Fill Width v Fit Width on Pages

MarcQuinlivan

When inserting images from the "Single Photo" option on a page there are a number of options for image size.

The two I usually use are "Fill Width" and "Fit Width", but I have noticed an issue with this recently.

With "Fit Width" the image doesn't always fill the width of the section, usually if it is in portrait mode, however selecting "Fill Width" does, but it upscales a lower resolution copy of the image.

Using "Original" then displays the proper quality image, but presumably this is not calculating the correct image to show based on the screen size (Which I assume Smugmug does with the other options?)

The original image for thes test is 2029x4748 pixels but I can reproduce it with hundreds of images.

I have set up a test page to show what I mean here:

https://www.alyxcoby.com/Downloads/Test-Page-Image-Width/n-txd5vv

"Fit Width"

"Fill Width"

"Original"

Have I uncovered a bug or am I doing something wrong?

At the moment I'm having to use "Original" to ensure the images are displayed properly but this is affecting page load times as the original images can be 5-10MB and I don't want to have to maintain multiple copies of the image in various sizes - one at 1400px wide for inserting in pages and another at full size.

My expectation would be that fill width and fit width are the same thing but that is obviously not the case.

denisegoldberg

@MarcQuinlivan said:
My expectation would be that fill width and fit width are the same thing but that is obviously not the case.

If the two options behaved the same way then I would expect there to be only one option.

What you are seeing matches my expectation. Fit width will fit the photo's width without distorting the aspect ratio. This will retain the proper ratio for the photo but it may not extend to the edges of the browser window. You can see this behavior when you use the slideshow option. On my site, if I run a slideshow on a large monitor the photos do not extend to the sides of the screen. If they did the aspect ratio would be distorted.

I would use fit width for your page. The screen shots you have included don't seem to have much difference between that and original. If that bothers you then consider uploading a smaller-sized original for this one use of the photo.

MarcQuinlivan

@denisegoldberg

Thanks Denise.

Maybe I didn't explain the issue properly.

1) The original image is 2029 pixels wide by 4748 tall
2) The content block is 1400px wide
3) Fit Width does not fit the image to the 1400px width of the content block. It displays an image that is 513x1200. This is the first image on the test page.
This is the image that is used by Fit Width - https://photos.smugmug.com/Galleries/PrivateGalleries/Press-Images/n-NGWv43/i-hv6PRTb/0/b9e57a96/X3/i-hv6PRTb-X3.jpg (It looks to be the X3 image)

4) Fill Width fills the width of the content block but it takes an image that is about 512px wide and expands it to 1400px wide. This results in an image that is blurred and the text in the image s not clear. See second image on test page.
The same X3 image is used for Fit Width too but the 512x1200px image is upscaled to 1376x3216px

5) Original takes the original 2029px wide image and shrinks it to 1400px wide with the image and text in the image being clear and as you would expect to see. See third image on test page
Original uses this image https://photos.smugmug.com/Galleries/PrivateGalleries/Press-Images/n-NGWv43/i-hv6PRTb/0/b9e57a96/O/i-hv6PRTb.jpg

6) As you can see from the test page, the aspect ratio of the image is not distorted with either Fit Width or Fill Width and I have no concern about the user needing to scroll down the page to see the full image. It is not being used in a slideshow.

Even if I make a copy of the image that is 1400px wide and select Fit Width it still shows as a 512x1200px image and is scaled up to 1376x3216px for Fit Width.

My question now is why does fill width and fit width use the X3 image for both options. How do I prevent a lower resolution copy of the image being upscaled to fill the width without using the original high resolution image?

I have hundreds of these images on various pages and would rather not have to maintain an 1400px copy and an original resolution copy. Using "Original" also means that on mobile devices the full size image is being loaded rather than a copy more appropriate for the screen size to conserve bandwidth.

If there's no solution then I guess I'll have to go the multiple copy route, but I'm hoping there's something I've missed.