Watermarks

bargaintrophies · September 6th, 2006, 08:44 PM

What are the pros and cons of on-the-fly watermarks vs static ones? Performance? Other pros/cons?

When an on-the-fly watermark is used and someone enters the Direct URL, I assume that the on-the-fly watermark is not displayed. Is that correct?

My site is currently configured for GD, but I am seriously considering ImageMajik. Is that difficult to configure. I have seen some references to "mogrify" but have no idea what that is. Sorry for all these "newbie" questions.

Finally, are their tips for setting the width of a watermark and image min/max sizes? I am using a very early draft watermark image (static) and it sometimes nears or exceeds the width of the main image.

Any references to posts on these subjects would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Michael

Chuck S · September 7th, 2006, 08:18 AM

What are the pros and cons of on-the-fly watermarks vs static ones? Performance? Other pros/cons?

The main difference is one is permanent and on the fly preserves the original image

When an on-the-fly watermark is used and someone enters the Direct URL, I assume that the on-the-fly watermark is not displayed. Is that correct?

That would be correct but the cool thing here is you dont show direct url cause one of the good things about using watermark.php is to hide the image path

My site is currently configured for GD, but I am seriously considering ImageMajik. Is that difficult to configure. I have seen some references to "mogrify" but have no idea what that is. Sorry for all these "newbie" questions.

This explains how to install it you need SSH

http://www.photopost.com/howtoinstall-php.html

Finally, are their tips for setting the width of a watermark and image min/max sizes? I am using a very early draft watermark image (static) and it sometimes nears or exceeds the width of the main image.

This takes experimentation use what works best try overlaying a few different examples till you find the best fit for you

bargaintrophies · September 8th, 2006, 10:17 AM

Chuck,

I still a little confused. I would definitely like to retain the original image and utilize on-the-fly watermarks. When I submitted my installation instructions for the paid installation option, I included the following instructions:

Finally, I would like ImageMajik configured for image uploads and GD for on-the-fly watermarks. Per my hosting company (PowWeb), ImageMajik is installed on their servers. Version 5.22.

I had seen this recommended configuration in some other PP forum posts. Does this make sense? Are there 2 configuration options; one for the image upload process and one for watermark handling?

I tried to change the "Imaging Integration" option to ImageMagik but the upload process errored out.

Please advise (i.e. specific configuration options) on what I need to do to accomplish my desire to have watermarks generated on-the-fly. As stated above in my original installation info, PowWeb already has ImageMagik installed on their servers. I am really confused by the second (Enable on-the-fly image protection) and third (When using on-the-fly image generation, do you want to overlay the watermark image?) configuration options in the Image Protection System Options screen that pops up after the All Options screen has been completed.

Chuck S · September 8th, 2006, 11:34 AM

If your on powweb it all depends what server your on, There shared accounts mogrify is at

/usr/local/bin/mogrify and you set this in config options

You then in global options set your image processor to imagemagick

As far as on the fly all you need is to have gd2 installed which they do and set on the fly on. You can if you want the watermark over the image fill out the image protection options these variables

Enable on-the-fly image protection
This option uses the watermark.php script to serve images
When using on-the-fly image generation, do you want to overlay the watermark image?
You can use this feature for on-the-fly watermarks in combination with the on-the-fly image generation.
Full server path to watermark overlay image.

bargaintrophies · September 8th, 2006, 08:15 PM

Chuck,

I think I got it all except for one thing. I cannot find where the configuration option is to set the mogrify path "/usr/local/bin/mogrify". Where do I enter this path? Also, do I enter the text string exactly as is shown in quotes? I am on a shared server.

Can I use a PNG file with ImageMagick? What all file types does it support?

Finally, here's how I have everything else set. Please confirm this is all correct. If the image doesn't show up in this thread, here's the direct URL: http://www.trophypix.com/PP_ImageConfig.jpg.

Code:

Content visible to verified customers only.

Chuck S · September 8th, 2006, 08:19 PM

You do not want watermarks set to yes in watermark options.

Imagemagick path is set in Admin => Config settings

bargaintrophies · September 8th, 2006, 10:31 PM

I got everything set as per the settings above and your corrections. I'm getting the following error when attempting to upload an image:

Error creating thumbnail! Error code: 127

Command:

"/usr/local/bin/mogrify" +profile "*" -size 100x75 -quality 70 -geometry 100x75 -unsharp 10 '/hermes/web05/b667/pow.gmmclain/htdocs/gallery/data/512/thumbs/Picture_185.jpg'

Again, my watermark is a PNG file.

Thanks,
Michael

Chuck S · September 9th, 2006, 09:09 AM

your not permanently watermarking files so thats no concern. Your issue is that imagemagick does not exist on your server as I noted earlier. Only certain powweb servers have imagemagick supposedly. I know the cheapie ones usually have it at the path I noted but you need to contact your host to see if its installed on your server and where and you can place that path if it exists in the config settings in admin. If not you need to use GD2 to upload.

bargaintrophies · September 9th, 2006, 01:13 PM

Thanks Chuck. I'll send in a ticket to the powweb support team.

- Michael

bargaintrophies · September 9th, 2006, 07:44 PM

All is now working fine except one thing. I can't seem to find out where to configure the on-the-fly watermark location. I have Northwest Selected in the Watermark Options section (this was the location when I was using GD2), but the image is being displayed at the bottom of the picture in the center.

Also, is there a way to configure the software to include the on-the-fly watermark on the HTML and UBB image links?

Thanks,
Michael

Chuck S · September 10th, 2006, 09:25 AM

in watermark.php I have copied this section of code it should look as this

Code:

Content visible to verified customers only.

bargaintrophies · September 11th, 2006, 09:39 PM

I modifed watermark.php per the code you provided. I changed the graphic to a jpg image. Now, when I view a photo (showphoto.php), the photo does not show up at all (just the title).

Here are my settings:

Edit Config:
--------------
Path for MOGRIFY executable - /usr/bin/mogrify (This was provided by Powweb technicians)

Global Options:
-----------------
Imaging Integration (IM or GD) - ImageMagick

Watermark Options:
-------------------
Enable watermarking of photos with overlay image? No
If enabled, position of overlay watermark on images. - Northwest
Full server path to watermark overlay image - /hermes/web05/b667/pow.gmmclain/htdocs/HostedFreeTP.jpg

Image Protection System Options
--------------------------------

3 Yes's and the same path as above.

Thanks for you patience.

- Michael

Chuck S · September 12th, 2006, 07:29 AM

your watermark just be a png if using gd2 and the watermark script.

bargaintrophies · September 12th, 2006, 09:57 PM

OK, now I'm totally confused. The comments in your code state that if using GD2 the image must be a JPG.

I've gone back and forth between ImageMagick and GD2 every few posts in this thread it seems. Is there a detailed, comprehensive explanation of how all this works somewhere (e.g. User/Owner Manual)? I may be getting confused between what configuration options are for image upload and which options are for watermarks.

Here's what I am trying to accomplish. I would like to preserve the original images. I plan to work with related forum sites and offer image hosting to their members via HTML and UBB Code pasted into the users' forum posts. So, watermarks are real important - more so for the HTML and UBB Code links than the images displayed via my main site photopost browsing. What do I need to do to configure the site to achieve these 2 objectives: retain original images, and disply a watermark (Northwest corner) in images that are displayed by forum users pasting in the HTML or UBB Code into their forum posts?

Thanks again for your patience.

Chuck S · September 13th, 2006, 07:18 AM

No Imagemagick must be gif and gd2 must be png

There is nowhere in our code that says a watermark must be a jpg image in fact right in the options it is pretty specific

Code:

Content visible to verified customers only.

You must set the options has I outlined above and your watermark must be a png.

bargaintrophies · September 13th, 2006, 06:19 PM

Chuck, I was referring to the first line in the code excerpt you provided to modify watermark.php in your Sept 10 post:

// Only works if using GD2 and the image is a JPG

That's what had (and still has) me confused.

I have both GD2 and ImageMagick available for use, but I'm not sure when you reference "outlined above" which of the many responses you're referring to. If you don't mind, please let me know for each one of these configuration options what I need to do to meet my objectives; retain original images, and disply a watermark (Northwest corner) in images that are displayed by forum users pasting in the HTML or UBB Code into their forum post:

Global Options:
-----------------
Imaging Integration (IM or GD)

Watermark Options:
-------------------
Enable watermarking of photos with overlay image? Yes or No
If enabled, position of overlay watermark on images. - Northwest
Full server path to watermark overlay image - /hermes/web05/b667/pow.gmmclain/htdocs/HostedFreeTP.png

Image Protection System Options
--------------------------------
3 Yes/No questions
Path: /hermes/web05/b667/pow.gmmclain/htdocs/HostedFreeTP.png

I promise I'm not trying to be difficult, just extremely confused.

Thanks AGAIN for your patience,

Michael

Chuck S · September 13th, 2006, 07:58 PM

Hello

I dont see anywhere in my sept 10 post where I tell you the watermark must be a jpg.

I think you keep changing what you want to do cause your bringing up new things about forum links.

Very simply imagemagick is used to process images if you have that selected in global options

Now using on the fly watermarks is simple just set the 3 image protection items to enable on the fly watermarks and place path to watermark. In watermark options watermark images must be no and location of overlay is fine at northwest.

As far as ubbcode etc thats always a link to the true image, the code does not give a watermark link since most forums do not work with script links ubbcode needs the true image path.

bargaintrophies · September 13th, 2006, 09:32 PM

Chuck,

Thanks for the info. I'm going to stay with GD2 and NOT use the on-the-fly watermark. That way when forum users paste in the UBB or HTML code into forum posts, the watermark will be displayed. That will work fine. Retaining original image was a lower priority.

Thanks for your patience. I'm looking forward to getting my site online soon!

- Michael

Chuck S · September 13th, 2006, 09:42 PM

no problem