Automatic Thumbnail?

[PKfanSteph]

Is there a way to create a thumbnail of an image "on the fly" within an html page? A small script that can be embedded in the page, or one file that can be called from a lot of pages?

I don't need a gallery script. I only need one thumbnail per page, for a lot of pages. But, it would save me from having to resize and store a lot of images.

Thanks!

[jomaxx]

Quick and dirty - just use the same large image and resize it using the IMG HEIGHT= and WIDTH= attributes. Should be OK for only one thumb per page. I think you can even just specify the height and the browser will reduce the image width proportionately, or vice versa.

The image quality will not be quite as good as if you had used a graphics package to create the thumbnail, but IMO it will be just as good as any script that does it on the fly.

[balinor]

The one problem I see with that method is the whole reason to have a thumbnail in the first place - image size. What's the point of having a thumbnail that takes 15 seconds to load on a modem connection?

Sure it is extra work to create and store a thumbnail for each and every image, but that is kind of the point of having a thumbnail. Just my 2 cents.

[Birdman]

Steph,

The answer to your question is: Yes it can be done.

I use PHP to resize images on a couple sites and it works well. It does put more stress on the server to constantly resize on-the-fly so creating real thumbnails is really the best way forward.

Paint Shop Pro(among others) has a batch solution where you can resize them all at once.

Or, you could use the PHP script to resize them AND save the thumbnail to the server for future use.

Just how many images are we talking about here?

[tbear]

Just to add to birdman's reply, there is a neat little free programme that I use called 'Easy Thumbnails'. You can batch the images and there are variations for file naming too. Very fast and easy to use.
Oh, I'm not connected to the above mentioned product in any way........

[jomaxx]

balinor: What I suggested is a terrible idea for a page with a lot of thumbnails. With just one thumbnail on the page, it depends. It depends on how big the original image is, how much you want to reduce it, and how likely the average user is to click through to the detail image.

The disadvantages are obvious, but if the user does click through, then (a) the full image will be preloaded, so the detail page will load more quickly, and (b) only one image needs to be loaded instead of two, resulting in an actual bandwidth saving when this happens.

[nileshkurhade]

If it is a Windows Server then you may use the Thumnail Control, works very well.

[Macro]

Paint Shop Pro(among others) has a batch solution

I've used ACDsee for this in the past.

[skipfactor]

AspJpeg will do it on the fly

[nileshkurhade]

Really if you have windows server you should try Thumbnail control, not only will it convert in a fly, it can also show thumnails of HTML pages, DOC files, WMF, PNG, etc, etc all the Thumbnails you see in Windows explorer. You can have a service like Thumbshots.

[Harry]

Photoshop and a well scripted action. It does batches too.

[Storyman]

Nothing against Fireworks or Photoshop, but when it comes to creating batch thumbnails (and optimizing for the Web) I've found Web Image Guru best:
[vimas.com...]

One nice feature is that when you create a thumbnail rather than just reduce the image size WIG allows you to select a portion of the image for the thumbnail. Of course if you just want to batch images to a thumbnail WIG handles that nicely.

I've found that WIG has better image optimization than either Macromedia or Adobe's products.

I have nothing to do with WIG, just a satisfied customer.

[Jon_King]

This freeware has performed VERY well for me, in fact I can't believe it's free:

h**p://www.fookes.com/ezthumbs/index.php?2.6

Jon