• mar
  • Member
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  • Registered: 2008-02-19
  • Posts: 1

Topic: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

I have noticed that many of my images look "soft" or slightly unfocused in the simpleviewer window.  Is this because in many instances the image size is being shrunk to fit the window, or is some other compression happening? 

If it's a dimensional size issue, what is the maximum size in px to make an image so that this will not occur?

If it is compression / quality decrease in the code, does anyone have any tips for that?

I use it in my gallery at mistymaberry(DOT)com/people/index2.htm
If you choose the first image, right click it in the viewer and open in a new window, the difference is plain.  Most of those images have this issue.

Thanks for any assistance!

  • Felix
  • Site Admin
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  • Registered: 2006-03-16
  • Posts: 4,395

Re: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

Images are scaled down if they are too big for the browser window, otherwise they are displayed as-is. You may be seeing an issue related to colorspace differences when using Safari. Check the FAQ, Q28: http://www.airtightinteractive.com/simp … r/faq.html

Felix Turner
SimpleViewer Support Team.

Felix's Website

  • Registered: 2007-03-22
  • Posts: 210

Re: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

Any image that is scaled down (or up for that matter) will have its sharpness affected. You should wherever possible format your images as close as possible to the size of your simplviewer window. Generally I format all my images to be 788x525 landscape and 350x525 portrait. I set the simpleviewer window as follows:
maxImageWidth="787" maxImageHeight="525"
I manually set the sharpness of each image in PS or I use the batch converter to resize to 525 high and let the "Auto Sharpen" sharpen for me which gives good results 90% of the time.

See the private galleries on my web site for examples (and also my flickr).

Regards
Phil
http://www.phillipnorman.com
  • Registered: 2008-03-03
  • Posts: 3

Re: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

I am experiencing this exact same issue. But I am convinced that this not solely down to scaling the images down.

I am very careful to match the size of my images in editing to the specifications in the gallery file. I also make sure I do not save the images as progressive.

Yet there is a clear difference in sharpness and a big impression of compression when you look at the image via the simple viewer gallery. Where as this is not displayed looking at the image on it's own.

Are there any other theories to why this may be?

  • Registered: 2008-03-03
  • Posts: 3

Re: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

I think I found a factor in this issue. The compression only seems to appear when I have my viewer embedded on my web page, which is an integral function of my website.

I'm going to investigate my source code on my website to see if I can fix this.

  • Registered: 2008-03-03
  • Posts: 3

Re: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

Humble pie mode:

It is scaling down issue! But not one to do with simpleviewer it would seem, but my actual coding of my webpages.

I now seem to have resolved it, although it might also require some messing about with my page dimensions.

  • Registered: 2007-03-22
  • Posts: 210

Re: loss of sharpness / image compression in viewer

If you could post a little more detail regarding your discovery/solution others will surely benefit.

Regards
Phil
http://www.phillipnorman.com