• Registered: 2012-09-29
  • Posts: 34

Topic: Small images look bad after automatic resize

There are two problems:

First, Juicebox is stripping the ICC Profile from the image (it doesn't do this to unresized images).

This is BAD. If there's a profile (and there should always be a profile), it needs to be honored. It may be true that some browsers are still in the stone age and don't support color management ... but that is no reason to enforce a lack of color management. Let's make the web actually work for visual artists. Please!

Also, the resized images look soft. This is a normal artifact of any image resize; the solution is to build in a sharpening algorithm (like Photoshop's "bicubic sharper" option ... which isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. And much better than nothing.)

In its current state I consider multiple image sizes to be unusable.

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,924

Re: Small images look bad after automatic resize

First, Juicebox is stripping the ICC Profile from the image (it doesn't do this to unresized images).

When JuiceboxBuilder-Pro resizes images, it strips all metadata (EXIF, IPTC, ICC Profiles). If you need to retain metadata in your gallery's images, then the only option is to deselect the 'Resize Images' checkbox and allow JuiceboxBuilder-Pro to copy your original images across to the gallery's 'images' folder.
If you plan to use multi-size images and want to retain metadata, then you will need to create your own sets of images (in an imaging program such as Adobe Photoshop) and replace the ones generated by JuiceboxBuilder-Pro. If you are just creating one or two multi-size image galleries, this might be a possible workaround. As long as you allow JuiceboxBuilder-Pro to create multi-size images (and then replace them with your own images with the same filenames after the gallery has been created), then the smallImageURL and largeImageURL entries will be in place in the gallery's XML file and the functionality will still be there in the gallery.

Also, the resized images look soft.

Try increasing the quality of the images from the default value of 80 to something higher to see if this helps.

If you want more control over the images in your gallery than JuiceboxBuilder-Pro can provide, then you will have to create your images elsewhere and copy them into your gallery folder.

However, please post any suggestions you may have in the Feature Requests thread.
I cannot promise that your suggestions will be incorporated into future versions of Juicebox but it is certainly the best place to post ideas such as these.

  • Registered: 2012-09-29
  • Posts: 34

Re: Small images look bad after automatic resize

Yes, I gather Juicebox is stripping the metadata. This is a bug! It's not the way it has to be, it's a serious flaw and I hope you address it so that the feature becomes useable.

On the second point, jpeg quality is not the issue. When you resize an image, it loses edge definition. This needs to be compensated for with a sharpening algorithm.

This is all digital photography 101. I hope you have solutions in the works!

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,924

Re: Small images look bad after automatic resize

The stripping of metadata from images resized by JuiceboxBuilder-Pro has been logged as an issue (but I do not know when it will be addressed).

  • gfs
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2012-05-08
  • Posts: 131

Re: Small images look bad after automatic resize

I've just come across this problem.

THIS IS REALLY SERIOUS!!!!

What is the point of an app to create beautiful web galleries, when it diminishes the images you're showing??

FWIW, When Juicebox was first introduced, I didn't buy it, because it didn't support basic metadata tags.  This was really bad.  Our work should never be anonymous.  It's thoughtless programming.  When it supported metadata, I bought it.  Now I find I'm back to square one.  Where's the progress?

An imaging app, any imaging app, should never take it upon itself to strip any kind of metadata, especially colour and owner information.

Please make this BUG an absolute priority for a fix.

(Now I have to go through all the galleries I've made since 1.4, and re-make all the jpegs.  Twice! ... Hmph!)