UKC

We are pleased to announce some major improvements to the Photo Galleries on UKC.

Larger Photos
We have increased the maximum size allowed for photos to from 125kb to 250kb. This will enable you to upload photos with a width of 1000 pixels for landscape-format, and 800 pixels high for portrait format. The 250kb file size limit will allow for much higher quality than before.

Auto Resize
The system will now resize your photos automatically to the optimum size and resolution - you can just upload your Jpegs straight off the camera. You can still re-size them yourself if you wish, and this will make the uploading process a lot faster and give you more control over the finished photo - the choice is up to you.

Upgrade and replace your existing Photos
If you wish to upload larger versions of some of your old photos then you can do this by going to a photo in your gallery, clicking 'Edit photo details' in the top right-hand corner of the page and then 'Replace this photo'. This will let you keep the same title, climber, crag details, votes, comments, etc. It may take a day or two before the photo is checked by the photo moderators.

Could we also remind users that UKC Photo Gallery is intended to be a place to view and be inspired by some great photographs related to climbing and mountaineering. It is not a one-stop online deposit to put your entire set of holiday snaps - there are plenty of other online galleries for this kind of thing. Please be selective as to what you include in your gallery; please weed out low scoring or repetitive photos; please try and imagine your viewing audience is all the users of UKClimbing.com, not just you and your friends and family.

Thanks and we hope you like the new improvements.

Alan

In reply to Alan James - UKC: wow! thanks, as always!

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Cheers Alan, good work that will be much appreciated. Expect you'll get deluged in the first few days with re-submitted photos, though.

||-)

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC: just tried it out with a phototopo. Uploaded about 700K and it resized automatically. good code mate.

Cheers
tim

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

This needs to be a banner across the front page of the photo gallery!

Good work on new improvements. Just uploaded a new one to see the results.

In reply to Alan James - UKC:
Hurrah!

Just seen the results, looks good!

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Impressive advance. Thumbs up!

In reply to tbertenshaw: aye just done refresh and the topo is now useable.

Cheers
Tim

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Is that a recommended maximum width, or an enforced restriction?

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Tempted to say "about time!" but i wont, ill say "well done!".

In reply to Toreador:

The only enforcement is on the file size. You can upload wider photos than 1000 pixels (you always could to be honest) it isn't a great idea to push it too far though since most people keep their browser windows at around 1000. Any more than this and they will need to scroll or resize which is pain.

Alan

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Sorry, I'm a bit thick when it comes to this sort of thing.

Does this mean that if I simply send you a picture, the rest is done at your end now?

In reply to FedUp: Yup. Just tested it. First new pic in my gallery was sent in at 1.8MB.

In reply to Chris F:

Ace. Bout time I had a new profile pic.

In reply to Chris F:
Chris, that's Daves picture of you on skis, not mine.

In reply to Scomuir: Cheers Scott. Will change it.

In reply to Alan James - UKC: And just after I finished learning how to resize well on Adobe Image Ready!!!

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

There are a few minor restrictions apart from the file size:

- minimum file size is 30kb or 120,000 pixels (for example 400 x 300 pixels). This is to stop people uploading *really* low quality/tiny photos that don't show anything.

- no maximum file size, but if it is over 250kb it will be automatically resized smaller

- maximum resolution of 1,500,000 pixels. This allows for wide panoramic shots (eg, 2000 x 750 pixels) as well as high resolution 'normal' shots. We do recommend a maximum width of 1000 pixels though as Alan says, otherwise people viewing your photo will end up having to scroll to see it all. If the resolution is over this limit it will be automatically sized smaller.

Cheers

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Great - will be good to see some even better photos, someone now needs to get bugging the top 100 lot to resubmit at the new resolution...

In reply to Alan James - UKC: Its a doddle now Alan, thanks!

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC: OK, but what about the ones we already uploaded in the past? Should we upload them all again to take advantage of the new sizes to get an even playing field?

In reply to Al Evans: Sure, but make sure you use the 'Replace this photo' option - don't upload a duplicate.

As a general rule of thumb, it is probably worth uploading a better version of 5* and 4* photos. Leave the 3* photos as they are, and perhaps delete any 1* photos! If people remove their worst shots, it will give us room on the site for higher quality versions of their better pictures.

Cheers

In reply to Al Evans:

What on earth do you need an even playing field for?

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC:

I fear your pleas will fall on deaf ears.

In reply to Al Evans:

Is it a competition then?

I didn't know that.

In reply to Fredt:

It depends on how competitive you are, and whats wrong with competition And no it wouldn't be if there was no voting (which I would prefer)

In reply to Nick Smith - UKC:
As a general rule of thumb, it is probably worth uploading a better version of 5* and 4* photos. Leave the 3* photos as they are, and perhaps delete any 1* photos! If people remove their worst shots, it will give us room on the site for higher quality versions of their better pictures.


I doubt I will bother upgrading! But I do delete anything that gets '1'.

In reply to Al Evans:

I think the changes are great! I've updated some of my better shots and it really makes a difference.

I for one prefer the voting system too, it makes it easier to weed out the pointless shots some people feel the need to include.

Cheers.