Lightbox
Overview
Lightboxes are designed as a collaborative environment to share, rate and annotate images with others.Lightbox vs. Gallery
Lightboxes and Galleries have many similarities. It's possible to use them interchangeably to a certain extent. But Lightboxes are meant to use collaboratively with one or many people.
| Feature | Lightbox | Gallery |
|---|---|---|
| 5-Star Rating | x | |
| Leave Comment | x | x | High-Res Download | x, per image | x, per gallery |
| Photographer can Invite | x | x |
| Picture Buyer can Invite | x |
Lightboxes are located in the Photographer Area under the "Gallery/LBX" tab. The same lightboxes are available from the public side by clicking the "Lightbox" tab.
Creating a Lightbox
Lightboxes can be created by you from the Photographer Area, or by an image buyer from the public side.
Click the loupe icon to add images to your lightbox
When viewing an image from the public side (e.g. in a gallery, or an image search), click the lightbox icon to add the image to your lightbox. If you are logged in, you will be prompted to select the appropriate lightbox. If you are not logged in, the image will be added to an anonymous lightbox. When you login, the lightbox will be added to your lightbox list.
Adding images from the Photographer Area
You can add images from your archive, archive browser, or individual image page.
From the Archive Thumbnail View
Select the image(s) to add, click "ADD TO LIGHTBOX" under the batch actions menu.
From the Archive Browser
Select the image(s) to add, click "More Actions" and select "Add to Lightbox"
From an individual image
Click the loupe icon to add the image to your lightbox.
From another Lightbox
Select the image(s) to copy, and click the "Copy" button at the top of the lightbox.
You will be prompted to select from a list of your own lightboxes, create a new lightbox, or add the image to a lightbox that has been shared with you. Note that only shared lightboxes which you have permission to add images to will appear in the "shared" list (see Sharing Lightboxes below).
Lightbox Navigation Basics
A lightbox has the following properties:- Images with Rating/Comment/Hi-Res Download indicators
- Description: Project, Client, Desc
- Comments
- Sharing Information
Each image in the lightbox is represented by a thumbnail, along with the image filename, rating, and indicators for comments and hi-res download. If an image has any comments associated with it, a small green comment icon along with the number of comments will appear under the thumbnail. If you have high-resolution download permission for an image, a small green "Hi-res Download" icon will appear under the thumbnail. Clicking on the thumbnail image will take you to the image viewing page with further information on that specific image.
Click on the name of the lightbox to edit it. You can click the description fields to edit them in place as well.
The lightboxes that appear in the Photographer Area and on the public side are identical. Feel free to use either interface to suit your workflow.
Sorting Images
Images in a lightbox can be sorted by the following methods:- Date added to the lightbox
- Rating
- File Name
- Custom Order
You can change the sort method of images by selecting a sorting option at the top right of the lightbox, using the "Sort by:" menus. With the exception of "Custom Order," the direction of the sort can be set to forward or reverse. For example, if "File Name" and "Reverse" is selected, the letter "Z" will come before the letter "A"; in "Forward" mode, "A" will come before "Z."
When using the "Rating" sort method, images will be sorted by your ratings. Unrated images will always appear at the end of the lightbox, after images with ratings.
When using the "Custom Order" sort method, it is possible to re-order the images by dragging and dropping them into place. Hold down your mouse button on the gray "handle" at the top of an image thumbnail, drag the mouse to move the thumbnail, and release the mouse button when you want to drop the thumbnail. When you are finished sorting the images, click the "Save Order" button that appears in the yellow bar above the thumbnails.
You must hit the "Save Order" button after dragging and dropping images in the Custom Sort mode, or your new order will not be saved. Also note that the Custom Sort feature is limited to 100 images; if your lightbox has more than 100 images, you will only be able to sort the first 100 images that appear.
When you change the sort method of a lightbox, the new method is saved to the lightbox, and anyone you have shared the lightbox with will see the same order as you. (Note: If someone is viewing a shared lightbox at the exact same time as you, they will need to reload the web page in order to see the new sort method.) If you are viewing a shared lightbox, you must have permission to modify the lightbox in order to change the sort order.
Rating Images
Mouse over the stars and click to set a rating for an image.
Rating an Individual Image
In the thumbnail view, mouse over the stars under each image and click on the appropriate rating to set the rating. You cannot "un-rate" an image once you've set a rating, but you can always change the rating.
You can also set a rating to an individual image while you are viewing it singularly. Simply mouse-over the appropriate rating and click to set.
Rating in batch
When viewing lightbox thumbnails, click anywhere in the light gray area to select an image. An orange border will appear around the selected images. Then you can click the "RATE" button under the lightbox name and set the appropriate rating.
Viewing Ratings Matrix
Because each user can set their own rating, we've created a matrixed view to see how everyone else that you've shared the lightbox with rated the image. Click the "Ratings Matrix" button from the thumbnail view. Ten images are displayed per page along with a column per shared user.
If an image has any comments associated with it, a "(comments)" indicator 
will appear underneath the rating. Clicking on this indicator will display the comments.
Leave a Comment
You can leave a comment on an individual image, or for the entire lightbox. When viewing the thumbnails contained in a lightbox, Click the "Comments" tab that appears below the lightbox name. This will reveal a comments "tray." Click the "add a comment" link to the right of the window to leave a comment about the entire lightbox.
Leaving a Comment on a specific image
While viewing an image singularly, click the comment icon to add a comment. The comments appear in a threaded fashion under the image, with the newest comments appearing first. There is no way to edit or delete a comment once it's been made.
Sharing Lightboxes
The most fundamental aspect of lightboxes is the ability to share them with others to create a collaborative environment. While viewing a lightbox, click the "Share" button. You will be presented with three options:- Select a user from your address book
The address book includes any users you have invited to lightboxes or galleries in the past. - Select a Photographer/Image Owner
This lists the names of all image owners for the lightbox. For example, if you have images in your lightbox from three different photographers, Paul, John, and Mary, their names will appear in this list. This gives you a quick method to share the lightbox with a photographer without having to know their email address. - Enter an E-mail address
Enter the email address for the invitee.
Once you select an invitee for the lightbox share, there are two checkbox options:
- Allow person to invite others
If you create a lightbox and want to control who has access to the images and comments, you might not want to give invitees the ability to invite others. - Allow person to remove, rate, sort and comment on images
If you do not check this option, the lightbox is read-only for the invitee. They will be able to view images, comments and ratings, but they will not be able to leave any annotations, add/remove images, change the sorting order, etc.
If any images in the lightbox belong to a Multi-User Organization, the Organization will appear in the Photographer/Image Owner list. Sharing a lightbox with an Organization allows any Editor in that Organization to join the lightbox on an individual basis. They will receive the same permission level you granted the Organization when creating the invitation.
Image Security
Most lightboxes that you might have encountered in the past were merely galleries that could be forwarded ad infinitum. This poses a problem if the images contained within the gallery were only meant for you to see, and not some random guy from MySpace.The PhotoShelter lightbox is permission-aware at the image level. For example:
- A photographer sends you an invite-only gallery of Britney Spears
- You add images to a lightbox
- You share the lightbox with your college roommate
In order to see an image, one of the following must be true:
- the image is public
- you have an invitation to a gallery in which the image is contained
- you are the image owner
- you have been invited to a lightbox by the image owner
Allowing High-Resolution Downloads
Image Owners can allow others to download the high-resolution version of their files on a per image basis. While viewing an image in the lightbox, if you are the image owner, you will see the "Hi-Res Download" settings above the image description.
If you allow high-res downloads, all shared users will be able to download the image. Any hi-res downloads will appear in the image statistics for the image owner.
