Image Gallery software

There's tons of image gallery software out there.

Do people have any reccomindations out there?

I prefer free software, especially since in this case it's more than capable.

Any suggestions?

Right now I'm using a simple script called album.pl from http://marginalhacks.com/Hacks/album/ which creates some nice static pages, but lacks any real features.

I'm also playing with gallery from http://gallery.sourceforge.net

This thing is loaded with features, but is pretty annoying to add large numbers of images to because it keeps a pop up window open while it's processing them. (I prefer shell commands for that sort of thing.)

You'll find a recommendation for JAlbum in this Thread. I tested it and it seems to be very nice and very customizable (I'm planning to use it for my new Webpage),

Simon

I use my_eGallery v2.79

It's a nice photo database not just image gallery. Stock build has 3 fields for each photo where you can enter subject, lens, location, etc and it is searchable.

Backend has batch build, image templates, category options, etc. You can do thumbnails manually, or it can use GDlibrary or Imagemagick

Cheers

James

I use Exhibition Engine 1.22. It works for me, but it does involve a bit more effort than many other applications (need to make multiple sized files with the same names for thumbnails, small/large images etc). The other Craig (the evil one ) uses it as well, and has made modifications to use it with video streams.

Depends a bit on how much time you want to spend on a gallery. A 25 image gallery takes me about an hour, using photoshop droplets to do the resizing in batches.

I am working with EE 1.22 as the wicked Craig says, but I haven't officially roled it out. You can see a sample of what I have so far here. When I'm through I'm moving it to www.breathlessimages.net. I'm making extensions for underwater, housings, ports and filters as well as extensions for video. I'm also adding direct EXIF support which EE lacks. The EXIF extension is the reason I'm delayed. I don't want to the entries by hand!

My current site uses JAlbum and I like it a great deal. It's remarkably customizable and easy to use.

The choice depends on a lot of things, how computer savvy you are, what you get from your ISP, how many pictures you want to display, how frequently you update them, etc. JAlbum is quick for producing static galleries. EE provides dynamic views like categories and searches. JAlbum produces the various sized JPGs automatically. EE requires you to do that (easy to batch) but it automates your home page for you.

I looked at my_eGallery and others after talking to james, and they are more like EE. You need to decide whether you want static pages and plain HTML, or dynamic pages with possibly a database.

I plan on modifying PhotoPost to suite my needs. The default interface is simple and ugly, but that can be fixed. It does automatic image resizing to medium and thumbnail sizes, and seems pretty powerful.

photopost is what they use on reefcentral.com and it seems to work well for the gallery on a big forum type of site. not very "artsy" though.

You'll find a recommendation for JAlbum in this Thread. I tested it and it seems to be very nice and very customizable (I'm planning to use it for my new Webpage)

Thanks, Simon

I downloaded the JAlbum and found it almost perfect to what I need, The customizations options are great.

I'm also started to build my webpages with it.

Arnon

I have a gallery up now using EE 1.22. It contains photos and video but no text. I still have some galleries to add. Any feedback would be appreciated. There may still be some bugs. I'd like to know how the performance is since I've had considerable issues with it.

I've started a rewrite of the SQL database that EE uses and would like to gauge interest and get people's wishlists. Some mySQL galleries are oriented toward sales. Others toward photo albums and still others toward public forums. EE is unique in that it is geared toward the details of the photography itself. It's main weakness is it's static views and its performance. It's SQL queries are sloooowww! Overall I like EE but feel it could be improved.

I'm curious to know how important certain features are to people, like per-photo feedback and detailed EXIF data.

Anyway, here's the link: Breathless Images

What do these other programs offer that Breezebrowsers HTML page generator doesn't?

Do any of them allow for automatic adds and deletes of individual photos without having to regenerate the entire page?

I can only speak for the ones I've tried.. JAlbum is generates static HTML pages so it is probably similar to Breezebrowser. I liked JAlbum because it allow me to automate the appearance to match my existing site. It also generates thumbs and reduces images automatically. It cannot automatically add and subtract photos with a global rebuild.

EE uses a database backend so it can allow searching, dynamic views, user feedback, etc. The ones James and Eric pointed out are similar. EE allows the gallery administrator to enable and disable photos without rebuilding any pages. The changes don't get "pushed" into a viewers screen, however, and it's not as easy as just copying a file. I've extended EE to allow ranked views, so users can view all my photos, the normal ones, or just my favorites. They can also view just video, just still, just macro, etc.

I think which one is best depends on how many photos you want to display and how much you want to mess with it. It's not hard to set up one of these things, but running Breezebrowser or JAlbum and FTP'ing the result is easier.

photopost is what they use on reefcentral.com and it seems to work well for the gallery on a big forum type of site.  not very "artsy" though.

Photopost.... Mixed reaction from me. Firstly it is extremely easy to manage LARGE libraries of images. It is also easy to manage multiple photographers. Works really, really well on my site (www.deepseaimages.com), and I have done quite a few modifications.

Now for the issues:

1. It is EXTREMELY poorly documented, so if you are going to modify stuff, it becomes a major effort to upgrade. Because I have done a bunch of customization I am at least 1 version behind release, but I simply don't have the hours to redo my modifications at the moment even though the features in the new version I really do need.

2. They demand that you leaves their copyright symbol on all pages how they have it. This is a major pain, as it takes up two lines of screen space. Costs $500 for the right to get rid of it. I paid it.

Apart from that I am highly pleased with it. I don't think I could justify it for personal galleries, nor could I recommend there 'one person' application. But it scales tremendously well.

M

Thanks for the reply Craig.

If its ok to make a shameless plug for a good friend of mine over at Usefilm, Dave Yelen has developed and is offerring a program that a number of the "pros" I know say is really a great web based contact sheet program with all sorts of goodies that are way beyond what I would ever need.

It is called Proofsheet Creator Pro.

The link is: http://www.gallerydir.com/proofsheetcreator/

There is a free trial offerred on it. I am fairly technostupid, wo I havent tried it yet, but for some of you who are selling images, it might be worth a look see.

Just another option to look at.