New displayed format size affects all my images. Help.

david-low

I sent my link to one of my potential customer abt a week ago for him to check on my works. Today I received a complaint from him how is he going to ascertain my works when my displayed images are so small. It came as a surprise. So I checked it out and was shocked to see all my gallery images has been downsized.

I have set the long side to X3Large (-X3) which is up to 1600 px (under the previous setting) which I regard as generally viewable. Than I went to check the protection setting and realised all my images has changed to 1.2Mpix (X2) under a new displayed format. 1.2Mpix roughly translate to 1280 px on the long side after some calculation.

Afraid that I may have accidentally set wrongly my com display res but nothing of that sort has happened.

The new display format is confusing and how does one know how large is 0.7Mpix or 1.2Mpix without doing some dimensional calculation.

Now all my displayed images are affected and has been downsized. All my images were uploaded that were resized to 1600px L with watermark. I don't upload originals for display which are without watermark (so is not meant for display). Using the new format, I can't get back the 1600px display size. The rest of the sizing can't get my images bigger.

It's very disruptive. How do I get back my 1600px display size. Any help?

Tks.

Previous displayed format (I still see this format abt a week ago)

New displayed format

leftquark

Because "pixels" can be hard to understand when printing, and because many display devices now have a pixel density > 1 (retina displays where each pixel is doubled across multiple pixels) the number of pixels in a given side has become a non-optimal way to describe photos, especially to your customers. Most customers understand megapixels, so we changed the way we visually describe the different display sizes.In use, though, the display sizes are still the same size as before (an X3 is up to 1600px, for example) as indicated by the help page you included.

If you set your photos to a Max Display Size of X3, you should have your photos back to 1600px wide. Keep in mind that if you're using a retina display, your computer/browser may incorrectly report the size of the photo (as half the size it really is. For example, it may say it is 800px wide when it's really 1600px wide ... assuming your display has a pixel density of 2.0).

Do you have any example galleries where setting X3 does not result in 1600px images?

Allen

I think he's saying that all his photo settings CHANGED to X2.
"Than I went to check the protection setting and realised all my images has changed to 1.2Mpix (X2) under a new displayed format. "

BTW, what does "pixel density of 2.0" mean? Pixel density is measured in dpi as set by a monitor display size. Nothing to do with anything else.

Most customers understand megapixels but that has only to do with file size. When printing you only need to know if there are enough pixels for the size you're printing. The photo can be any ratio but why would anyone print a photo without knowing what the ratio is? 3x2, 4x3, etc (in pixels)

leftquark

Most retina screens have a pixel density of 2.0. Because they have so many pixels, everything on the screen would be SUPER teeny to read, so the operating system takes the color that would be displayed on each pixel, and actually displays it on 2 pixels. As an example, if you had a photo that was 800px wide and you asked a retina screen to display it, it would really cover 1600px on the screen.

david-low

Left quark

Forget abt what density, etc. What I want is merely to get back my prefered displayed size.

Bottom line is why all my images has been downsize out of a sudden, from 1600px L to abt 1280px L now (my rough cal). I'm viewing my images using the same retina com.

I can"t show you previous e.g. since all already downsized.

You said "if you set your photos to a Max Display Size of X3, you should have your photos back to 1600px wide. " Under the new format display, there isn't any X3 am afraid.

As SM product team, I assumed you have access to my account. Care to work on it pls?

Tks so much

annnna8888

@david-low said:
Bottom line is why all my images has been downsize out of a sudden, from 1600px L to abt 1280px L now (my rough cal). I'm viewing my images using the same retina com.

David, I had a look at a few random galleries on your site and the maximum display size is actually set to 4K. Can you give me a link to a gallery where the maximum display was changed to X2 and in which X3 is not even available? You can also email us directly at the help desk if you prefer that.

Ana
SmugMug Support Hero

denisegoldberg

@annnna8888 said:
David, I had a look at a few random galleries on your site and the maximum display size is actually set to 4K. Can you give me a link to a gallery where the maximum display was changed to X2 and in which X3 is not even available? You can also email us directly at the help desk if you prefer that.

Ana
SmugMug Support Hero

Ana -
I was poking around on David's site and I found photos where the display size went up to 5K but where X3 was missing. Here is a screen shot from this image - https://david-low.smugmug.com/Galleries/Nature/Hairy-Legs/i-CvfDgng:

Image is in the gallery https://david-low.smugmug.com/Galleries/Nature/Hairy-Legs/.
Problem can also be seen in the gallery https://david-low.smugmug.com/Galleries/Nature/Largest-Flying-Bird/

I clicked on an image on his homepage to get to lightbox.

leftquark

That looks like a bug with the "Sizes" button. The Max Display Size is set to X2, which is why the photos are being displayed as 1200px instead of 1600px. Luckily clicking on X4, X5, 4k, and 5k does not display the larger size (we're still adhering to Max Display Size). I'll file a ticket for the Engineering team to look into this.

@david-low: To get your images back to 1600px, go into Gallery Settings, choose the Photo Protection tab and set Maximum Display Size to X3. You can also do this across multiple galleries at once if you go into the Organizer, click on a Folder, and choose Settings and then All Galleries within Folder and setting the Maximum Display size to X3. Let me know if you'd like one of us to help you with this.

david-low

There seems to have a bug. If you look at my first posting, there isn't X3 in the new photo protection format. When click on 4k, the size still remain small.

I supposed the helpdesk has done something. Now I can see X3 and when click on 4k, size expand to 1600px. Anyway, I also encounter another set of problem. Will email the helpdesk separately.

Tks everyone for input.

bokehlover71

I think I have the same problem. Most of my pictures (but not all) are suddenly too small to fill the screen in lightbox view, even though I have set maximum display size to Anything but Original on all galleries. And it doesn't help to select a larger size manually.

leftquark

@bokehlover71 said:
I think I have the same problem. Most of my pictures (but not all) are suddenly too small to fill the screen in lightbox view, even though I have set maximum display size to Anything but Original on all galleries. And it doesn't help to select a larger size manually.

We're investigating a potential issue and will get back to you as soon as we can.

seanieblue

Has this been solved? My pictures are the size of postage stamps. I cannot reset in Photo Protection under Gallery Settings. I've given SmugMug my money and now they are ripping me off.

seanieblue

What is SmugMug doing about it? I did not pay money to have pictures display at 600 pixels! How can a high-tech company be this incompetent?

David_S85

Can you please provide a link to your site so we can take a look?

Richard

Mine are showing just like they used to. Dunno. Have you checked your gallery settings? I'm sure the SM help desk could sort it out if you contact them at help@smugmug.com

david-low

I wrote to helpdesk 2 days ago. No reply yet. I try to reset the images using the global setting, i.e. "All Galleries within Folder" under organise so that I need not go abt resetting individual gallery. But the whole menu was grey out.

Would helpdesk pls update the status. Tks

denisegoldberg

@david-low said:
I wrote to helpdesk 2 days ago. No reply yet. I try to reset the images using the global setting, i.e. "All Galleries within Folder" under organise so that I need not go abt resetting individual gallery. But the whole menu was grey out.

Once you're in the global setting dialog, did you click the checkbox in front of any settings? The menu remains gray until an entry is clicked.

On entry to the bulk settings tool:

After clicking the Maximum Display size check box on the bulk settings tool:

leftquark

As I mentioned, we have a small issue that's being worked. It only impacts a very small number of photos -- most photos are displayed up to the Max Display Size. We identified 3 issues and have 2 of the 3 fixes are in QA. Our Engineers are working through the 3rd item. Stay tuned.

Basically in rare cases, as seen above, the SmugMug behind-the-scenes isn't letting the Lightbox know that the larger sizes exist, even if Max Display Size is set to Original or All but Original. It appears to only impact images uploaded prior to the new release of the new sizes (a few months ago).

leftquark

I'm going to merge this thread into https://dgrin.com/discussion/261333/new-displayed-format-size-affects-all-my-images-help because these are discussing the same issue.

Last week we pushed an update to the Ligthbox to ensure that your photos remained sharp and crisp on Retina screens, but this also means that on Retina displays your photos will appear smaller than they previously had. They were previously being doubled in size, causing some images to appear soft. Your photos are meant to look their best on SmugMug and we'll never display them larger than their original dimensions or larger than the Max Display Size. You can display your photos larger on Retina displays by increasing the Maximum Display Size setting.

We've identified an issue with a small number of photos in which the photos are displaying smaller than they should on Retina screens. Our Engineers are working on the fix and I hope to have it out shortly.

rookieshooter

I'm having this issue as well and am both stunned and shocked it came out of the blue. All of a sudden the thousands of photos I have are all the size of a large postage stamp at XL whereas before they used to fill the screen. I sent a note to help@smug but am just surprised this wasn't announced via email or something. It's quite disruptive.

Allen

My Lightbox size menu is showing every size up to 5K even though gallery is set to XL. None of these are available above XL. Original only shows when logged in so that part works.

david-low

"Once you're in the global setting dialog, did you click the checkbox in front of any settings? The menu remains gray until an entry is clicked.

On entry to the bulk settings tool:"

Hey Denise, so stupid of me for not clicking. Tks for rescue.

leftquark

@rookieshooter said:
I'm having this issue as well and am both stunned and shocked it came out of the blue. All of a sudden the thousands of photos I have are all the size of a large postage stamp at XL whereas before they used to fill the screen. I sent a note to help@smug but am just surprised this wasn't announced via email or something. It's quite disruptive.

Are you on a retina device or a monitor with a regular non-retina screen? The only impact should be to retina screens. XL will display quite small on retina screens in their native resolution. Would you prefer we doubled the photos in size with the downside of potential soft photos (due to pixel doubling)?

leftquark

@Allen said:
My Lightbox size menu is showing every size up to 5K even though gallery is set to XL. None of these are available above XL. Original only shows when logged in so that part works.

We've got a fix for this in QA and should be released soon.

david-low

"Are you on a retina device or a monitor with a regular non-retina screen? The only impact should be to retina screens. XL will display quite small on retina screens in their native resolution. Would you prefer we doubled the photos in size with the downside of potential soft photos (due to pixel doubling)?"

I was using retina display all the while and I hv carefully chosen a desired size for display . All well and good until the implementation of the new photo protection format, wonder why the photo sizes changes instead of remaining status quo.

Cygnus Studios

Quite honestly I am surprised it took so long for the retina thing to finally hit smugmug. Adobe and plenty of others had to create fixes years ago to solve the small image issues.

I get the frustration but considering that it has affected so many others for so long, it gives me more faith, not less in smugmug.

TSQ

> @leftquark said:
> As I mentioned, we have a small issue that's being worked. It only impacts a very small number of photos -- most photos are displayed up to the Max Display Size. We identified 3 issues and have 2 of the 3 fixes are in QA. Our Engineers are working through the 3rd item. Stay tuned.
>
> Basically in rare cases, as seen above, the SmugMug behind-the-scenes isn't letting the Lightbox know that the larger sizes exist, even if Max Display Size is set to Original or All but Original. It appears to only impact images uploaded prior to the new release of the new sizes (a few months ago).

I've just signed up today, so my photos - obviously - don't fall into the category you mentioned ie "uploaded prior to the new release of the new sizes (a few months ago)". Yet they are all displaying much smaller than the original uploaded sizes, which have a max width of 1600 px & height 1000px. They display correctly at full size on my retina screen iMac (in Preview, LR and PS) ; on Flickr and on the WP website I had until yesterday. I've tried using X2, X3 and original but nothing makes any difference.

I hope the fix you refer to will sort this out soon but thought it worth mentioning that it's not only older uploads that are affected.

TSQ

> @leftquark said:
> As I mentioned, we have a small issue that's being worked. It only impacts a very small number of photos -- most photos are displayed up to the Max Display Size. We identified 3 issues and have 2 of the 3 fixes are in QA. Our Engineers are working through the 3rd item. Stay tuned.
>
> Basically in rare cases, as seen above, the SmugMug behind-the-scenes isn't letting the Lightbox know that the larger sizes exist, even if Max Display Size is set to Original or All but Original. It appears to only impact images uploaded prior to the new release of the new sizes (a few months ago).

I've just joined today so my photos don't fall into the category of "images uploaded prior to the new release of the new sizes (a few months ago)." Yet, no matter whether I choose X3, X2 or Original, they still display at a consistently smaller size.

I've been using a retina-screen iMac for a while and not had this display problem directly on screen or on any other sites.

Hoping the fix will sort this out soon but though it worth mentioning that it's not only older uploads that are affected.

leftquark

@TSQ said:

I've just joined today so my photos don't fall into the category of "images uploaded prior to the new release of the new sizes (a few months ago)." Yet, no matter whether I choose X3, X2 or Original, they still display at a consistently smaller size.

I've been using a retina-screen iMac for a while and not had this display problem directly on screen or on any other sites.
Hoping the fix will sort this out soon but though it worth mentioning that it's not only older uploads that are affected.

Hi @TSQ,
I took a look at your site and as far as I can tell, the small images in the Lightbox on your site are a result of the original images being uploaded with a maximum size of only ~1500px. If you upload larger resolution photos, you should be able to start seeing the larger sizes. Did you upload larger resolution images somewhere and I just missed them?

TSQ

> Hi @TSQ,
> I took a look at your site and as far as I can tell, the small images in the Lightbox on your site are a result of the original images being uploaded with a maximum size of only ~1500px. If you upload larger resolution photos, you should be able to start seeing the larger sizes. Did you upload larger resolution images somewhere and I just missed them?

Hi & thanks for response.

It seems that in my rush to try and get a site up & running quickly, I uploaded the wrong set of images :(
You're right, most of them are 1500px wide. But if you look at the first 5 in the "Impressions" gallery, they are all 1600px wide (There may be others but those are the first ones I found)
I still don't understand why they would have to be 1600px wide to display at the original size? On my previous WP-based website, on flickr and on my mac, they ALL show at the full size., whether that was 1500 or 1600 or something else.

leftquark

@TSQ said:
I still don't understand why they would have to be 1600px wide to display at the original size? On my previous WP-based website, on flickr and on my mac, they ALL show at the full size., whether that was 1500 or 1600 or something else.

When you say they showed at "full size" do you mean they filled the entire screen? Or they just displayed at 1600px, if it was a 1600px photo?

2 things are going on and could cause it:
1) they may be upsizing the photos to fill the screen. This would cause them to appear soft or blurry, which we'll never do at SmugMug.
2) On retina screens, the operation system displays each pixel on 2 dots of your monitor, or in other words, they blow up/double the size of the photo. We're counteracting that at the moment, so our photos may appear half the size since we're not letting them get blown up in the way that Apple, Google, Firefox, etc are allowing.

Going forward we're going to settle on a middle-ground:

• If the size of the photo, or the Maximum Display Size is set in a way that would cause the photo to appear small, we'll allow the photos to be pixel doubled (they'll look identical to how Apple or Google would display them). This could result in softer/blurrier images.
• If the size of the photo, or the Maximum Display Size is set to let us use a larger photo and ensure it looks great on retina displays, we'll use that. Photos will appear large and won't be soft or blurry.

We'll leave it up to you to decide if you'd rather have larger but potentially soft images, or if you're comfortable with higher resolution photos on the internet that ensure your photos are always sharp/crisp.