I'm developing a web page for a photographer. He wants to be able to upload photos to his website so his clients can view them. I want to create a Flash interface for him where he can upload photos to the server. What I want to do is resize the image PRIOR to the upload so he doesn't have to worry about that (i.e. pic from a 10megapixel camera to 640x480). It'll also save on upload time. I don't want to process the image resize on the server because sometimes he's uploading 1000 pics at a time.
Is this possible with Flash (the newest version -- cause I'm pretty sure it's not possible with older versions)? Or is the only solution a Java Applet?
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So what you're saying is I can use the bitmap class to create a sort-of compressed version of the photo and then recreate the full-sized photo on the server with the GD library? If possible, can I keep the scaled-down version? (I'm also thinking about server storage space... 1000 photos @ 7MB each = 7GB for each shoot).
Can you expand a little on your idea? Also, what do you consider a "very fast connection"?
victornegri,
Let me give more details:
e.g. User have a photo of 1600x1200
Flash load the photo in~ 1600x1200 on screen
Using Flash scaleX and scaleY~ 800x600 on screen
Using Bitmap class get pixel~ 800x600 pixels
(imagine, without scale down this will be 1600x1200 pixels)
Send bitmap pixel data to PHP~ 800x600 pixels
GD library to rebuild the image~ 800x600 image
So after all you only get the resized image but not the original one.
Adv:
- limited upload
Disadv:
- complex process
- may have large image distortion
- if user have "fast connection" I mean internet connection, he will prefer uploading the 1600x1200 instead of the complex process~
Comparing with the original approach
Upload 1600x1200 image
GD resize to 800x600 image
Adv:
- no distortion
- easy process
Disadv:
- slow upload
Cheers
Vicker
victornegri,
If you do have some time to learn some new technology.
I would suggest using Adobe Flex 2 to deliver the Flash UI.
Several advantages here:
- Flex 2 is more systematic for managing a large scale Flash application
- Flex 2 have a bunch of in built components which allow you to deliver more responsive applications
e.g. During the upload progress, you can easily add progress bars to show the actual progress~
BTW, if your user is picky... I really suggest using GD directly instead to minimize image distortion.
Cheers
Vicker
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by: vickerleungPosted on 2007-02-18 at 07:22:55ID: 18558645
victornegri,
I have the following idea that you may try.
(I can give you further detail if you think it works)
Flash 9~ actually 8 already have a great Bitmap class.
Make use of the Bitmap class, you are possible to retrieve every single pixel of the photos.
Of course you will not get all the pixels~ You will scale down the image inside Flash first.
This is rather simple by something like _image_loader.scaleX = 0.25;
After you scale it down, get the pixels using Bitmap class~
and at last passing the bitmap data to PHP~ using GD library to rebuild the image file.
So~ the only advantage here is that you minimize the bandwidth used to upload the large image to the server.
But the disadvantage is that the process is more complicated~
The performance might not be better if~ let's say your user actually have very fast connection~
Just some idea for you to think of~
Cheers
Vicker