Starting a few weeks ago and continuing for the next few weeks, we’re making several enhancements to eBay picture hosting services on the site and in selling tools. The changes should make uploading pictures easier and more reliable, and improve picture quality in many cases. Many sellers who use eBay picture hosting in the Sell Your Item form will see at least some the changes: most sellers who use the default Basic uploader will be automatically upgraded to the Standard uploader; all sellers who use the current Enhanced uploader will be prompted to download and install a new version of that software.

Here’s an overview of the major changes, some of which are already on the site, with the rest to be enabled over the next few weeks.

* The Standard uploader in the SYI Add Pictures window, which has been available as a Beta release, is being promoted to be the default uploader. The Standard uploader enables multiple files to be selected for upload at a time and shows detailed progress information during uploads. It is also less susceptible to accidental interference from security filters. It requires Adobe Flash to be installed on your computer. If you use the Enhanced uploader, or use the Basic uploader but do not have Flash on your computer, you will not be switched to the Standard uploader. If you are switched to the Standard uploader and prefer to continue to use the Basic uploader, there is a link at the top right of the Standard uploader tab in the Add Pictures window that switches the tab back to the Basic uploader view.




* The Enhanced uploader for Internet Explorer in SYI is being updated to a new release to support changes listed below and for compatibility with security changes that Microsoft is making to Internet Explorer. If you use the Enhanced uploader, you will be prompted to download and install a new version of an ActiveX control from eBay unless your Windows settings allow automatic updates of installed ActiveX controls. You must install the new version to continue using the Enhanced uploader.


* The Standard, Basic, and Enhanced uploaders in SYI and the uploader built-into TurboLister are being updated to improve how they resize and compress pictures uploaded to eBay. The method for processing Gallery pictures is also being updated. In most cases, the image processing changes should provide better quality results, especially for pictures that have already been resized and compressed before upload, and for pictures in GIF format. The Standard and Basic uploaders have already been using the new image processing recipe since April.


* Additional pictures sizes will be stored for each picture uploaded for eBay hosting. The new sizes are used on a new version of the View Item page and on other pages on the site where pictures from listings are displayed. As a result, upload times for the Enhanced uploader will increase, but for large original pictures will remain faster than the Standard or Basic uploaders. Until the new View Item page fully replaces the current version, we'll continue to store all the existing picture sizes as well as the new ones. Pictures in existing items are not being changed to add the new sizes. To get the benefits of the new, larger sizes, sellers should consider re-uploading pictures when they relist or use sell similar.


* A new feature, My Picture Uploads, is being added to the Add Pictures window in the Sell Your Item form. It enables pictures that are uploaded ahead-of-time from connected devices (cameraphones, WiFi-enabled cameras) and external applications to be added to a listing. My Picture Uploads is hidden in the Add Pictures window unless pictures have been uploaded to it. We expect that applications created by companies that participate in the eBay Developers Program will provide capabilities to upload pictures to My Picture Uploads from cameraphones, desktop applications, and photohosting sites in the near future.

I'm creating a separate thread for questions and comments about the changes.

Augy
eBay