Zoomify

Walter Woodbury's Photographic Panorama of Melbourne uses software called Zoomify allowing users to examine more closely part of a map of Melbourne produced by James Kearney in 1855.

David Thompson has provided the following notes about Zoomify.

Zoomify is a free piece of software that allows you to display an image in a browser webpage and then to zoom in on that image and pan and scroll across it.

Zoomify works by dissecting the original image into a number of smaller image files each of a different size and resolution. Then, depending on user manipulation of the zoom, pan and scroll controls on the Zoomify display, these files are put together in different ways as a movie which shows enlarged parts of the image (zoom) or differnt parts of the image (pan and scroll). The movie is viewed using the Flash player available on most computers or available free for download from the Adobe website.

Zoomify Express is the free downloadable version of the Zoomify software and is available on the Zoomify website - http://www.zoomify.com. The home page shows an excellent example of Zoomify operating on an aerial view of Paris. Click on the Zoomify Express link to locate a page giving more details f what the software does and also providing the download link.

The download file is a compressed (.zip) file which when expanded gives you the Zoomify Viewer, the Zoomify Converter, a Template Web Page, a Quick Start instruction document and a folder containig a set of images used to provide an example of how Zoomify works.

To use Zomify you simply drag your image file on to the Zoomify Converter icon. This results in the generation of a folder containig the set of dissected image files based on your original file. You then edit the html code in the Template Web Page to replace the example filename with your image filename. Open the edited Template Web Page file in your browser and your image will appear in the Zoomify Viewer frame ready to be zoomed, panned or scrolled. The html code in the template file can of course be copied into your own webpage html wherever you want to display the Zoomify image.

For further information click on the Support heading on the Zoomify webpage and scroll down to Products to locate links to additional information on Zoomify Express. Scroll down further to TechNotes to find detailed step by step instructions on how to use Zoomify Express. There is also guidance on the requirements for the size and resolution of the image file you want to use with Zoomify, as reasonably large images are needed to give worthwhile zoom effect.

Examples of Zoomify in action are available on the Powerhouse Museum database webpage when you search for objects for which images are available and also on the Museum Victoria Caught and Coloured online exhibition when you follow the links to images of individual objects.