Upload files & images with ease!
Upload files & images with ease!
Upload files & images with ease!
Upload ease has many easily configurable features that provide benefits to website users, developers, and owners. We have outlined some of them below (for more detail please see the download page, and the reference documentation):
Many of our users have asked for the ability to configure thumbnail and other constrained images at upload time, perhaps using input from the user as to thumbnail size or using the source image properties such as image format to affect how (or if) images are generated. From 1.3 image specifiers can nominate a callback that is queried to obtain the image constraints at upload time. See the ImageHelper callback option for more information and examples.
This option gives you control over the trade-off between image quality and compression (file size) and progressive mode output, for those image file formats that support it (e.g. JPEG). See the quality and progressive ImageHelper options for further information and examples.
This option gives input into the trade-off between image scaling speed and quality, by hinting as to what sort of scaling algorithm should be used for either up or down scaling (averaging, fast, replicate, or smooth). See the scaleHint ImageHelper option for further information and examples.
Support for cookies has been enhanced in two ways. Firstly, by default, the applet copies the browser cookies from the page it was embedded in and submits them with the upload. This aims to address the most common stumbling block developers have which is implementing Upload ease within the existing security/authorisation mechanisms of a website. Secondly, for situations that require manual or further customisation, the applet can be configured to send an arbitrary number of cookies with the upload. See the setCookies() method and copyCookies option for more information.
One of our most requested features is to be able to "watermark" uploaded images, and now this is a reality! Upload ease can now watermark your uploaded images with either text or an image (via URL), with simple but powerful control over colour, opacity, position, font, etc.
From 1.3 text and image watermarks can be sized either explicity in pixels or relative to the destination image size (New!). This ensures your watermark will look consistent for different source image sizes.
See the setWatermark() ImageHelper method for more information and examples.
Try the live demo to see it in action.
Now you can make Upload ease blend in seamlessly with the colour scheme of your website, add your own logo/branding, and customise the text labels and messages (e.g. for internationalisation).
See the setProperties() Helper method for more information and examples.
Save your users from the 2-step process of uploading their files and then adding information such as titles, descriptions, and so on. From Upload ease 1.2 you can have your users input per upload and per file form variables with custom HTML forms that you create on the client side, ensuring you get the look & feel you want!
Try the live demo to see it in action.
Sometimes even the best of us make mistakes and for whatever reason may need to cancel an upload once it has started. This is now as simple as clicking the "Cancel" button!
Many users and web developers will have their files organised and bookmarked across several folders for fast and easy access. Now they can drag & drop from their native environment directly into Upload ease for the ultimate convenience.
This, combined with the ability to upload files from multiple folders in a single upload, makes Upload ease the fastest and easiest to use upload tool available! Simply highlight one or more files and drag and drop them into Upload ease and they will be added to the list of files ready for uploading.
Try the live demo to see it in action.
Preparing and uploading images to a website is one of the most common uses of Upload ease, which offers the following features & benefits:
Recognised image files show a preview thumbnail to aid in the selection process. Although the formats supported can vary from computer to computer we have successfully previewed BMP, GIF, ICO, JPG/JPEG, & PNG image files.
Rotate 90°, 180°, or 270° clockwise or anticlockwise (with preview).
Users may conveniently correct the orientation by rotating clockwise or anticlockwise in 90° increments.
Easily upload as many versions of the image at different scales and/or formats as you like. You can specify whether to maintain aspect ratios, allow upscaling, padding colour (where necessary), image type conversion, and naming convention. Each version's properties can be set on an individual basis.
In most situations (particularly photos) you would maintain the image's aspect ratio when scaling. If your website design requires a different aspect ratio for layout (e.g. square) Upload ease can automatically pad the image/thumbnail to honour the source image's aspect ratio and the destination image's size, in the colour of your choice. However, should you not require the aspect ratio to be honoured you can configure that too!
The size of image files uploaded to websites impacts both on the user in terms of the upload time and on the website owner in terms of storage space and (potentially) bandwidth requirements. With today's digital cameras it is becoming more convenient for users to take high-quality high-resolution photographs which they then want to use in marketing or promotional materials, or upload to social websites. These images can easily consume a lot of storage space, and are rarely displayed at their full resolutions on websites, due in part to screen resolutions being far less than photo resolutions but more so because of bandwidth and download speed requirements.
Even if the website developer provides image processing capabilities on the server side to resize images, the compute power needed to do it can have a detrimental affect on the server's performance. A client side solution like Upload ease obviates the need for such server side functionality.
The ability to compress ordinary files has many of the same benefits as scaling images, primarily in reducing bandwidth requirements and upload time.
For various reasons you may need to use a particular type of compression algorithm. Upload ease supports Zip or GZIP compression - the choice is yours.
You can define which files to include for compression and which to exclude. For example, text files usually compress very well, but JPEG images may not due to their already compressed format. As compression takes time there's little point in doing it for files that don't compress well, as they could end up being larger thereby increasing the upload time, and then need to be uncompressed on the server side.
You can easily filter the files that are displayed for selection by setting the include/exclude filter. This makes it easier for the user to locate the files of interest and reduces the chance of inappropriate files being uploaded to the website.
You can easily limit the number of and/or size of the files a user can upload in total or in a single request, to prevent inadvertant or malicious overloading of the server or uploading files beyond the imposed limits of the server.
Folder uploads
Upload ease can be configured to allow entire folders to be selected for upload. Only files that pass the include/exclude filter are uploaded. The composite folder & file name can be uploaded with the request for use by the website.
Users can upload files from multiple folders in a single request, simply by navigating through the folders and selecting those files they wish to upload. The selection view shows all the files that have been selected and are ready for uploading. Notes can be added or edited here or further rotations made to images.
You can easily filter the files that are displayed for selection by setting the include/exclude filter. This makes it easier for the user to locate the files of interest and reduces the chance of inappropriate files being uploaded to the website.
Many users and particularly website owners and/or developers will often want to upload files, images, and photos from the same or nearby folder that they did the last time they used Upload ease. Rather than make users navigate down through the folders on each visit, Upload ease can remember and return them to the folder they last visited on their next visit.
It is often useful to provide captions with images or descriptions with files, and websites often provide the functionality to edit such information. Rather than force users to first upload images/files and then associate captions/descriptions with them, Upload ease lets users provide text notes with files prior to uploading. The notes are then sent with the upload and can be used to set image captions or file descriptions on the website.
Notes associated with folder uploads will be applied to all files uploaded from the folder.
During upload feedback is provided to the user via a progress bar on a per file basis. Each file's upload is monitored and the progress bar updated accordingly.
Please visit our Upload ease live demonstration page to see it in action!
