• Registered: 2012-05-04
  • Posts: 19

Topic: Using JB1.5 for client downloads

Hopefully I'm missing something extremely simple - alas I'm just a simple photographer and not a computer programmer or web designer. :-)

I'd like to switch over to using Juicebox for my client galleries / image downloads (amongst other uses), and since v1.5 has now gained a shiny new 'Download' button I thought it might be ideal.

My problem is that I'd like to leverage Juicebox's ability to display images sized appropriately for the viewing device (using the small, medium and large image sizes), but still allow the client to download the full-size photos by simply clicking the 'Download' button, or clicking the 'Open Image in New Window' button (whichever suits them best).

It appears the only way to do this is to either manually specify a 'Link URL' for each individual image in the JuiceboxBuilder-Pro 'Images' section; or to manually edit the 'config.xml' file in a text editor in order to to link to a folder of full-size images. This would be an extremely time consuming and tedious chore for a large gallery, but something a computer could execute instantly. Unfortunately I know nothing about scripting, so I'm at a loss.

The less ideal solution that comes to my tiny mind is to size 'small' images suitable for mobile & small tablets, 'medium' for most computer screens (1920x1200px ?), but anyone with a larger resolution display will have to load a whopping 4000-6000px 'large' image in the gallery. Not ideal, but it may be the easiest/efficient solution for me.

What mind-boggingly simple solution am I missing!

Many thanks.

Cheers,
Tony

(While tinkering around this afternoon with JuiceboxBuilder-Pro, it would throw up an error complaining images must not be bigger than 4096px - this occurred on images smaller than this, and a restart of the app would allow the resizing to happen without complaint for images both smaller and larger than 4096px...for a while.)

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,906

Re: Using JB1.5 for client downloads

The order of preference that the Download Button uses is as follows.
It will use the linkURL if it exists. If there is no linkURL, then it will use the largeImageUrl. If there is no largeImageUrl, it will use the imageUrl.
The linkURL is first in preference to allow custom files associated with the images (such as .pdf or .zip files) to be downloaded instead of the images themselves.

...but anyone with a larger resolution display will have to load a whopping 4000-6000px 'large' image in the gallery.

That's really the concept behind a Multi-Size Image gallery (that larger images are displayed on larger resolution screens).

It sounds like you're looking to have a single-size image gallery but also have larger images available for download.
Assuming you are allowing JuicboxBuilder to resize your source images and want to use the source images for the Download Button, then this could be achieved as follows.

(1) Create a regular single-size image gallery with JuiceboxBuilder, allowing the application to use the same values for the imageURLs and the linkURLs (which is the default behavior).

(2) Copy your source images (the ones you fed to JuiceboxBuilder to create the gallery) into a new empty folder named 'originals' and place this folder into your gallery folder (alongside the 'images' folder).

(3) Edit your gallery's 'config.xml' file and change all instances of linkURL="images/ to linkURL="originals/.
If you use a text editor such as Notepad++ (free), you can change all instances in a single global search and replace action. It should take less than a minute to edit the file from start to finish.

I hope this helps.

If you are looking to do something with Juicebox that is not currently possible, please feel free to post your ideas in the Feature Requests forum thread.
This keeps all the ideas together and ensures that they are not overlooked by the developers.
Thank you.

... it would throw up an error complaining images must not be bigger than 4096px - this occurred on images smaller than this,

Unfortunately, there is a known bug in JuiceboxBuilder whereby an error can be generated if the resize image dimensions are too large.
The exact dimensions can vary depending on the source images but, under certain circumstances, JuiceboxBuilder can fail (displaying the error message you quoted) if 'Max Width' and 'Max Height' are both greater than 2364.
However, the developers are aware of this issue and are currently investigating it.
Hopefully it will be fixed in a future version.

  • Registered: 2012-05-04
  • Posts: 19

Re: Using JB1.5 for client downloads

Firstly - many thanks for your swift, helpful and informative reply.

Secondly - I'm an idiot! My simple brain was being swamped with new information and I failed to spot the obvious answer of using 'Find & Replace' in a text editor. Obviously I'd prefer JuiceboxBuilder-Pro to do that for me...so I may head over to Feature Requests sometime in the near future.

It sounds like you're looking to have a single-size image gallery but also have larger images available for download.

Almost, I'd like to have Juicebox build a multi-size image gallery to efficiently deliver image resources appropriately sized for the browsing device (ie. utilise the small, medium and large image options), but also have very large, web-unfriendly, source images easily available for download.

The linkURL is first in preference to allow custom files associated with the images (such as .pdf or .zip files) to be downloaded instead of the images themselves.

Excellent, that's saved me some experimentation as it has confirmed my suspicions.

If I'm having to do this extra step of editing the 'config.xml' file, I guess I should also edit the caption information because Juicebox ignores the CRs in my IPTC data. What html would be best to replace the CRs with - <br>?

My text editor (TextWrangler) remembers recent Find & Replace actions so all this shouldn't be too tedious, but it would be desirable to automate this a bit more to avoid human error. Is there a MacOS text editor (cheap is preferable, free would be better!) that allows you to make droplets, or some other cunning automated solution?

Anyway, your excellent help and some time away from the computer has cleared a few things up - thank you.

  • Registered: 2012-04-24
  • Posts: 5,906

Re: Using JB1.5 for client downloads

Almost, I'd like to have Juicebox build a multi-size image gallery to efficiently deliver image resources appropriately sized for the browsing device (ie. utilise the small, medium and large image options), but also have very large, web-unfriendly, source images easily available for download.

This can still be achieved with my suggestion above. Create a Multi-Size Image gallery with JuiceboxBuilder-Pro, copy your source images into a folder named 'originals', place it in the gallery folder and edit the 'config.xml' file to replace the linkURL paths.

... Juicebox ignores the CRs in my IPTC data. What html would be best to replace the CRs with - <br>?

Yes, <br> would be best.
I've notified the developers of this issue (JuiceboxBuilder ignores line feeds/carriage returns in IPTC data) and it has been logged as a bug so hopefully it will be fixed in a future version.
Thank you for pointing it out.

Is there a MacOS text editor (cheap is preferable, free would be better!) that allows you to make droplets, or some other cunning automated solution?

I'm a PC user so it might be better if I let the Mac users amongst us recommend one.

  • said
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  • Registered: 2014-08-18
  • Posts: 17

Re: Using JB1.5 for client downloads

Is there a MacOS text editor (cheap is preferable, free would be better!) that allows you to make droplets, or some other cunning automated solution?

I'm not sure what you mean by "droplets" but TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software is free and it has a sophisticated Find & Replace capability as well as a Script Editor, Library, etc.

Good Luck
-Said

  • Registered: 2012-05-04
  • Posts: 19

Re: Using JB1.5 for client downloads

said wrote:

I'm not sure what you mean by "droplets" but TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software is free and it has a sophisticated Find & Replace capability as well as a Script Editor, Library, etc.

Many thanks Said for taking the time to reply.

By 'Droplet'* I mean an icon on the Desktop, or Dock, onto which I can simply drag & drop a Juicebox 'config.xml' file which will then automatically apply my customised edits. I'm sure this sort of thing can easily be done via scripting (Applescript, Automator, something-or-other?!), but I have zero knowledge of such things. Once set up, it would basically cutout the error prone user (me!).

As stated earlier, I do use TextWrangler and it's ability to retain several recently used Find & Replace actions means the process is easier than I initially feared.

However, if there's some other useful feature(s) I'm missing with TextWrangler, then please don't hesitate to let me know. My usage is extremely basic.

I'm sure with repetition the process of generating tweaked Juicebox galleries, that provide the client with easy access to full-size source images, will get more efficient. Ultimately I feel the extra time, complexity and effort (over my current workflow) is worthwhile.

Cheers,
Tony

* - I don't know if 'Droplets' is the correct terminology, but it's used by other software I use ie. Photoshop, Transmit etc.