Mike DelGaudio

The first idea that came to mind for Zoomify was encouraging Real Estate agents to use Zoomify in creating Virtual tours of thier properties for sale. If you have great images of a property with lots of detail, use Zoomify to really draw your visitors into the property.

Navigate through this image just like you would a Google Map

Using Zoomify, you can upload and view extra large images, and see all the detail using a Google Maps-like pan and zoom navigation.

So, how does this work? It’s pretty easy, once you get past the initial configuration….Steps 1,2,3 below only have to be done the first time, of course.

1. Go and download Zoomify Express, a small client you download that will chop up your image into something that is pan-and-zoom able. This gets installed (unzipped actually) on your PC.
2. Zoomify your image by dragging it onto the Zoomify Converter.exe You can get detailed directions on the Zoomify site.
3. Install the YD-Zoomify plugin by Yann Dubois. If you don’t know how to install plugins on Wordpress, read Installing plugins on the Wordpress site. (if you install from the Wordpress auto-installer, you’ll want to replace the zoomifyViewer.swf file that comes with that version to the new version that came with your zoomify software install. FTP is your friend here. )
4. Upload your Zoomified image folder to Wordpress. Zoomify creates a folder named the same as your image, which contains an xml file, and one or more subfolders with a ton of images. I used FTP to upload these files to [wordpressInstallDirectory]/wp-content/uploads/[imagefoldername] — substitute the items in brackets with values from your own system.
5. Place the Zoomify command in your post. You’ll need to enter a code into your post where you want the Zoomified image to appear. You do this as follows:
   • Enter <!-- YDZOOM( 'fullURLToTheUploadedFolderOfImages', widthInPixels, heightInPixels, 'uniqeNameForThisZoomify') --> where:
   • fullURLToTheUploadedFolderOfImages, which goes in single quotes, is the full URL, including http:// to the location of this folder. something line ‘http://www.example.com/wp-content/uploads/myiamge’
   • widthInPixels, not in quotes, is the width of the area where you want to place the Zoomified image.
   • heightInPixels, not in quotes, same as width, only height.
   • uniqueNameForThisZoomify, in quotes, is and arbitrary name for this Zoomified image, make sure it starts with a letter. Each Zoomify instance you add to your post needs its own name.

A word of caution because it bit me…. The domain name you use for referencing the folder must match exactly the domain in your browser (for example http://example.com) otherwise you’ll get an “error loading” message. So if your browser says “http://example.com” but your fullURL entry above says “http://www.example.com” you’ll get an error because they don’t match. Make them match, or go learn about crossdomain.xml files and Flash.

Good Luck Zoomifying your images.

Good news for Picasa users. Google has extended the amount of storage available to free users to 1 GB. According to the official Google blog, this means you can now store around “4,000 standard resolution photos.” which is great compared to services like Flickr who — to my knowledge still has a 200 photo limit for free users. (You can store as many as you want, but only the most recent 200 images will be visible.)

According to my gallery page, it says that I have 1GB (and counting!), so perhaps they are dribbling new storage the same way that gmail does.

The best and easiest way to start uploading to Picasa web is via Picasa itself.

[tags] picasa, picasaweb, flickr [/tags]

The official Google blog reports that free users now have 1 GB of storage play with. According to Google that means “around 4,000 standard resolution photos). According to my gallery it is 1 GB (and counting), so maybe they are dribbling in the extra bytes a la Gmail.

Part of an ongoing series on web pages extensions in Picasa.

One of the really nice features in Picasa is the ability to add new Web Page Export formats. This gives you the ability to create really beautiful web galleries for your photos just by following a simple wizard.

This is a bundled group of templates called “The Future of Memories.” This bundle includes one template we have reviewed before: autoviewer from Airtight interactive. There are a total of 7 templates that generate flash-based web pages. Some are quirky, some are cute, but they are all awesome in their way. Slide on over and download the templates.

First you need to get the postcard viewer extension. Head on over to their web site and download the package. Make sure you download the one designed for Picasa.

We have previously written up instructions for installing Picasa web Page Extensions. Use those instructions for getting the extension installed.

Also, previously we have seen how to publish your new Webpage using Picasa. Use those instructions to get Picasa all set to publish your new web page via FTP.

Here are some samples:

Accordion
Autoviewer
Blur
Coloroid
posterviewer
Ulm
Shotel (Show-tell)

[tags]picasa, airtight interactive, postcardviewer, the future of memories[/tags]

Part of an ongoing series on web pages extensions in Picasa.

One of the really nice features in Picasa is the ability to add new Web Page Export formats. This gives you the ability to create interesting web galleries for your photos just by following a simple wizard.

This extension called “Postcard Viewer” from airtight interactive is a flash-based viewer with left to right scrolling. The descriptions of the photo are superimposed right over the photo.

First you need to get the autoviewer extension. Head on over to their web site and download the package. Make sure you download the one designed for Picasa.

We have previously written up instructions for installing Picasa web Page Extensions. Use those instructions for getting the extension installed.

Also, previously we have seen how to publish your new Webpage using Picasa. Use those instructions to get Picasa all set to publish your new web page via FTP.

Here is a sample AutoViewer web page.

[tags]picasa, airtight interactive, autoviewer[/tags]

We know that Picasa allows you to upload pictures to the Picasa Web Albums site.

In this post, we’ll see how to set up Picasa to upload pictures and the necessary web pages to create your own online photo gallery.

In Picasa 2, an “Experimental Feature” was added that adds to the “Make a Web page” feature, and includes the ability to FTP right to your web site. (FTP is a simple process that allows you to send files from your computer to another computer that can receive those files.)

What you will need:

• An FTP account on a web server that you can upload images to.
• The user ID and a password for that account

Configuring Publish Via FTP
First, find the “Publish Via FTP menu” Under Tools | Experimental.

Next we will be asked what size we want the pictures in our gallery to be. Bigger pictures take up more space in your account, and may be too larger to see on screen.

1. If you just want your friends and family to see the pictures without downloading them, choose 640 or 800.
2. Also give this gallery a name. Fir best results use only letters and numbers in your name, and no spaces.

Note that Picasa will make a copy of these web pages on your hard drive also.

Next you’ll be asked to choose a template. Picasa comes with a few basic templates to create your web gallery. Select a choice you like based on the previews.

Now you will be prompted to select the FTP account you want to use. Since (or if) you do not have this information already in Picasa, choose “Account Manager” and we will enter it now.

The Account Manager screen appears. Click “Add an Account”.

The Account Settings Screen appears. This page is the nitty gritty of the process. On this form enter a name for the Site you are uploading to, the domain of this site, and the “root”. The root is the folder on the FTP server that you want your web page to appear. Enter the folder or just “/”.

Enter the user ID and password that the FTP server owner (this is probably your ISP, or Web hosting service) provided to you when you signed up.

Enter the “optional Web URL” if you want to see the gallery after it is uploaded. (You may need to enter the url to your server AND the FTP root to see this. Like: http://www.mikedelgaudio.com/extend/Picasa)

Special note: these entries MAY be case sensitive, meaning CaPiTaliZation MatTers, so make sure you enter capital letters the way you mean them)

Once you have entered everything, click Verify Connection to see if you did things correctly.

I love a dialog box on my screen that says “Success”! We’re good to go and ready to upload. Click OK, and you will go back to the Account Manager screen, but with our newly added account in there. Click OK.

Which brings us back to the “Select Account” Screen. Your new account should be there in the Box. If not, select it from the drop down list and Click OK.

Yee-Haw, as they say. Picasa will create the web page and start shuttling the whole package up to your FTP account. You can monitor the goings-on by the Progress bars that appear.

Once they are done you can point your browser to the page that you created. The URL of your gallery will be a combination of the following:

1. the URL of your web site (in my case http://www.mikedelgaudio.com)
2. the “root” from the account manager (remember? “/extend/Picasa”)
3. the Folder that you entered way back at the beginning (I entered “CreateWebPageDemo”)
4. Optionally, you may need to add “index.html” — most web servers will do this for you, automagically.

Here is a sample of what the pages look like in your completed Gallery

Photo Chooser:

Photo Detail:

Yours may look different depending on the template you chose.

This is the URL to the web gallery we created in this demo: http://www.mikedelgaudio.com/extend/Picasa/CreateWebPageDemo/

Once you have done all the account setup once, you won’t need to do it again.

I hope you have found this post helpful. Let me know in the comments!

[tags]picasa,photo,upload[/tags]

Documenting Picasa has dug a bit deeper, and discovered that if you choose to purchase additional storage for the Picasa Web Albums that you can have more pictures than the previously thought limit. On this blog we discovered that for free accounts Picasa web Albums has a 500 image limit per post.

BridgePix says “Thanx for the pix” for my picture of the Greater New Orleans Bridge (now known as the “Crescent City Connector”.

My pleasure, Thad. I’m glad you liked it.

While I was very satisfied with how this one came out of the camera, I did Tune it in Picasa by adding a little fill light and adding some highlights.

[tags]Mike DelGaudio, picasa, bridgepix, photo [/tags]

In this post, Documenting Picasa asks how popular Picasaweb is in relation to Flickr. I think it’s a fair question from a pure numbers perspective, but are Flickr and Picasaweb even remotely comparable feature-wise? Sure they both have pictures. But from a feature perspective, Flickr and PicasaWeb are miles apart. Not the least of which is the absense of PicasaWeb as a social application — Flickr’s most notable feature.

All of that said. I think Picasaweb is falling short on popularity because it’s a solution looking for a problem. It should be categorized with Flickr, Photobucket, Slide, ImageShack, Kodak Photo Gallery, and more. But, so far what PicasaWeb offered doesn’t exceed any of its competitors. On almost all fronts, it’s underwhelming. And one click upload from Picasa is not enough of a differentiator in any respect.

Googlified confirms this with it’s own analysis. Anywhere in the photo related space, PicasaWeb is taking a beating.

Google even seems to willingly forsake the Picasa brand.

So, the question I have, is why is Google seemingly not even trying to gain any mind-or-market-share with Picasa?

[tags]Mike DelGaudio, Googlified, Documenting Picasa, PicasaWeb, Picasa, Zoli’s Blog[/tags]

Penfolds, originally uploaded by delgaudm.

Thanks to Reed of RWJ Online for thinking enough of my photo for using it in his post about Shopping for wine.

Thanks Reed.

By the way, I used the “Subject Isolation” Picasa technique on this picture.

[tags]Mike DelGaudio, Reed Johnson, RWJOnline, Picasa, Photo[/tags]