7.2  Thumbnails

Catalyzer is able to make "thumbnails" (small versions of an image) for many image formats - including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP.

Check the 'Thumbnails' box on a Resource field to make thumbnails

How do I change the size of the thumbnails?

Thumbnail size is set when you do an Import. The dialog includes options (small, medium, large), and additionally some import modules include some custom settings to control thumbnail size.

When do thumbnails get generated?

It can take some time to generate thumbnails, particularly for very large images. You can choose when to generate thumbnails:

• On demand : the default is to generate thumbnails when you look at the corresponding record. This means that the first time you open a record there will be a slight delay as the thumbnail is generated, but thumbnails get cached, so the next time you view the record the thumbnail will appear faster.
• On Import : if you select the 'generate thumbnails' option when you import a folder, it will generate thumbnails for all images as you import. The import will take longer, but browsing will be faster.
• On Save : You can choose to 'save with thumbnails' from the File : Save As option. If you do this, then the catalog file will include all the thumbnails.
• On publish : if you include thumbnails in the published website, then the thumbnails will be generated as you publish.

Where do thumbnails get stored? Can I save a catalog with thumbnails?

A copy of thumbnails is stored in the ".axiope" subfolder of your home directory. If you opt to save a catalog with thumbnails, then a copy of all thumbnails will be included in the catalog file. This is useful for sending catalog files to other people, but makes saving / loading catalogs slower.

The "save as" dialog includes an extra button - "Catalog Save Options". Here you have the option to save thumbnails with the catalog. When enabled, thumbnails of all image resources (which are readable by Catalyzer and its plugins) are pre-generated and stored with the catalog. This allows a thumbnail of an image resource to be visible in Catalyzer even when the original image resource is no longer accessible. This can be used, for example, to create catalogs of data stored on CDs. Even when the CD is not loaded in the drive, the thumbnails of its contents are visible in Catalyzer.