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July 18, 2006

Image Zoom: Firefox extension enlarges images in pages as you browse

Before I point to the next bunch of garden blogs for the list, I want to point out a tool that may enhance your enjoyment of them: The Image Zoom extension for the Mozilla Firefox browser.

After you install it, if your mouse has a scroll wheel you simply hold down the right button and scroll the wheel back and forth to change the size of the image right where it is on the page -- no need to save it, open an image viewer and blow it up. (No mouse wheel? Right click will bring up a context menu to click; the default enlargement is 200 percent.) See the walkthrough for more info.

You may also simultaneously enlarge all images on a page.

Typically, the image will get blurrier as it enlarges, but that might not be true forever. Widespread use of this extension may cause sites to reconsider how they process images for publishing. Hailing back to the days of slow dialup modems, images are reduced in size and in resolution (usually to 72 dots per inch) so they won't add to the weight of a page. In modem terms, size determines download time.

But if zooming catches on, sites may decide that enough of us use broadband now to ignore weight. Page design may still limit the size of the images displayed on the page, but if they're at higher resolution, the detail will remain if you zoom them.

Go try Image Zoom. It's more than handy.

Posted by Sheila Lennon at 5:45 PM | Permalink

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