Meet the new rating widget and play with photo data!

While developing the Filtering and Sort feature for Tiger (and Photoblogger) my mental model was a webshop where you can sophistically filter the products. However, a few users have suggested another use: filtering images by their “metadata” – the data added by the camera. This is something I always wanted to play with too. You can do similar things in Lightroom with your source images, but now visitors can do this in your web albums. Isn’t this awesome? Beyond the fun factor, this new addition can be beneficial when you sell images or learn/teach photography.

Another important addition the latest release brings is rating. (Find in Settings / Tiger / Site / Extra / Display rating.) By rating visitors can easily gather the best shots before they put them in the cart, or give feedback on them. The rating widget shows up in the thumbnail view and the lightbox.

One more thing. The search box was perhaps too subtle – hiding in the top bar – for a webshop use. Now you can choose to place it right in the middle of the “Hero” area, so no one has a chance to miss it. Settings / Tiger / Header / Top bar / Move search box within the Hero area

Check out all these enhancements in this Tiger sample album:

What’s more Photoblogger skin received the same enhancements (besides the search box) the same day. Check out here:

By the way, this is a good example of how an album with a sidebar can perform much better on the “Above the fold content” front. Just check out the two screenshots above!

When you switch between Tiger and Photoblogger you don’t lose the settings either –don’t worry –, because they belong to the same skin family. (Note, it’s always best to start experimenting with a fresh copy: use File / Clone project, available in jAlbum 19+.)

Both sample albums have an “Instructions” page with the technical details. Find below all the jAlbum variables worth checking out:

Name	Explanation	Data type
fileCategory	Possible values are audio, folder, image, other, video, webLocation, and webPage	Single/multiple string
rating	Inherits rating from the album creator, but visitors can freely modify it.	Numeric range
formatName	Type of image: PNG, JPG, TIFF, etc.	Single/multiple string
fileSize	The focal length of the lens	Numeric range
fileDate	Date of original file	Date range
addedDate	Original image resolution as written by the camera	Date range
originalDate	Date of picture taken	Date range
resolution	Date of the image added to the album	Numeric range
flash	If flash was used	Single string
focalLength	Original image resolution as written by the camera	Numeric range
focalLength35mm	Same as focalLength but converted to 35mm (film) equivalent	Numeric range
exposureTime	Exposure time	Numeric range
resolution	Original image resolution as written by camera	Numeric range
isoEquivalent	ISO equivalent	Numeric range
aperture	Aperture (F-number)	Numeric range
focusDistance	Focus distance	Numeric range
meteringMode	Metering mode (focus/exposure metering method)	Single/multiple string
cameraMake	Camera make (manufacturer)	Single/multiple string
cameraModel	Camera model (full model name)	Single/multiple string
sensorType	Camera sensor type	Single/multiple string
keywords	Keywords added in jAlbum and IPTC keywords	Single/multiple string
category	IPTC category	Single/multiple string
Here you can find all the fields, look for the “File metadata” table.

… and some of the metadata of interest found in my pictures:

Name	Explanation	Data type
Brightness Value	Brightness	Numeric range
Color Space	Color space of the recorded image	Single/multiple string
Contrast	Contrast	Single/multiple string
In-camera sharpening	Exposure bias value	Numeric range
Exposure Mode	Exposure mode	Single/multiple string
Exposure Program	Exposure Program	Single/multiple string
Lens Model	Name and spec. of the lens	Single/multiple string
Lens Specification	Lens specification	Single/multiple string
Scene Capture Type	Scene capture type	Single/multiple string
Scene Type	Scene type	Single/multiple string
Sensitivity Type	Sensitivity type	Single/multiple string
Sharpness	In camera sharpening	Single/multiple string
Software	Software used to process the image	Single/multiple string
White Balance	White balance value	Single/multiple string
White Balance Mode	White balance mode	Single/multiple string
You can find the metadata recorded by your camera by Right-click → List metadata

But this is not all. jAlbum provides the possibility of adding custom variables to pictures. In Edit mode look for the “Variables” panel on the right. Here you can add a variable (and its value next to it) which you can refer to in the Filtering and Sort data. These variables also work for the Search and Tag cloud features.

Still, if you happen to stumble upon some tricky metadata – e.g. you would like to read out lens parameters from a complex string – you can use the Create custom slide variable tool to mine out data from any available field. Download the tool and read the instructions here.

I hope you’ll find as much fun in this as I did. Moreover, you can try this even with a Standard license or (Premium account). If you don’t want to bother with filling in the Filtering box, simply import my settings by using the File / Import / Import settings from a published album menu, and provide the link to the sample album above.

Comments are welcome,

Laza