Presenting jAlbum 32

We’re proudly presenting jAlbum 32 to you. Here’s why you should get it:

Improved WebP writer

Now jAlbum produces far smaller and less blocky WebP images again. When we first introduced WebP images, it was clear that WebP produces the same quality images as JPEG, but uses less disk space. We however eventually needed to retire the WebP generating code as it was “native” (i.e. CPU specific) and didn’t support Apple’s new “Apple Silicon”. The new Java-based code, although fast, didn’t (to our surprise) produce as high-quality images as before: Images were larger and more blocky than we expected. Now the good people at IDR Solutions have rewritten the WebP writer with incredible results. Here are some sample images:

As you see, you now get the same quality at roughly half the size, also meaning twice the delivery speed over the internet! Isn’t that cool? There is admittedly slightly more detail in the twice-as-large JPEG vs the new 80% WebP version (look at my forehead), but if you use these WebP images as 2x Variants, then you get an unbeatable combination of sharpness/detail and decent file size.

Hint: Perform a “Rebuild all” operation to force jAlbum to rebuild all WebP images.

Configurable keyboard shortcuts

A Polish user reported that he couldn’t type certain “foreign” characters without triggering jAlbum to open various windows. It turned out that the Polish key mapping, relying on CTRL+ALT+key combinations (or right-ALT+key if you wish) did indeed collide with several jAlbum shortcuts. In jAlbum 32 you can therefore set up your keyboard shortcut mappings for several jAlbum actions, and you can do it on a language basis as well. For general edits, edit system/shortcuts/shortcuts.properties. For language-specific edits, edit system/shortcuts/shortcuts_XX.properties, where “XX” is the ISO 2 letter language code. Detailed instructions are found within the shortcuts.properties file. We’ve fixed the problem with Polish key mappings now. If you make fixes for your language, please pass us your language-specific key mappings.

Improved Review mode

Review mode now applies image tools to images just like Edit mode does. This is sort of what you’d expect, so now Review mode works as expected 🙂

Better translations

jAlbum 32 uses Google Translate to assist translators with user interface translations. This cuts the time needed to translate jAlbum considerably. Humans still need to double-check the translations as computers still don’t always get the context right. With jAlbum 32, the Italian translation for instance, which has lagged behind considerably, is now up-to-date thanks to a combination of Google Translate and human help.

Here’s how it works: The “Translator’s” menu (Tools->Translator) has received three new menu items: “Update skin translation (auto update)”, “Update ALL skin translations (auto update)” and “Update jAlbum translation (auto update)”.

When selected, jAlbum will compare the (complete) English translation with the translation of the currently active language and use Google Translate to translate the missing portions. These will be appended to the end of the relevant texts_XX.properties file. jAlbum now opens this file in its embedded text editor for verification. As you hover the mouse over each translation, jAlbum will show the corresponding English text as a tooltip. This ensures that you can verify that the context is right:

It’s now possible to maintain the translation of jAlbum or a skin in a fraction of the time it previously took. If you notice that the translation of jAlbum or your favorite skin lags behind, please consider becoming a translator. This is a volunteer effort that we reward with recognition and free licenses+storage. If you’re interested, write me!

We also have the “Update ALL skin translations (auto update)” menu item: This one will update all supported languages of as skin and open all translations for verification in the editor. If you’re a skin developer and your skin’s translations are lagging behind in several languages, this tool will make your skin current. Just remember to have those translations checked by a human as well.

Improved UI responsiveness

jAlbum 32 has significantly improved user interface responsiveness when navigating slow storage devices. This isn’t a new feature really, but rather a fix for a bug introduced in v30.1. Opening a larger project on my Synology NAS could take close to a minute with the user interface freezing during that time. Now it’s down to seconds again. Should jAlbum need a bit more time to open a project, it now also presents a spinning wheel pointer.

That’s it. You can read about all the changes and download jAlbum 32 here.