Photos won't zoom

[itsmesarad]

Hi all,

I am super frustrated because the photos I take are 3264 x 2448 pixels.  But when I create my listings, the zoom feature does not work on my photos - even when they are unaltered.

Any suggestions?

[eburtonlab]

@itsmesarad 

I just opened one of your listings and the first picture I checked was 500 x 403 pixels. I believe that pictures have to be bigger than that to zoom.

[mam98031]

Well I'm not sure, but maybe they are too big, so Ebay is shrinking them to fit the current policy size.

Ebay currently wants pics to have at least 500 pixels on the longest side of the pic.  But the zoom function doesn't kick in until the pics are at least 800 pixels on the longest side.

But I'm thinking your pics are just too big so Ebay is auto adjusting them.

I know the system will take pics that are 1600 pixels, but I've never tried uploading anything bigger than that before, so I'm unsure.

Try adjusting one of your pics to about 1500 pixels, then upload it to one of your listings and see if you can then zoom it.  

[castlemagicmemories]

You're right.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Selling/how-to-get-zoom-feature-for-photos-of-your-listing/td-...

[mam98031]

Clarification Please

tyler@ebay 

brian@ebay 

[castlemagicmemories · Accepted solution]

@eburtonlab 

This explains this better.  It's from Shipscript,  a true Board legend who knows her stuff!

Listing Photos don't zoom or magnify
shipscript

shipscript
Rockstar
03-08-2014 08:40:28 PM
Last Edited 03-08-2014 08:42:15 PM

The often asked question is why listing photos say "click to view larger image" instead of "mouse over image to zoom"

THEN...

Last year, the answer was that the photos were not large enough to zoom — they had to be at least 501 pixels on the long side to zoom. Older photos that were uploaded many months ago may not zoom if they are only 500 pixels or if they were uploaded more than a year ago when supersize and zoom were not free.

NOW...

But that should not be the case with photos newly uploaded within the past 6 months. eBay does not allow new uploads that are too small to zoom. ALL new uploads should zoom.

The most common problem is that the uploader on the Quick Lister does not correctly apply supersize and zoom to new uploads.

The immediate solution to that problem is to click the link at the top of the Quick Lister to switch to the Advanced listing form — which is the old SYI or Sell-Your-Item listing form that has been available for years. The uploader on the Advanced listing form correctly applies supersize and zoom to new uploads.

To apply supersize and zoom to existing listings, revise the listing, delete the existing photos, and re-upload using the Advanced listing form.

TROUBLESHOOTING...

How can you quickly tell if the problem lies with the original photo or with the uploader? eBay maintains a full set of image sizes for each photo and the only difference between each one is the numerical suffix at the end. When a listing does not support zoom, the largest image in the popup usually has a suffix of _58.JPG, which is a 640 pixel image. Or, if the image name can be seen at the top left of the listing, it might have a different suffix. To determine the size of eBay's master image, paste the image URL into the browser address line and change that suffix to _57.JPG which then displays the largest size eBay has on hand.

With the size of the original at hand, it is fairly easy to determine whether the fault is with an original upload that was too small or whether the upload was okay but failed to apply zoom.

As an example, here are some sizes for one image, where only the suffix changes. Keep in mind that some browser settings may shrink a large image to fit and may not always show true size.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/M3kAAMXQVT9SqS9E/$_0.JPG small thumbnail

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/M3kAAMXQVT9SqS9E/$_1.JPG 400 pixel size

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/M3kAAMXQVT9SqS9E/$_12.JPG 500 pixel size

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/M3kAAMXQVT9SqS9E/$_58.JPG 640 pixel (no-zoom size)

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTYwMFgxMjAw/z/M3kAAMXQVT9SqS9E/$_57.JPG eBay's largest size (up to 1600)

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Comments (2)

[itsmesarad]

Thanks very much for this! I will certainly give the Advanced Listing a shot.

[castlemagicmemories]

You are very welcome!  I'm so glad I was able to help!

Actually, I'm going to send a tag out to @shipscript to thank her as well!  She is a true asset to the Community and has earned the respect and gratitude of all.

Shipscript, you saved the day again, just want to say, thank you!

[shipscript]

@castlemagicmemories  Thanks for calling me.

@itsmesarad 

To see that actual size of each photo in a listing, paste your item number into this tool.

http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ShowLargestListingPhoto.htm

The "Mr Tod" photos are generally around 640x480, but they are actually very odd sizes like 476x635 and 378x629.  Have they been cropped too small?  Are you using the cropping tool in eBay's editor to modify the images?

Are you using a photo storage and management tool that creates smaller photos for convenience or as thumbnails? If so, are you uploading those smaller photos to eBay?

In the "Kneeling Angel" listing, every photo is exactly 476x635 and no one could crop that exactly, so that makes me wonder if there is a setting on your camera or computer making that change.

I used this tool to bulk scan all of your listings and see that you do have some photos that are large enough to zoom, so it's a mixed bag. 

http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/BulkPhotoScanner.htm

I don't think it's related to the listing form. There is something in your process, like saving to web size. Are you zooming when you take the photo? Don't do that. Instead, just get as close as practical and be sure to turn on the Macro feature for closeups so that you can stand as close as needed. The Macro button has a tulip icon.

[castlemagicmemories]

Thank YOU, @shipscript 

Don't know what we would do without you, and that's a fact.

[mam98031]

@shipscript 

Yes, thank you for stopping by.   You always add value to a conversation.

It is important for everyone to know that it does not have anything to do with the listing tool the seller uses. 

And to activate the zoom as I previously stated, the pics MUST be at least 800 pixels in at least one direction.

It really isn't more complicated than that.  Or it doesn't have to be.

But what I don't know is if you try to upload a pic that is too big, does Ebay size it down.  And in the OP's case size it down so much that it won't zoom.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@itsmesarad wrote:
Thanks very much for this! I will certainly give the Advanced Listing a shot.

---

You can let us know, if you care to, how it works out for you.  

Best of luck!  

You can't go wrong with Shipscript.

[shipscript]

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@mam98031 wrote:

@shipscript 

Yes, thank you for stopping by.   You always add value to a conversation.

It is important for everyone to know that it does not have anything to do with the listing tool the seller uses. 

And to activate the zoom as I previously stated, the pics MUST be at least 800 pixels in at least one direction.

It really isn't more complicated than that.  Or it doesn't have to be.

But what I don't know is if you try to upload a pic that is too big, does Ebay size it down.  And in the OP's case size it down so much that it won't zoom.

---

You are correct that a photo must be at least 800 pixels on the longest side in order to zoom. So it is important to upload a photo that is at least that large.

eBay will only downsize an original if it is over 1600 pixels on one side or the other. In that case, eBay will downsize the image so that the longest side on the original is 1600 pixels.  Thus, there is no need to upload a photo that is larger than 1600 pixels on the long side. A 1MP or 2MP camera setting would be adequately large.

In the issue that @itsmesarad  is encountering, eBay is not doing anything to reduce the photos. The reduction is occuring either at the camera or at the image management on the computer. It seemed possible that the images could have been cropped too small using eBay's photo cropping tool, but I don't think that is the case considering the sizes of many of the other listing photos.  I think @itsmesarad  should look closer at the processes that occur ahead of eBay receiving the image.

[mam98031]

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@shipscript wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

@shipscript 

Yes, thank you for stopping by.   You always add value to a conversation.

It is important for everyone to know that it does not have anything to do with the listing tool the seller uses. 

And to activate the zoom as I previously stated, the pics MUST be at least 800 pixels in at least one direction.

It really isn't more complicated than that.  Or it doesn't have to be.

But what I don't know is if you try to upload a pic that is too big, does Ebay size it down.  And in the OP's case size it down so much that it won't zoom.

---

You are correct that a photo must be at least 800 pixels on the longest side in order to zoom. So it is important to upload a photo that is at least that large.

eBay will only downsize an original if it is over 1600 pixels on one side or the other. In that case, eBay will downsize the image so that the longest side on the original is 1600 pixels.  Thus, there is no need to upload a photo that is larger than 1600 pixels on the long side. A 1MP or 2MP camera setting would be adequately large.

In the issue that @itsmesarad  is encountering, eBay is not doing anything to reduce the photos. The reduction is occuring either at the camera or at the image management on the computer. It seemed possible that the images could have been cropped too small using eBay's photo cropping tool, but I don't think that is the case considering the sizes of many of the other listing photos.  I think @itsmesarad  should look closer at the processes that occur ahead of eBay receiving the image.

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Thank you for verifying this information.  It is what I said in my first post to the OP and I thought it was correct, good to know it was/is.  

Thank you again for the valuable information.