Image Handler 2 (for ZC v1.3.8 ONLY) Support

[ckosloff]

your comment sort of sounded like I had sought out your opinion on whether or not my modification was "needed"

Please feel free to let your imagination fly.

[ckosloff]

Actually, this is exactly what I wanted to say:
if you modify a Zen Cart core file just to achieve an effect in IH2 you are opening a can of worms for other files that may depend on it.
The same effect can probably be achieved by other (safer) means, if you are interested in it.
I'm not, that's why I'm not gonna research it.
I strongly discourage anyone of trying this "solution".

[maineiac13]

Actually, this is exactly what I wanted to say:
if you modify a Zen Cart core file just to achieve an effect in IH2 you are opening a can of worms for other files that may depend on it.
The same effect can probably be achieved by other (safer) means, if you are interested in it.
I'm not, that's why I'm not gonna research it.
I strongly discourage anyone of trying this "solution".

That is a fair and appropriate concern....though since the change affects only the viewing of all image title tags it should not be a problem...and after I made the change I noted that this exact solution had previously been posted in a couple of threads in 2007 and 2008....in any event, time to move on.

[Renz]

check the size of your image source files -- i think they all have to be the same size to begin with so that they all resize the same way. For example i start with 640x514 as my source (large file)... then _MED is resized to 300x240 and _SM is resized to 168x134. Looking at what you wrote above i would start with source files of 300x300 to start with.

you may also need to setup your images to the same size in admin > configuration > images (see second code box below -- note that i have watermark enabled)

also i would recommend installing the additional files for IH2 -- it allows for rollover images of the product details page (looks much better than 'click for larger image')

below is what my images settings look like -- (admin > configuration > images):

Small Image Width  	168  	 
Small Image Height 	168 	Info 
Heading Image Width - Admin 	57 	Info 
Heading Image Height - Admin 	40 	Info 
Subcategory Image Width 	168 	Info 
Subcategory Image Height 	168 	Info 
Calculate Image Size 	true 	Info 
Image Required 	true 	Info 
Image - Shopping Cart Status 	1 	Info 
Image - Shopping Cart Width 	168 	Info 
Image - Shopping Cart Height 	168 	Info 
Category Icon Image Width - Product Info Pages 	168 	Info 
Category Icon Image Height - Product Info Pages 	168 	Info 
Top Subcategory Image Width 	168 	Info 
Top Subcategory Image Height 	168 	Info 
Product Info - Image Width 	300 	Info 
Product Info - Image Height 	300 	Info 
Product Info - Image Medium Suffix 	_MED 	Info 
Product Info - Image Large Suffix 	_LRG 	Info 
Product Info - Number of Additional Images per Row 	1 	Info 
Image - Product Listing Width 	168 	Info 
Image - Product Listing Height 	168 	Info 
Image - Product New Listing Width 	168 	Info 
Image - Product New Listing Height 	168 	Info 
Image - New Products Width 	168 	Info 
Image - New Products Height 	168 	Info 
Image - Featured Products Width 	168 	Info 
Image - Featured Products Height 	168 	Info 
Image - Product All Listing Width 	168 	Info 
Image - Product All Listing Height 	168 	Info 
Product Image - No Image Status 	1 	Info 
Product Image - No Image picture 	no_picture.gif 	Info 
Image - Use Proportional Images on Products and Categories 	1 	Info 
IH resize images 	yes 	Info 
IH small image filetype 	no_change 	Info 
IH small image background 	255:255:255 	Info 
IH watermark small images 	yes 	Info 
IH zoom small images 	yes 	Info 
IH small image hotzone 	no 	Info 
IH small image compression quality 	85 	Info 
IH medium image filetype 	no_change 	Info 
IH medium image background 	255:255:255 	Info 
IH watermark medium images 	yes 	Info 
IH zoom medium images 	yes 	Info 
IH medium image hotzone 	no 	Info 
IH medium image compression quality 	85 	Info 
IH large image filetype 	no_change 	Info 
IH large image background 	255:255:255 	Info 
IH watermark large images 	yes 	Info 
IH large image compression quality 	85 	Info 
IH large image maximum width 	700 	Info 
IH large image maximum height 	800 	Info 
IH watermark gravity 	Center 	Info 
IH zoom gravity 	NorthEast

this is what your settings page should look like -- i think:

Small Image Width  	80  	 
Small Image Height 	80 	Info 
Heading Image Width - Admin 	40 	Info 
Heading Image Height - Admin 	40 	Info 
Subcategory Image Width 	80 	Info 
Subcategory Image Height 	80 	Info 
Calculate Image Size 	true 	Info 
Image Required 	true 	Info 
Image - Shopping Cart Status 	1 	Info 
Image - Shopping Cart Width 	80 	Info 
Image - Shopping Cart Height 	80 	Info 
Category Icon Image Width - Product Info Pages 	80 	Info 
Category Icon Image Height - Product Info Pages 	80 	Info 
Top Subcategory Image Width 	80 	Info 
Top Subcategory Image Height 	80 	Info 
Product Info - Image Width 	120 	Info 
Product Info - Image Height 	120 	Info 
Product Info - Image Medium Suffix 	_MED 	Info 
Product Info - Image Large Suffix 	_LRG 	Info 
Product Info - Number of Additional Images per Row 	1 	Info 
Image - Product Listing Width 	80 	Info 
Image - Product Listing Height 	80 	Info 
Image - Product New Listing Width 	80 	Info 
Image - Product New Listing Height 	80 	Info 
Image - New Products Width 	80 	Info 
Image - New Products Height 	80 	Info 
Image - Featured Products Width 	80 	Info 
Image - Featured Products Height 	80 	Info 
Image - Product All Listing Width 	80 	Info 
Image - Product All Listing Height 	80 	Info 
Product Image - No Image Status 	1 	Info 
Product Image - No Image picture 	no_picture.gif 	Info 
Image - Use Proportional Images on Products and Categories 	1 	Info 
IH resize images 	yes 	Info 
IH small image filetype 	no_change 	Info 
IH small image background 	255:255:255 	Info 
IH watermark small images 	yes 	Info 
IH zoom small images 	yes 	Info 
IH small image hotzone 	no 	Info 
IH small image compression quality 	85 	Info 
IH medium image filetype 	no_change 	Info 
IH medium image background 	255:255:255 	Info 
IH watermark medium images 	yes 	Info 
IH zoom medium images 	yes 	Info 
IH medium image hotzone 	no 	Info 
IH medium image compression quality 	85 	Info 
IH large image filetype 	no_change 	Info 
IH large image background 	255:255:255 	Info 
IH watermark large images 	yes 	Info 
IH large image compression quality 	85 	Info 
IH large image maximum width 	300 	Info 
IH large image maximum height 	300 	Info 
IH watermark gravity 	Center 	Info 
IH zoom gravity 	NorthEast

last word of caution -- if your large files do not appear it may be because your source file is larger than your max IH image size. For example my source file is 640x514 however i set my max size as 700x800 so that when i do upload an image thats larger than 640x514 the new file appears when i hover over it. So in your case if your source files are 300 x XXX i would change the max height to a slightly higher number than the highest XXX (300 x 400 if your largest file is 300 x 399 for example).

hope this helps

Hi First of all many thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed explanation.

So what you are saying then is that Image Handler puts out a percentage of the original image size instead of the selected size in the image settings. I find this so strange and not very user friendly. I mean resizing around 3000 images for me to 300 x 300 is not an option for me and of course loading small med & large makes that 9000 images.
I have worked with zen photo on another site and it outputs selected thumbs to 100 X 100 from any size larger photo and then of course the on click or hover is the master setting of whatever you choose.

I managed to use this setting in admin>config>images..Image - Use Proportional Images on Products and Categories 0, and all the images are the same size, though the images do not enlarge on hover or display on entering the category. So this I found of little use even though the site (images) looks uniform when this is selected.

So unless I am missing something I have to regretfully live with a multitude of sizes for my categories.

One other thing that caught my eye about what you said was the following:
"Also i would recommend installing the additional files for IH2 -- it allows for rollover images of the product details page (looks much better than 'click for larger image')"
I am not sure that I follow this as I installed the whole of the add on Image Handler 2, so where are the additional files that make the roll over function work?

Thanks Again for your time..
Kind Regards
RR

[maineiac13]

Renz...I don't pretend to be an expert on this contribution...but note the following language from the support page:

Image Dimensions
There are different approaches to setting the dimension of images.

You can do it the normal way and simply specify width and height dimensions in pixels. Set width to 100 and height to 80 for example. If your image is 200×200 it will be resized to 80×80 because this is the biggest size that fits into 100×80.

You can just set width (or height) to e.g. 100 and leave the other dimension blank (or set to 0). Now you specified a width (or height) that the image in question will be resized to. The height (or width) will be calculated according to the correct aspect ratio.

You can for example set it like the first example but append “!” to one value (for example 80! for small image height). The generated resized images are centered on a canvas that matches exactly the given size for the corresponding image. If you specified 100×80! your 200×200 image from the first example will be resized to 80×80 and placed centered on a 100×80 canvas filled with the specified background color. Think of it as kind of forcing image dimensions without messing up the aspect ratio.

Is this the kind of thing you were looking for?

[jazznuts699]

Hi First of all many thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed explanation.

So what you are saying then is that Image Handler puts out a percentage of the original image size instead of the selected size in the image settings. I find this so strange and not very user friendly. I mean resizing around 3000 images for me to 300 x 300 is not an option for me and of course loading small med & large makes that 9000 images.
I have worked with zen photo on another site and it outputs selected thumbs to 100 X 100 from any size larger photo and then of course the on click or hover is the master setting of whatever you choose.

I managed to use this setting in admin>config>images..Image - Use Proportional Images on Products and Categories 0, and all the images are the same size, though the images do not enlarge on hover or display on entering the category. So this I found of little use even though the site (images) looks uniform when this is selected.

So unless I am missing something I have to regretfully live with a multitude of sizes for my categories.

One other thing that caught my eye about what you said was the following:
"Also i would recommend installing the additional files for IH2 -- it allows for rollover images of the product details page (looks much better than 'click for larger image')"
I am not sure that I follow this as I installed the whole of the add on Image Handler 2, so where are the additional files that make the roll over function work?

Thanks Again for your time..
Kind Regards
RR

even though 3000 images sounds like a lot you can readily resize them all using 3rd party freebies like winXP image resizer or vista prish resizer (they both work on the context menu level, ie. right click on the images and select resize). if you have a test site you should be able to take your resized images and over write your original images and IH2 should know no difference -- you would just need to clear the image cache and let it rebuild.

However, i have not had to resize that many images thus as you say the exercise may be a pain. Although you would not need to do the SM and MED images as IH2 does that automatically.

Regarding the extra files to install (which you may have already installed) -- they are located in the "image-handler_2.0-zc137 Optional Extra" folder. Installing these allows you to zoom your large images (ie when you hover over a MED size image the LRG shows up). It may be that you just did not enable "IH zoom medium images -- yes". Hope this helps :)

ps. i think what maineiac13 mentioned above might be an easier solution that you can try...

[greengreetings]

Permissions on bmz_cache need to be set to 777 on your server.
That folder has to be writable.

I set bmz_cache to 777 and I still get a similar error message:

/usr/www/users/jgreen23/shop/includes/classes/bmz_image_handler.class.php on line 644.

What else can be done?

[porridj]

Hi folks, i do apologise if i am repeating questions already asked but i have spent a few hours searching and couldnt find anything. if anyone knows where i should go to find out please just say.

PROBLEM: I have zencart up and running, all is well, i install image handler2 and all is well, then after a short period of time, the indes page fails to load anything, and same on all the other pages too...i check bmz_cache folder and its set itself to 755, to i reset it to 777, and the site works again...any idea what i should be looking for or at to try and sort this. its the last hurdle on a small site so just want it out the way now.

zencart: 1.3.8a
No upgrades, just straight to 1.3.8a
i installed slimbox also
i am with heartinternet

any help appreciated

[porridj]

Just found out from heart that they dont allow 777...but i read on a number of peoples posts about image handler 2 that it should work with it set at 755...or is there underlying issues? anyone have an idea?

[Renz]

even though 3000 images sounds like a lot you can readily resize them all using 3rd party freebies like winXP image resizer or vista prish resizer (they both work on the context menu level, ie. right click on the images and select resize). if you have a test site you should be able to take your resized images and over write your original images and IH2 should know no difference -- you would just need to clear the image cache and let it rebuild.

However, i have not had to resize that many images thus as you say the exercise may be a pain. Although you would not need to do the SM and MED images as IH2 does that automatically.

Regarding the extra files to install (which you may have already installed) -- they are located in the "image-handler_2.0-zc137 Optional Extra" folder. Installing these allows you to zoom your large images (ie when you hover over a MED size image the LRG shows up). It may be that you just did not enable "IH zoom medium images -- yes". Hope this helps :)

ps. i think what maineiac13 mentioned above might be an easier solution that you can try...

maineiac13 you are a champion that is exactly it. I did 100X80 to 100X80! (for the selected image set) and whammo they all appear the same size I am over the moon.

jazznuts699 thanks for your advice as well, I tried the zoom Med yes (obviously i must have the right file set installed) I do get a + sign at the bottom however the medium does not become large on hover, I also cleared the cache but no good, if you don't mind to have a quick look and advise I would be most grateful, dunno if you caught the www's early on so, here goes www.adulttoys4u.com.au/shop

Kind Regards
RR