Pixaria Software
In Pixaria Gallery, there are two supported ways to add new files to your library. The simplest method the web upload feature, accessible via Library > Upload Files which allows for uploading up to 200 files at once using your web browser. If you with to upload many hundreds or even thousands of files at once, Pixaria also supports bulk uploading via FTP using either the built in Java FTP client or a standard, desktop FTP program. Files uploaded by FTP can be imported using the image import tools Library > Import Files
Pixaria Gallery will allow you to upload a range of image types in almost any pixel size and aspect ratio but there are some important considerations to bear in mind before you start adding images to your library. Pixaria AssetDeck also supports the upload and import of a wide range of non-image file types.
Pixaria Gallery stores up to six different versions of images in your library which are used in different areas of the site. There are three different sized thumbnail images for use in galleries and search result lists, a large and small 'comping' image( which is what visitors will see when they view an image at full size whilst browsing your site) and an optional high-resolution file which can be offered for download.
You can download a Photoshop script which will do the resizing and folder organisation process for you.
Files are stored in the server in individual directories:
| Description | Image Directory Path | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
| Original files | /photos_london_jan_2010/original/ | No maximum size |
| Large Comping images | /photos_london_jan_2010/630x630/ | Maximum 630 x 630 pixels |
| Small Comping images | /photos_london_jan_2010/320x320/ | Maximum 320 x 320 pixels |
| Thumbnail images | /photos_london_jan_2010/160x160/ | Maximum 160 x 160 pixels |
| Small thumbnail images | /photos_london_jan_2010/80x80 | Maximum 80 x 80 pixels |
| Icon images | /photos_london_jan_2010/32x32 | Maximum 32 x 32 pixels |
In the example above, 'photos_london_jan_2010' is the name of a directory of images that have been imported and which is located in resources/library/. This could be a directory of images uploaded by FTP or one created automatically by Pixaria from individual images uploaded through the web browser. The image below shows an example of a complete Pixaria directory with files available for each size of thumbnail and large image used by the script.
Because of restrictions imposed by PHP, it is generally only possible to upload images 2 MB (megabytes) in size if you're using your web browser. You can check the allowed upload limit in the software status page of your Pixaria website under Main > Status.
If you wish to upload image files larger than 2 MB, you will need to either edit the PHP.ini configuration file for your server's PHP software or else upload the files by FTP where there is no restriction on filesize.
For best results with the front end design of the Pixaria Gallery, it's recommended that comping images (those that you view at full size through the Pixaria front end) are no larger than 630 x 630 pixels in size. Larger images will automatically be resized during the import process.
You can quickly and easily upload images to your Pixaria website using a web browser* in which case, the software will automatically create all the required thumbnail images during the upload process. To do this resizing, Pixaria requires that either ImageMagick or the GD graphics library (version 2.0.1 or higher) is installed on your server. GD is included with recent versions of PHP.
To upload files through your web browser, go to the admin page Library > Upload Filesand follow the on screen instructions.
Remember you can upload multiple files at the same time by selecting multiple files in the file selection dialog box. Hold down the shift key to select a range of files or the control (Windows) option (Mac) key to pick single files.
During the upload and import process, you can add files to existing galleries or create a new gallery using the newly imported files. If you decide not to add new images to a gallery immediately, the images will be visible in the admin area on the 'Files not in a gallery' page which lists all the files in your library that have not yet been assigned to a gallery.
* Note that Adobe Flash support in your web browser is required for the file upload tool.
There are three ways of uploading files to your site by FTP. The simplest method is to upload individual files to the directory resources/incoming/ and then use the import tools under Library > Import Files.
The second method is useful if you would like to create comping (or thumbnail) files offline or if high-resolution images you are using are too large to be resized on the server.
This is the simplest method of getting large groups of files onto your website as quickly as possible. You can upload any supported files into the directory resources/incoming/ on your server and Pixaria will automatically find them for you to import.
Once the files are uploaded, you may need to ensure that they are writable by PHP so you may need to set the permissions on the files (using CHMOD) to 777. Once the files have been uploaded into the 'incoming' directory, you can import them into the Pixaria library by going to the 'Import Files from FTP' option in the admin navigation.
Files uploaded this way are organised by Pixaria at the time of import into the library and are placed in a directory named according to the date and time of import. In this way, individual files imports can be identified and sorted by the time they were imported.
If you wish to upload a large number of images at one time, you can also replicate the Pixaria Gallery directory structure on your desktop computer and upload the files direct to the server by FTP. Remember that if you're uploading a directory, only comping images are required. Thumbnails and icons can be generated automatically and high-resolution images are optional.
This method is useful if you want to upload very large high-resolution image files that are too big to be resized on the server or if you want to create your own thumbnail or icon images bypassing Pixaria's built in thumbnail generator.
Rules for FTP uploading directories
Because Pixaria does NOT store images in the database, your images must be named and stored on the webserver according to a few basic rules:
If you're not interested in enabling instant download of images purchased from your site, you can leave out the folder of high-resolution images. Pixaria expects folders of photos and thumbnails to be organised in this way so if you don't follow the guidelines, you will not be able to import the images you upload.
Once you've created the required image files and any optional thumbnails, you will need to upload the entire directory of image folders into the /resources/incoming/ folder of your Pixaria installation.
The new directory and its contents need to be writable by PHP so you must use your FTP client's 'CHMOD' feature to ensure that the permissions of the uploaded directory and its contents are 777 (or 666). Most good FTP programs will allow you to set permissions on multiple files and directories at the same time.