Introducing Zoomify Image

Abstract

Zoomify Image is a mature product for easily publishing large, high-resolution images on the Web. End users view these images with existing Webbrowser software as quickly as they do normal, downsampled images. A Flash-based Zoomifyer client asynchronously streams image data to the Web browser as needed, resulting in response times approaching those of desktop applications using minimal bandwidth. The author, a librarian at Cornell University and the principal architect of a small, open-source company, worked closely with Zoomify to produce a cross-platform, opensource implementation of that company’s image-processing software and discusses how to easily deploy the product into a widely used Webpublishing environment. Limitations are also discussed as are areas of improvement and alternatives.