Images - slow page loads

We have over 20,000 product images. Initially, we loaded 640x480px images into the images directory and let zc do the work adjusting. All page load speeds EXCEPT the product detail page were acceptable. But product detail pages would sometimes reach 1 minute or time out.

We built medium (250px) and large (400px) images and loaded them into the large and medium directories... page load speeds remained the same. We replaced the 640px images with 400 px images... still very slow product detail page loads... 30+ sec.

We deleted all the images from the main images directory, kept the large and medium images in their folders. Now page loads speeds for product pages are reasonable. But, of course, there are no thumbnails for the products.

Do I need to make small images and load them into the -images- directory? Will I still have problems due to the number of images? Should I split the images into categories to reduce the single folder size?

We have two other smaller stores which run satisfactorily with about 1000 products each.

saftek:

Should I split the images into categories to reduce the single folder size?
That is probably best, since it sounds like your performance problem is simply the load caused by too many files in one folder.

/images/**a/**apple.jpg
/images/**b/**banana.jpg
/images/medium/**a/**apple_MED.jpg
/images/medium/**b/**banana_MED.jpg
/images/large/**a/**apple_LRG.jpg
/images/large/**b/**banana_LRG.jpg

DrByte:

That is probably best, since it sounds like your performance problem is simply the load caused by too many files in one folder.

/images/**a/**apple.jpg
/images/**b/**banana.jpg
/images/medium/**a/**apple_MED.jpg
/images/medium/**b/**banana_MED.jpg
/images/large/**a/**apple_LRG.jpg
/images/large/**b/**banana_LRG.jpg

I don't understand which size image to place in the /images folder... for example suppose I have 640px, 400px, 250px and 150px...

Thanks.

I use:
smallest (thumbnails) in the /images
images/medium for the mid-sized image (the "small" image that shows up on a product page)
images/large for the full-sized, biggest pic you've got of the product (shows up when someone clicks on the mid-sized image).

When I add a product I link the smallest via the product add-on page in admin, and then ftp the medium and large into their respective folders. Then - if I understand it correctly - the product page doesn't even try to load the large image until a customer clicks on the medium to enlarge it.

joejoejoe:

I use:
smallest (thumbnails) in the /images
images/medium for the mid-sized image (the "small" image that shows up on a product page)
images/large for the full-sized, biggest pic you've got of the product (shows up when someone clicks on the mid-sized image).

When I add a product I link the smallest via the product add-on page in admin, and then ftp the medium and large into their respective folders. Then - if I understand it correctly - the product page doesn't even try to load the large image until a customer clicks on the medium to enlarge it.

Thanks! That is exactly what I needed to know. Cheers.

It's all explained in the FAQ article on that topic: http://www.zen-cart.com/content.php?100-how-do-i-add-multiple-images-to-a-product

I found for me to turn off the additional images go rid of the slow load problems... Go to Admin->Catalog->-Product Types-> Modify Layout and Turn off the additional images..

I think it's going to the image directory and indexing it into an array to find additional images.. It eats up a lot of time doing that.

Good luck!

Brian