My listing images are compressed on desktop, but not on mobile, why?

[pwnd_games]

So I use eBay's File Exchange Program to upload my listings in bulk and it's been absolutely fantastic in cutting down the amount of time it takes to upload hundreds of listings. However, whenever I upload that way my images are ALWAYS compressed on desktop and it's not possible to click on them for a larger image nor is it possible to hover over them for a quick magnified view. 

I use my Iphone for the picture taking because it's just the simplest way to get clean pictures for my listing. The images are saved offsite and they're saved at 1024 x 768, but once they're uploaded and visible on eBay they're only 375 x 500. Is the image from the host server at 1024 x 768 too large and eBay is just compressing it to the smallest preferred size to prevent long wait times clicking on my listings? 

If someone could help me figure out what's going on it would be GREATLY appreciated as I deal in collectibles and being able to take note of the condition with clear images is really important and it's def. impacting my sales.

Thanks!

[shipscript]

@eburtonlab 

Thanks for additional confirmation!

In my case, with a 4-year old Firefox, the hover event has no action on the images when the "hover to zoom" appears, and I have been seeing this issue since probably around March. I don't know if the unclickable "red rose" issue is new or was a problem back then.

[pwnd_games]

I use google chrome, however everything on your test listing works as it should

The first and second image is just there I can't do anything

The third image as well as the final image has white bars on the top and bottom of the image, but I'm able to hover over it and click to enlarge

The fourth image of the pink rose fills the entire box and I'm able to hover over it and click to enlarge

Ideally I would like to have the resolution and options as the fourth image of the pink rose, but again, I'm not certain what I'm doing wrong on my end 

[pwnd_games]

Any updates on this that anyone can think of? I just uploaded some new listings the other day using the bulk upload and I used the previously recommended picture size (I have to go back to the previous comments to see), but it hasn't changed anything. My picture still doesn't fill the entire box and it doesn't enlarge when hovered over nor does it allow for clicking for bigger picture size. Example below:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184872506004?hash=item2b0b429294:g:mqQAAOSwogJgu8LS

No offense to any of the great responses I've received from the extremely helpful community here, but is there some kind of eBay tech support I can read out to?

[shipscript]

@pwnd_games 

All of your photos are 576 x 768

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184872506004

They are too small to zoom, but they should be clickable to supersize; however, not in my Firefox browser or in your version of Chrome. What version of Chrome do you have and what computer?

eBay's picture holder is square. The "white bars" on the sides are due to your image not being square. If you make all of your images square, they will fill eBay's square space and will appear to be larger.

Because your images do not match any of the ImageShack sizes, I suspect they are coming from your camera at that size, perhaps during the export or upload process.  Can your camera take square photos? Can you crop in your camera or on ImageShack? If you do crop away some of that background, you will need to start with larger photos because cropping your existing size will make the photos too small for eBay.

[pwnd_games]

Okay, as per your previous suggestion I was able to do a little more research and hopefully I'm narrowing down the actual issue so an appropriate solution can be developed.

Coming out of the camera the images are: 3024 x 4032

When I upload them to ImageShack I select to upload them at 1600 x 1200. 

Once they're uploaded I right clicked on the image and selected "inspect" which on chrome brings up a side bar and the image is only 627x837 with a "position" of 232. I know you, shipscript, are well versed in html, css, etc. but just to clarify it's position --> margin --> border --> padding. I'm aware of margin/border/padding, but not certain on position so it's just why I wanted to break it down a little further.

So, it would seem, the issue is stemming from when I upload the images to imageshack that they're being compressed down to a size too small which is preventing a zoom and enlarge option on eBay. Do you have any insight now that the issue is identified what the solution to getting the images rendered at the proper size?

All of that being said I do want to make it clear how appreciative I am of your help thus far as it's obviously helped me discover the actual issue and now I can hopefully develop and appropriate solution

[shipscript]

@pwnd_games 

I don't have Chrome, but suspect the right-click-inspect is probably just telling you what size the image is being "displayed", not its actual size. Because I presume ImageShack has some sort of visual webpage presentation where the image fits nicely in a frame on your screen, the image is being resized (by your browser) to fit into that frame. Thus the oddball size.

The real question is where are you retrieving that photo URL for upload to eBay? Does ImageShack offer you the "direct link" or "direct url" or "raw image link" or anything along those lines that will provide the "original" photo that is hosted at 1600 x 1200?

Are you copying the image directly from the presentation frame on ImageShack? If so, what is the URL? Don't post the URL here directly.  Instead, expand the toolbar on eBays discussion editor and select the </> code option and paste the URL into the code box.  That way, we'll see the URL and not the picture.

[pwnd_games]

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1600x1200q90/923/rXFayQ.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1600x1200q90/922/QH249x.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1600x1200q90/923/ZzoUHo.jpg

So above I included three images with the link being a "direct" link. I just insert that link directly into my .csv file, but I also have the option for "Forum", "Alt Forum", and "HTML". 

[shipscript]

@pwnd_games 

Those are good URLs.  The images are 900x1200, whereas the uploader was for 1600x1200.

I suspect the "q90" in the URL is a rotation. All photos are horizontal by default. Yours were taken vertically, so the rotation flag was set in the image to rotate 90 degrees clockwise from the default (or maybe you had to manually rotate the photo after it appeared on ImageShack).  If you hold your phone with the dimple or base to the right, your phone will be in the default horizontal photo position.

So, the mystery unfolds. It appears that the 1600x1200 image resizing is rotation specific. You got the 1200, but on the long side instead of the short side. Try your next photo with the phone held horizontally and see if the ImageShack uploader gives you a different size result.

That explains your listing photos that are only 576 x 768. For those, you probably chose the 1024 x 768 resize option and got the rotated results for 768 instead of 1024, smaller than we would have expected.

Does your phone have the option to shoot a square photo?

[pwnd_games]

So these were pictures that were shot as a "square" or "1:1" I took one holding the phone vertically like I normally would and another horizontally or portrait

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1600x1200q90/922/a6gokV.jpg https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1600x1200q90/924/T1Bq53.jpg

[pwnd_games]

SOLVED!

Shooting the pictures as "Square" or "1:"  and then uploading them to the hosting service at 1600x1200 has the image fill the entire space for my listing, allow for it to hover over and enlarge, AND click on for enlarged photos

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I really appreciate your patience and walking through this step by step with me!!

[shipscript]

I'm happy the upload issue has been resolved!

Now, there is still the remaining mystery of why eBay's mid-sized photos are not clickable in some browsers, yet are clickable in others. What version of Chrome are you using when viewing listings?