• ats
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  • Registered: 2015-03-04
  • Posts: 12

Topic: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

I'm trying to get multiple image sizes and I'd like to use Lightroom to manage my galleries.

Unfortunately, the plugin doesn't support the multiple sizes. Therefore, I export my gallery using the plugin, open it in JBB (in order to preserve the order of images, independent of the file names), and export again to a different place to get the multiple sizes.

In the process, JBB will apply sizes and perhaps configurations.

There is no preset for the sizes (duh! the plugin does not know about them) and editing all the numbers each time is no fun if you have several galleries.

To add insult to injury, when I change sizes and apply a configuration preset, JBB displays that it does some 'processing' but in the end during Publish simply copies the images from the old to the new gallery, adding folders large and small but not populating them.

If I load a preset for the configuration, I have issues with expandedBackgroundColor -- the plugin exports black/1 whereas (as reported in another post) JBB does not.

Seriously?

  • ats
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Re: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

Actually, even if the images are used in a totally new gallery (by dragging them into JBB) 'large' and 'small' are still not populated.

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,916

Re: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

The multi-size image support is a feature of JuiceboxBuilder-Pro only and is not available in any of the plugins.
Unfortunately, as you are aware, the Juicebox plugin for Lightroom cannot export multiple image resolutions at once.

Image sizes (and whether small or large images are required) are saved in preset files. Try selecting the 'Small Images' and 'Large Images' checkboxes and changing some image sizes on the 'Images' tab, save a preset ('Presets -> Save Preset') and open the preset file in a plain text editor. You should see entries such as the following:

useLargeImages="true"
largeImageWidth="2000"
largeImageHeight="1000"

However, if you load a preset which does not include useSmallImages="true" or useLargeImages="true", then the 'Small Images' and 'Large Images' checkboxes will be deselected and only medium images will be saved to the gallery folder.

Be sure to select the 'Small Images' and 'Large Images' checkboxes (and enter your required image sizes) before saving a preset file.

Hopefully this will help.

If I load a preset for the configuration, I have issues with expandedBackgroundColor -- the plugin exports black/1 whereas (as reported in another post) JBB does not.

Please see my reply to your query in this forum thread.

The Lightroom plugin's default value for expandedBackgroundColor is the same as JuiceboxBuilder-Pro's default value ('222222' with opacity '1'). If you change this at any point, then Lightroom will remember the last used value (like it will for other Web Engine input fields).
Like JuiceboxBuilder-Pro, if you set the expandedBackgroundColor to '222222' with opacity '1', it will not be written to the 'config.xml' file but if you change it to black ('000000' with opacity '1'), then the following will be written to the 'config.xml' file:

expandedBackgroundColor="rgba(0,0,0,1)"

I've just double-checked this with the current versions of both JuiceboxBuilder-Pro (v1.4.3) and the Lightroom plugin (v1.4.3.0) and everything seems to be working correctly.

  • ats
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Re: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

Ok, so the problem seems to be that first the 'Change Sizes' panel inserts something into presets, but is a preset is loaded afterwards (through the next JBB screen) it silently kills off the change made earlier. Probably not good?

But it is worse: I opened a gallery made by the plugin (i.e., without sizes). I loaded the preset without the sizes. I went back to the size panel and changed the sizes. I saved the preset:

    thumbWidth="64"
    thumbHeight="64"
    thumbQuality="80"
    useLargeImages="true"
    useSmallImages="true"
    smallImageWidth="640"
    smallImageHeight="480"/>

And I asked to publish the gallery to a new folder. Unfortunately, the images were copied unchanged from the old to the new gallery and no larger/smaller folders even appeared. And config.xml is a bit confusing:

    thumbWidth="64"
    thumbHeight="64"
    thumbQuality="80"
    useLargeImages="true"
    useSmallImages="true"
    smallImageWidth="640"
    smallImageHeight="480"

>
  <image imageURL="images/IMG_1990.jpg"
    thumbURL="thumbs/IMG_1990.jpg"
    linkURL="images/IMG_1990.jpg"
    linkTarget="_blank"
    sourcePath="/Volumes/ats/Sites/NZ/etc/01_start/images/IMG_1990.jpg">
    <title><![CDATA[]]></title>
    <caption><![CDATA[Early at JFK]]></caption>
  </image>

At least the browser won't ask for images which do not exist...

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,916

Re: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

Juicebox saves the data from the 'Set Image Sizes' pop-up window in preset files and if small or large images are deselected when a preset is saved, then they will also be deselected when the preset is loaded.
I realise that you would rather have Juicebox not save the image size data but this is how Juicebox works and knowing this should at least help you workaround it.

I loaded the preset without the sizes. I went back to the size panel and changed the sizes. I saved the preset:

    thumbWidth="64"
    thumbHeight="64"
    thumbQuality="80"
    useLargeImages="true"
    useSmallImages="true"
    smallImageWidth="640"
    smallImageHeight="480"/>

And I asked to publish the gallery to a new folder. Unfortunately, the images were copied unchanged from the old to the new gallery and no larger/smaller folders even appeared.

I tried what you described above but was unable to replicate the problem. My test gallery included both small and large images as expected.

I went back to the size panel and changed the sizes. I saved the preset:

Make sure that you click the 'OK' button in the 'Set Image Sizes' pop-up window between changing the sizes and saving the preset.

Also, please make sure that you are using the most recent version of JuiceboxBuilder-Pro (v1.4.3) to ensure that any bugs present in previous versions which have since been fixed are not contributing to your problem. You can check which version you are using by going to 'Help -> About JuiceboxBuilder-Pro' from the drop-down menu at the top.
If necessary, instructions for downloading the current version and upgrading JuiceboxBuilder-Pro can be found on the Upgrading Juicebox support page.

  • ats
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Re: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

I tried once more. Here is what seems to work:

(a) use the plugin to create a gallery with the 'large' picture size 2048x1536 (in Output Settings in Lightroom's Web mode).

(b) use JBB and open this gallery.

(c) use the Change Sizes... panel in JBB and check large and small sizes. [I also changed the small size to 640x480 and thumb quality to 80.]

(d) finally, do a Save in JBB to write the gallery back into the same location.

This moves the original images in the gallery (from step (a)) to a 'large' subdirectory and populates the 'images' directory with 1024x768 images and the 'small' subdirectory with 640x480 images.

---

It turns out that if you do the exact same thing with the gallery on a network volume (i.e., the Sites folder of a server Mac connected as Shared) all images are simply destroyed. (No error message...)

If you save it to a new directory on the network volume everything gets created.

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,916

Re: Juicebox Builder/Plugin inconveniences

Thank you for sharing your findings.
Unfortunately, I cannot explain why JuiceboxBuilder-Pro cannot write back to the original gallery folder on your network drive (are any files from within the folder open in any other programs which may have put a temporary lock on them?) but as long as saving the new gallery to a new folder works consistently, then this seems to be the way to go.