever I want to post to PN I have to go out of my way to do an additional resize down to 700 (even at that PN seems to do an additional resize of it's own which invariably reduces image quality). It would be nice to have some kind of status on this - thank you. </p>

[gordonjb]

<blockquote>

<p>I believe that there is an underlying issue that the site code can't resize images.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>That is not the case. The NW forum will automatically resize image to 700 pixels on the long side regardless of the size uploaded. Why the NW forum does this when all other forums do not has always seemed baffling.</p>

[AJHingel]

<p>Gordon, so, if I understand you right, I'm continuously wasting my time when I resize my NW uploads to 1000 pixels on the longest side ! ! I could just as well have taken the original size Jpeg version (up till around 5400 pixels) and the NW forum would automatically downsize to 700 ?</p>

[gordonjb]

<p>Anders, sloppy writing on my part I did not mean to say that the forum will accept any size image. My apologies for that mistake. I do not know the upward limit as far as size goes. I have never tried to upload a full size jpeg. What I have done is upload jpegs of 1000 pixels and they are resized within the forum to 700 pixels wide. You could always try and find out for yourself. I do not use full size jpegs on the web and do not use the NW forum much, so I have never attempted such a thing.<br /> My point was that Jeff thought the issue with resizing might be that PN did not have code for resizing images and in at least the case of the NW forum, clearly the site is capable of downsizing.</p>

[AJHingel]

<p>Yes I see Gordon, You actually do the same, as I do uploading 1000 pixel images. I actually have always thought that they were not resized on the NW forum. The baffling, you mention, I agree with, but which, I think, we are many who have always appreciated.<br>

Hopefully the changes being prepared include the automatic resizing in all fora of any pixel size of original image. </p>

[Spearhead]

<p>The NW Forum was built later. It has a very different structure.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>The sizing thing can be confusing. There are many inconsistencies.</p>

<ul>

<li>As Gordon noted, the No Words Forum has one method for uploading photos that's different from all the other discussion forums. You can drag-and-drop photos to most other forums. But on the NW forum you'll need to copy and paste the HTML. Or just upload directly to that forum.</li>

<li>And the default display size for our portfolios is 680 pixels wide, while it's 700 for most discussion forums.</li>

<li>You can drag-and-drop a photo from your portfolio, personal/professional blog/website, or any off-site host, to display it in *most* discussion forums. Even oversized photos will automagically be downsampled to fit the 700 pixel limit. But not on the NW forum.</li>

<li>The maximum size to which photo.net will auto-resize photos for our portfolios is 1500 pixels wide - which can only be displayed by clicking on the smaller 680 pixel wide view. </li>

<li>In the past the batch uploader, single uploader and email uploader each had different size requirements, and the size requirements seemed to vary inexplicably. At one point last year I could email maximum resolution JPEGs from Lightroom or Picasa directly to a hidden folder on my portfolio. Later, tho', photo.net would reject photos over 1500 pixels, or automagically resize them.</li>

<li>Some folks would prefer to use maximum resolution JPEGs for the print-to-canvas option offered several months ago, but it's never been entirely clear how to upload JPEGs larger than 1500 pixels.</li>

<li>Meanwhile, discussion forums will make attachments out of any photo exceeding 700 pixels. So you can upload maximum resolution JPEGs for members to view to help resolve technical issues that may not be visible in smaller JPEGs. Or for the weekly photo processing challenges, and other uses.</li>

</ul>

<p>Ideally the entire site would have the same uploading method and sizing. As it is, even some veteran members who are inactive for awhile are confused when they return to photo.net to resume activity.</p>

<p>And - a little off topic - my personal shopping list would also include a subscriber benefit of cloud storage of our finished, hi-rez files - no additional compression or loss of metadata - with easy links to online printing services.</p>

[gungajim]

<p>No doubt, all these issues will be resolved when PN V2 goes online. Patience is the key. </p>

[Mark Keefer]

<p>There is a PN V2 coming? :-)</p>

[AJHingel]

<p>:) </p>