Publishing a collection

The most apparent publishing feature is to publish the active collection as loaded in the Collection Viewer. Basically, every set of images that is presented in the Collection Viewer (thumbnail viewer) is a collection. After you have opened a collection, click the button “Publish” in the application’s main tool bar.

This button behaves as followed: if there is a collection opened, the Publisher will start in collection mode. If there is no collection opened it will start in gallery mode. Behind the button is a small arrow icon. By clicking this icon you can select yourself at with level you want to publish. In this case we select “Publish Collection to the Web”.

When generating pages, they will first be generated to the local hard drive in a folder you can specify.

Specify a folder where to store the generated files	By clicking the button behind the field you can select an existing folder on disk or create a new folder.
Specify a name for a sub-folder within the specified folder	If you want to publish to a sub folder within the selected folder, you can enter its name here.
Select a layout for the generated pages (template)	This is where you select the template that should be used. By opening the list you’ll see a small example of how the page basically looks. Select a template that is most appealing to you. Once you have selected a template, it is possible to make adjustments to the template by opening the template in the template editor. In that case click the “EDIT” behind the selected template. Please note that changes are permanently stored to the associated template file.
Generate only changes since last pass	This option enables you to generate only changes since the previous time you have generated the pages. This requires that you generate to the same folder as you did before. Using this option increases performance drastically so it is recommended to keep it turned on at any time, unless you want to be sure that every image is re-generated.
Publish audio where available	Using IDimager you can attach music files to images. Although a template should support it, you can use this option to generate the audio embedded in the pages. Currently only template BlueBlack supports generating audio files.
Sharpen the output images	When this option is selected, IDimager will apply a sharpening to the published images. This will result in sharper images, but be aware that when you already prepared your images for the web yourself then this might not be what you want.
Include the original image	When this option is switched on, IDimager will also copy the original image to a separate folder (Originals). Please be aware that this will enable people to download your original sized images!! This option is commonly used when publishing web pages that should be burned to CD afterwards. It will enable you to make a backup CD that contains an HTML index and enables you to access the original image directly from the HTML pages.
Convert images to sRGB color profile if needed	This option is only enabled when you have color management enabled in the option dialog. This basically makes sure that when you publish images, they will all be converted to sRGB. Since web browsers are not color aware, sRGB is the best color profile available for web viewing.
Include Exif and/or IPTC information where available	Use this option if you want to keep the Exif/IPTC/XMP information in your published images. If you don't want your website images to hav embedded Exif/IPTC/XMP then deselect this option.
Auto rotate images based on the Exif orientation flag	Use this option if the images you are publishing are still in its original orientation. Just how they came out of the camera. If you normally rotate your images while reading from camera or you rotate your images manually, please disable this option.
Allow stored catalog previews to be used when available	IDimager Professional allows you to keep previews in the database. These previews are downsized versions of your originals. By selecting this option you tell IDimager to use the previews images for publishing. This will be much faster and is especially convenient when you need to build a quick website.
Encode the output	With this option switched on, IDimager will generate pages in en encoded form, meaning the source html will be unreadable you’re your web page visitors opens it in the browser. Still the browser will be able to display the pages, as long as it is JavaScript enabled.
Generate Unicoded HTML output	Use this option if you want your HTML pages to be stored in Unicoded format. All major web browsers will be able to read and display Unicoded web pages. You would typically use Unicoded web pages when you use special/international characters in your descriptions. (like Japanese, Chinese, Greek, Russian, ...)

The progress dialog appears which displays which collection is being published and what stage it is in. Wait for the process to finish.

Browse and upload the results	By selecting this option you can view the results in your favorite web browser. Once you close the browser IDimager will start the FTP upload process. This process will help you to upload the pages to the internet .
Open browser to view results	By selecting this option you can view the results in your favorite web browser.
Use FTP to upload the results	By selecting this option you start the FTP upload process. This process will help you to upload the pages to the internet.
Burn the results to an auto run CD	By selecting this option you start the burner which allows you to burn the generated pages to CD or DVD disc. This disc will be configured as “auto-run”, meaning the pages will be displayed once the disc is inserted in the drive.
Restart the Publisher	Return to the first step of the Publisher. You would typically use this option if you want to republish the current collection with a different template or if you'd like to edit the template.

For the first time, select option “Open browser to view the results...”. IDimager will start your favorite browser and load the index page of the generated pages into it. Those pages are viewed directly from the hard drive.

You then get asked the question if you want to close the Publisher/ generator. Select "Yes" to return to IDimager’s main window. Select No to return to the after-publishing options. Personally I prefer the No option (and remember the setting by checking the lower left box).