Here is a multi-tabbed mockup I've been staring at for a few weeks. It's non-functional, but provides a way to visualize the process flow. Server functions 1. At startup, upload slots would be presented to the user. 2. Click Upload and the uploaded thumbnails will appear on the left. That represents uploading to the server, with the server returning either a thumbnail or a 400px image that is squished into the thumb. 3. Rotate and adjust buttons will convert image on the server and return a new thumbnail and/or 400px image. 4. That is the end of server processing. The subsequent stages are processed in the client. Client functions The next three tabs (crop, composite, mark) are the different types of editing the user can apply in the browser. There is no real rhyme or reason to those at this point, except to say the watermark should be applied last. This is where I'm spinning my wheels. It may be possible that all those features could be applied on one tab or workspace. However, I split them up to consider the possibility that one might want to bulk process all the photos with one crop and one watermark location (although I suppose they could be merged in even that scenario). I think I've illustrated three different ways to crop. 1) A moveable crop zone that grays out the cropped away portion (watermarker tool). 2) Make the edges disappear when dragging the pullers (compositor). 3) Zoom the image to crop it into a fixed space (stitcher). And the two Watermarking options are text or image. Not shown are all the border and color options that we played with in the compositor. Remember, this just shows flow, not toolbox items. View results Getting images to the Edits tab is another aspect requiring more consideration. One possibility is that the "Apply" button could send the changes to the first available empty cell. A delete button somewhere could empty a cell for reuse. But that won't work if an edited image or composite is selected for more changes. So another possibility is an "apply changes" and a "create new" button for each process. A third possibility is that when editing is finished, that item is "submitted" to a results panel and the workspace is cleared for the next. No re-editing allowed. Submit The last step, not shown on the process mockup is to submit to server. The server would apply all the crops and watermarks and produce the final pictures that it would upload to eBay. The tool could then display those eBay-hosted images on a final success screen.

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Ha! Of course I read. Oh, you mean, do I have experience designing an application programming interface? Not a bit. First thing I had to do was look up the meaning of RTFM. I've been cramming. I've grabbed the pdf documentation for Google Earth's API, for PhotoBucket's API, studied the reference Nate gives at the top of the page for eBay's UploadSiteHostedPictures (the one that has the PictureUploadPolicy with a 48 hour expiration and 25 URL limit) and examined the java and php example codes. This all led me to suspect (but still need a confirmation) that I have been under the misconception that eBay was allowing us to have control of a portion of that uploader tab that Nate pictures at the top of the page, something comparable in size to the Enhanced Uploader. I suspect now that the tab is entirely controlled by eBay, with a link to the uploader software made available in the upper-right-hand corner. Then EBay would park those thumbnail images there, kind of like the old Picture Manager tab where you're shown the pictures you have available for use. I honestly can't tell - the documentation is so thin on this. It would be an entirely different perspective. In my searching I had seen some ebay API examples - one displaying a user's account off-ebay. So I went back to the first post in this thread and read back through again. Early on, spaguyusa wrote: Well, that made me wonder about Selling Manager API's which led me to Selling Manager Applications - ebay Developers Program and their user interface guidelines (pdf) link on that page. Then to SellingManagerApplicationsBeta_StyleGuide.pdg, page 5 of which shows how a Selling Manager Application can run on the Applications tab of "My EBay". I've carved this pdg image down a good bit but I think this still conveys the idea. The canvas is the part of the tab your application controls: This seems like the ideal home for developing your image editing code, in the sandbox, using ebay's server dedicated for development. As I said, the documentation is thin, but I found this inquiry about uploading images to ebay that gives insight into the identification of the uploaded pictures: How to get my pictures that I upload to eBay, display correctly on view item page. Sorry if that long link won't fly. Next, I'll look at your latest offering! Before I do so, I noticed ebay's guide recommends against using multitabbed controls on the Applications tab, favoring menu selections instead. Also, I wonder if you are familiar with ebay Developers Program and if you have any fundamental opposition to being a part of that endeavor. I just took a quick look at your Multi-tabbed Mockup. I can see that fitting beautifully on the Applications tab canvas, particularly with some prettification by Sally. I think you would want a way to display all pictures presently held in storage by the user and a means to delete some if desired. I envision the uploader tab as linking to a plain uploader - no editing done there, maybe? However you go, I trust that when you've finished, you'll have a class act.

ShipScript: Great - you've already done step one. 1st Step: Join eBay's Developers Program. (It looks like I can get more information than I can digest without becoming a member, but I may do so eventually.) 2nd step: Generate your application keys from your Developer My Account page, note your Production AppID. Selling Manager API info: I gather it is up to the developer whether their application falls in the category of regular Selling Manager or SM Pro. The developer may offer their application for free. Selling Manager is also free with an eBay account. One can subscribe to Selling Manager here: Selling Manager. I have just subscribed, have an Applications tab in My eBay, and have added the free Terapeak Keywords Application on that tab. Regarding who does the serving: From this reference, GuptaMadhu_SMAppsJumpstart_FINAL.pdf on Page 13, it says "Canvas view served from your web host." Then it explains that the Selling Manager App can be either a URL App (accepts HTTP Post from eBay when it renders) or an HTML type App (Client side code - HTML/JS - hosted by eBay) (see ** re limits). URL Apps are specified in the Gadgets Specifications as: <Module> <ModulePrefs ... /> <Content type="url" view=“canvas” href="http://www.myapp.com/appentry.jsp" /> </Module> HTML type Apps are like this: <Module> <ModulePrefs title="hello world example" /> <Content type="url" view=“canvas” href="http://www.myapp.com/appentry.jsp" /> <Content type="html“ view=“default,wide”> <![CDATA[ Hello, world! ]]> </Content> </Module> I am overwhelmed by a wealth of information and a dearth of experience. I see a lot of potential. (to create an image tag for a description, for instance.) (FYI: This is eBay's help page Using the Selling Manager Applications Directory) Trading API info: The UploadSiteHostedPictures call is an eBay Trading API call. Notes: 1. This call is for all Site-Hosted Pictures, and the value of PictureUploadPolicy determines whether the picture uploaded is made available on the custom uploader tab. I'm a bit confused about the 25 URL picture limit. If you are using some of these in your listings, would their URLs still appear on the uploader tab? The UploadSiteHostedPictures call can also be used to upload pictures from a URL or as a binary attachment, sent as a MIME attachment, in your POST request, after the XML input, for EPS hosting. (Presumably this is part of a package deal where a listing is being set up, perhaps the method used by auctiva?) 2. Maximum image size is 4 MB. API Call Limitations. The number of API calls you will be permitted to make during any given period may be limited. eBay will determine call limits based on various factors, including the ways your Application may be used or the anticipated volume of use associated with your Application. Generally, any Developer can immediately make 5000 Trading API calls per day. When their application has passed a Business Readiness Review (you need to have or to purchase 1 hour - $75 - of technical support for this review) and qualifies as a Compatible Application (processing is free), their application is allowed 1.5M Trading API calls per day. For info on achieving this latter threshhold, see Compatible Application Check and this next seems most important: Prerequisites for Going Live - Trading APIs This last includes info such as: 1. Applications must use the UTF-8 encoding scheme (not ISO-8859-1). That puzzles me because the php sample at the link in Nate's post has charset=iso-8859-1 in its META tag, but the xml it builds has encoding="utf-8". (The php sample is in a small zip file you download.) 2. Error handling is checked; 3. **Server-side apps have an 18-thread limit per AppId, client-side apps have a 3-thread limit. To request a Compatible Application Check for your application: Open a new Technical Support Case (requires member login, takes 5-7 days processing time). Boy, this is tedious, mind-bending stuff. Not one pretty picture. Actually, there was one video presentation.... I am now qualified to write my own definition of RTFM.

Actually, it was fun (in an odd sort of way). The API's that are being offered by various major web sites open a whole new world of opportunity for communication and processing on the web.

As for our "humble" project and your added burden of learning the xml code, I know you can handle it. I have seen the sample code!!.

Thank you, Sally, for your encouragement. I've tried to contribute more substantially, have even gotten a set of keys for the sandbox. I just haven't figured out yet where to put them. I had thought it might be good to have a version of the uploader that does nothing but submit to eBay - a basic uploader you can access when you add Pictures in the SYI form. The link in Nate's post could be pointing to its URL. The photo editor could be an Application on My eBay. I'd like to know if Ship thinks that idea has any merit. The last link that Ship posted (Post #100) was her Multi-Tabbed Mockup. I've been staring at that as well. I've had a couple of thoughts: 1. It would be nice to have a name and a logo for this! The terapeak application logo is 115W x 80H. 2. If the Uploader ends up residing as an application on My eBay, we talked about avoiding tab controls. Below I show one possible format. The menu on the left would control what appears in the center where Bambi is being cropped. I've used the Enhanced Uploader many a time and very rarely even consider doing any editing in it (I may have done a brightness adjustment once?) so I thought there may be some who only wanted to submit their photo to eBay, or wanted to distinguish between photos for editing and photos to go directly to the submit boxes. Also, eBay allows two versions of the upload - save, or save and replace, so maybe that needs to be an option, along with a way to remove pictures they don't want to submit. I have reduced the height to try to fit the main elements on the My eBay applications page without the need for scrolling. The empty space below could be used for instructions, perhaps? Anyway, this is an idea and it sure needs "prettifying". (Click here for full image to scale - 128kb)

Thanks for the link Nate.
FotoFlexer is a Flash module that is delivered from the FotoFlexer site when called by the client website. It looks to me like the user edits an image using the FotoFlexer flash module and when they save the edited image, a callback sends the finished product back to the client site. There's a lot more there than we would want in the uploader project, but it is obviously something individual websites might want to use or offer.

The new editing capabilities in eBay's flash uploader have a slimmer set of features more in line with what we might want on our uploader. The editing is handled on the client machine, as the flash program is running on the client after it downloads from the website. Presizing the images speeds the uploading to eBay, where eBay then makes the other images in their image set.

I think a lot of these new flash image manipulators are relying on an image processing engine within the latest version of Flash.

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Hello again, Nate. We met on the Technical Issues Board. I had mentioned that, although eBay's new photo upload versions purport to support TIFF format photos, they, in fact, do not.

I do all my photo editing on my hard drive before uploading the photos to my SYI form----and should like to see an uploading function that does not necessary include photo editing as part of its function. Incidentally, I use "Irfanview", a free photo editing program recommended by a very knowledgeable contributor to this board some years ago.

I like the TIFF format, which I cannot use at present on eBay, because of the detail required for signatures and markings, other forms of detail on many types of items, and, especially for jewelry, which requires much greater detail than most categories. However, I am finding that I have to convert the TIF format photos on my hard drive to JPEG format before they will upload on either Standard or Basic uploading program. I have been using TIFF for many years on eBay and am dismayed that it cannot be uploaded at present.

I emphatically applaud you people for your pro-active stance with regard to developing an alternative uploading program. (I choose to use photos kept on my hard drive---I find it far more convenient to edited them, and if needed, re-edited them for my eBay listings---than using an externally hosted website for storage. Is it possible that you could develop an alternative uploading service which would allow sellers to upload and use the photos theyalready edited on their hard drive for the purposes of listing?

Thanks so very much.

.....