Ideas wanted please

[Terry Pinnell]

I'd appreciate hearing how others would tackle the following simple
exercise please. I've finally got around after some 6 months to
publishing photos of my 2005 Thames Path walk on my home pages:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/terrypin/Walks/TP05/walkphotos05.htm
(Links to the two previous years' walks are also included.)

As you see, the layout is basic layout and so is the presentation
method: each captioned thumbnail takes you to an individual enlarged
photo (about 640 x 420, made by resizing the edited originals). But
that loses the captions, and I'd like them included.

I've experimented before with adding captions within the photo itself,
but don't really like the result, which can spoil the composition.

So I'm now considering making new images, say about 640 x 440, with
the caption in the added white space below the photo.

(As an aside, anyone have any ideas on fast/automated ways of
achieving that? Doing it manually for each image will be tedious.
Given that the text already exists under the thumbnails, it should be
possible somehow to automate it...)

But what other approaches would others recommend please? IOW, what are
better methods of allowing the photos to be displayed at that larger
size, complete with captions?

I'm relatively inexperienced with low level HTML coding, and use
FrontPage 2000 for most of my stuff.

 

[Jim Higson]

I'd appreciate hearing how others would tackle the following simple
exercise please. I've finally got around after some 6 months to
publishing photos of my 2005 Thames Path walk on my home pages:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/terrypin/Walks/TP05/walkphotos05.htm
(Links to the two previous years' walks are also included.)

As you see, the layout is basic layout and so is the presentation
method: each captioned thumbnail takes you to an individual enlarged
photo (about 640 x 420, made by resizing the edited originals). But
that loses the captions, and I'd like them included.

I've experimented before with adding captions within the photo itself,
but don't really like the result, which can spoil the composition.

So I'm now considering making new images, say about 640 x 440, with
the caption in the added white space below the photo.

(As an aside, anyone have any ideas on fast/automated ways of
achieving that? Doing it manually for each image will be tedious.
Given that the text already exists under the thumbnails, it should be
possible somehow to automate it...)

But what other approaches would others recommend please? IOW, what are
better methods of allowing the photos to be displayed at that larger
size, complete with captions?

I'm relatively inexperienced with low level HTML coding, and use
FrontPage 2000 for most of my stuff.

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-graf/?ca=dnt-428
and
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-graf2/?ca=dgr-lnxw15GraphicsLine
could do what you want pretty quickly.

 

[Paul Watt]

I'd appreciate hearing how others would tackle the following simple
exercise please. I've finally got around after some 6 months to
publishing photos of my 2005 Thames Path walk on my home pages:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/terrypin/Walks/TP05/walkphotos05.htm
(Links to the two previous years' walks are also included.)

As you see, the layout is basic layout and so is the presentation
method: each captioned thumbnail takes you to an individual enlarged
photo (about 640 x 420, made by resizing the edited originals). But
that loses the captions, and I'd like them included.

I've experimented before with adding captions within the photo itself,
but don't really like the result, which can spoil the composition.

So I'm now considering making new images, say about 640 x 440, with
the caption in the added white space below the photo.

(As an aside, anyone have any ideas on fast/automated ways of
achieving that? Doing it manually for each image will be tedious.
Given that the text already exists under the thumbnails, it should be
possible somehow to automate it...)

But what other approaches would others recommend please? IOW, what are
better methods of allowing the photos to be displayed at that larger
size, complete with captions?

I'm relatively inexperienced with low level HTML coding, and use
FrontPage 2000 for most of my stuff.

I used to live in Staines and support Reading FC!

 

[Terry Pinnell]

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-graf/?ca=dnt-428
and
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-graf2/?ca=dgr-lnxw15GraphicsLine
could do what you want pretty quickly.

Thanks Jim, downloading ImageMagick now and will study. Never been too
comfortable with command line stuff, but if it does the job...#

 

[David Segall]

But what other approaches would others recommend please? IOW, what are
better methods of allowing the photos to be displayed at that larger
size, complete with captions?

Have a look at JAlbum <http://jalbum.net/>. Its output is HTML and it
provides templates and CSS that you can change to produce almost any
format you like.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Have a look at JAlbum <http://jalbum.net/>. Its output is HTML and it
provides templates and CSS that you can change to produce almost any
format you like.

Thanks David. Prompted by your post (and another similar
recommendation today elsewhere) I've just realised that I did in fact
already install JAlbum a long time back, but have never really used
it. After updating to 6.3, I've been playing with it, and it does
indeed look good.

However, one facility that I've so far been unable to find is the key
reason for my original post, namely viewing captions with the large
picture. Can you/anyone point me in the right direction to achieve
that please?

 

[Jim Higson]

Thanks Jim, downloading ImageMagick now and will study. Never been too
comfortable with command line stuff, but if it does the job...#

I can't help on the command to use for your particular problem, but I know
it is possible. If your comfortable enough with the command line to enter a
line someone else gives you, you could always ask on the imagemagick
mailing list and I'd guess they'd help out.

In general, the command line is good because it lets you do things the
original program creators didn't think of. For example, I recently had to
produce raster images containing the first few hundread square numbers. I
don't think this could have easily been done with GUI software.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

In general, the command line is good because it lets you do things the
original program creators didn't think of. For example, I recently had to
produce raster images containing the first few hundread square numbers. I
don't think this could have easily been done with GUI software.

Thanks.

I'm curious about that interesting last point. You mean you had to
produce N images, each just containing a single number 1, 4, 9... etc?
Of a certain size and font/background colour?

If so, I suppose I'd have fired up IrfanView and played with my
keystroke-entering macro program, Stiletto (now obsolete), to automate
a series of operations like:
- Open new file
- Draw a text rectangle
- Copy text from a pre-established Excel column, selecting next row
each time
- Pasted it into IV's text box (using pre-established font size and
colour, etc)
- Saved file

 

[Jim Higson]

Thanks.

I'm curious about that interesting last point. You mean you had to
produce N images, each just containing a single number 1, 4, 9... etc?
Of a certain size and font/background colour?

If so, I suppose I'd have fired up IrfanView and played with my
keystroke-entering macro program, Stiletto (now obsolete), to automate
a series of operations like:
- Open new file
- Draw a text rectangle
- Copy text from a pre-established Excel column, selecting next row
each time
- Pasted it into IV's text box (using pre-established font size and
colour, etc)
- Saved file

Ok, I suppose this would be *possible* in a GUI, but it is much simpler as
scripting once you are familiar with it because you have direct access to
loops, maths etc.

Also, GUI-imitating macros can fail if the layout of Excel or whatever
changes in future.

Maybe you are familiar with a scripting language such as PHP? I mention PHP
because it is often used to make HTML so it is likely you are familiar with
it, this being alt.html and all, but there are many other languages that
could be used for this task.

The PHP-ish psudo-code is something like:

for( $i = 0 to 200 )
{ $square = $i*$i;
`convert base_image.png --write $square numberedimage-$i.png`;
}


Another interesting possiblity is generating images on a web server as
requested, in the same way that many servers only generate HTML as it is
asked for. You can do some funky stuff this way.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Have a look at JAlbum <http://jalbum.net/>. Its output is HTML and it
provides templates and CSS that you can change to produce almost any
format you like.

JAlbum is just great - so pleased you and others recommended it, thank
you.

I'm trying the BluBlu Plus skin which I reckon will be excellent for
my needs.

However, I've been struggling with a LINKS issue for hours now, and
would greatly appreciate a bit of help please, from anyone who knows
JAlbum.

In brief, it's clearly something to do with this message, on choosing
my preferred option of 'Link to originals'.
"The created album will contain links to original files outside the
output directory!
If you are uploading the album to a web server, make sure you also
upload the original files and not just the output directory..."

But just *where* do I have to place these original images? I reckon
I've tried just about everywhere. Yet if I go here
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/terrypin/Walks/
I see the main page, but don't get any large pictures displayed.

For example, here is the status of my folder structure on my Pipex
Dialspace server at present (viewing it with CuteFTP):

/Walks
/images03 <--- Copy of my original image folder, latest try!
/res <--- Created by JA
/slides <--- Created by JA
/thumbs <--- Created by JA
/TP03 <--- This contains the originals, i.e /Walks/TP03/images03
/TP04 <--- My own Thames Path 2004 folder
/TP05 <--- My own Thames Path 2005 folder
index.htm <--- Created by JA

As you see, I followed up the Publish procedure in JAlbum by copying
the images03 folder from my HD to the server under the Walks folder.
That doesn't work. Nor if I put it in the slides folder. Or individual
images in either. Yet it works fine when I View Album in JAlbum.

I also have a mental block about why this manual intervention is
necessary anyway? As I've specified the image folder to JAlbum, why
can it not automate all of this?

FWIW, these are the settings I made in JA:
Main tab
--------
Image directory D:\Docs\Website Design\Home\Walks\TP03\images03
Output directory D:\Docs\Website Design\Home\Walks\TP03-JAlbum

FTP connection properties
---------------------------
FTP server dsftp.dial.pipex.comn
Web directory [Left this blank **]
Remote directory Walks ***

** The pop-up help for this box says
"Directory under FTP directory that is web published (leave blank if
same directory)"
Don't really grasp that, so left it blank for now.

*** "Directory for album on remote server"

Also, I sometimes appear to be inadvertently triggering a slide show
(or it would be, if the photos were displayed), with continual
skipping to subsequent pages.

I'll press on, but basically I'm now baffled. Trial and error is not
the way to do this!

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Ok, I suppose this would be *possible* in a GUI, but it is much simpler as
scripting once you are familiar with it because you have direct access to
loops, maths etc.

Also, GUI-imitating macros can fail if the layout of Excel or whatever
changes in future.

Maybe you are familiar with a scripting language such as PHP? I mention PHP
because it is often used to make HTML so it is likely you are familiar with
it, this being alt.html and all, but there are many other languages that
could be used for this task.

The PHP-ish psudo-code is something like:

for( $i = 0 to 200 )
{ $square = $i*$i;
`convert base_image.png --write $square numberedimage-$i.png`;
}


Another interesting possiblity is generating images on a web server as
requested, in the same way that many servers only generate HTML as it is
asked for. You can do some funky stuff this way.

Thanks for the follow-up Jim. Unfortunately I haven't learned any
scripting language. Would like to though, as I see it mentioned so
often.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Success! Well, the main issue anyway, of where to upload the original
images. Embarrassingly, after changing to captioned images, I had
*deleted* the originals (no captions) from their location within
/TP03! On restoring them, the structure is now:

/Walks
/res <--- Created by JA
/slides <--- Created by JA
/thumbs <--- Created by JA
/TP03 <--- This does now contain the originals
/images03 <--- DULY RESTORED!
/TP04 <--- My own Thames Path 2004 folder
/TP05 <--- My own Thames Path 2005 folder
index.htm <--- Created by JA

I've done the latest round of uploading with CuteFTP, as I can see
what I'm doing better that way. I'll persevere with JA's Publish
process though; I'm sure it can't be that difficult. Still like to
understand some of those settings I mentioned a bit better.