(Last updated 20 July 2020)
Sometimes LUGgers ask me questions about the gallery, and I'm not very good about answering. Here are some Frequently Asked Questions that are not (alas) Frequently Answered. I will try to post this periodically and update it as I learn more.
Q: When I upload a picture to the gallery, it doesn't give viewers the option of "Full size" display (an icon with two overlapping rectangles). What should I do?
A: Make sure that the image you are uploading is big enough for there to be a larger size. It can only display a full size image if you upload your photo in that full size. Figure out a size that you want people to see when they ask to "see it large", and then upload it in that size. I have shamelessly uploaded 3400x4000 images from my Q2 to show off its resolution and sharpness. But in general 1920x1280 is a good size for the image that you upload. Portraits needn't be more than about 1300 pixels wide.
Q: When I click on "Full size", the resulting image is too big for my screen. How can I tame it?
A: I have no idea how to do this on a machine that is not a Mac. If you know how and tell me, I will put your explanation here. On a Mac, control-click the image that is too large and select "Open image in new window" (or new tab). Then you can make it any size you want. Or you can right-click/control-click the "Full Size" icon and ask it to open the image in a new window or new tab.
Q: When I upload a picture to the gallery, the camera information (EXIF) isn't included. What can I do?
A: Check carefully to make sure that the EXIF information has not been stripped out of the image you are uploading. Many "Export" commands from tools like Lightroom or Photoshop give you the ability to remove EXIF information during an export. I usually use Bridge to look for EXIF information because I usually have it open, but if I want to get serious about examining or editing EXIF information, I use an app called EXIF Tool.
Q: I can't get the "Panorama" mode to work on pictures that are panoramic.
Q: Is there any way you can modify the Gallery software to do XXX?
Q: My favorite way to upload images stopped working. Can you fix it?
A: Same answer to all of these. The Gallery software is pickled in time. It was written by Bharat Mediratta, whose skill is so great that no one was able to continue the development work when he was lured away by Google in 2009 to work on the Picasa project (remember Picasa?). I think of the Gallery software as being like my IIIf camera: it is what it is, and it isn't ever going to change.
Software like Windows and MacOS and Linux evolves because people are changing it and they need something to do. Sometimes they will make a change that is incompatible with older apps. Like so many of us on the LUG, the Gallery software is an older thing, and if an upgrade to a new version of MacOS or Windows makes your favorite upload scheme stop working, I recommend that you find a new favorite.
Every year or two I survey the world of free or affordable software to see if there is something that I could install as a successor to the Gallery software that we use. There never is, except new systems that can't import the 110,000 images that are in the LUG Gallery. I fear that if there is ever a new LUG Gallery, it will start out being empty.
Brian Reid