Frequently Asked Questions

maxoom is a service provided, hosted and maintained by webqem, that allows users to access and implement a range of Single Source Imaging (SSI) functions and features for use on their website, mobile devices or print output.

Dynamic Imaging or SSI is a combination of digital imaging, image editing and workflow automation. It refers to the automation of a single Digital Master image in the creation of multiple variations of that image with rich media functions such as zoom, pan and spin.

A Digital Master Image is uploaded to the maxoom image server, either via the maxoom server interface or other methods such as FTP. The image can then be requested, in different sizes, resolutions and formats directly from maxoom, by a webpage or mobile device using simple HTTP queries in the page.

maxoom also supports digital asset management, 3D spins, interactive catalogues, pan & zoom, galleries, web to print functionality and showcases using an integrated flash based, and configurable player.

A Digital Master is an image, line-art, video or other kind of media file, created and stored in a way that ensures the highest level of reuse and re-expression. A digital master is not prepared and optimised for a particular use, such as a printed magazine or a webpage. It is a master file from which variations for specific uses can be derived easily.

An ideal Digital Master has the following attributes:

1. A sufficiently high resolution to be used for all purposes.
2. Be saved in a format that supports both lossless and lossy compression.
3. Can contain embedded metadata such as IPTC and EXIF.
4. Can contain a correct ICC colour profile and sufficient colour gamut.
5. Be saved in a format that supports common colour formats such as RGB and CMYK.
6. Be saved in a format that preserves creative elements such as layers, paths, effects and text.
7. Be saved in a widely supported format defined by an open standard.
8. Be resolution independent.
9. Support a tiled layout.

Yes. A TIFF supports all of the attributes above.

No. TIFF is the ideal format but you can upload the following file types:

• TIFF
• FPX (FlashPix images)
• PSD (Native Photoshop Images)
• JPEG
• GIF
• EPS
• PDF
• FLV (Adobe Flash Video)
• Quicktime (Apple Video)
• AI (Adobe Illustrator Drawings)
• SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
• A ZIP archive containing one or more of the above formats.
• ...Plus an additional 500+ file formats. maxoom will not let you view or zoom into them, but you can store them on maxoom in our Media Portal. When viewing them in the content frame or list tab you will see an icon representing the file format.

Yes. When you publish an image, the clipping paths attached to that image are listed in a drop down menu and one can be selected. When selected, the background colour of the image surround can be assigned.

Yes. Images such as TIFF files with transparent layers, shadows etc. and SVG files, can be used to watermark an image.

Yes. In addition to the actual image data in the form of pixels, maxoom can support image files contain Metadata. Metadata can be either technical data, such as information about the equipment and settings used to capture the image, or, information about the subject, status and intellectual rights of the image file.

maxoom allows you to add or edit embedded Metadata in the form of IPTC data, as well as change the name of the file itself.

Upload files or ZIP files containing multiple files

• Create/rename/move/delete folders
• Search and view images/files
• Review and edit image/file Meta data
• Rename/move/delete images
• Publish images to a webpage
• Publish zoom images via the Flash player
• Publish 3D spin images via the Flash player
• Publish interactive catalogues via the Flash player
• Publish a Showcase of images via the Flash player
• Serve Flash Video or Apple Video files
• Download images/files
• Search for images/files using advanced search strings

No you do not need to buy any hardware. maxoom is provided as a Software as a Service (SaaS) whereby we license you to use it as a service on demand.

No you do not need to buy any software, unless you wish to modify or create the Digital Master yourself. Digital images straight from a digital camera can be uploaded to maxoom.

No. The image variations are created dynamically on demand and the number and size of the image variations are unlimited.

Yes. Images served from maxoom have the same attributes as images served from web servers.

Yes. Layered Photoshop files can be uploaded, used as a Digital Master and served to the web. Later on, the original file can be downloaded with layers intact, for editing.

Yes. If you upload a multi-page PDF maxoom will automatically create a folder of images generated from each page of the PDF file. In addition maxoom will, if possible, extract the text from each page and include it in the Metadata to allow searching within the pages.

Yes. You can define regions of a page within the catalogue and apply a number of options to that region. These options include: open new webpage, go to another section of the catalogue, zoom into the hyperlink area, and show a large thumbnail with HTML presentation code.

Yes. The maxoom Management Console allows a user with administrator privileges the right to configure and administrate a sub-configuration of the Imaging Server from a remote computer on the network by using an Internet browser.

The following controls/functions are available:

• Add Share (folder)
• Add User
• Add Group
• Assign Group to Share
• Assign User Rights to Group
• Set Maximum Disc Space assigned to a Share
• Set Maximum number of files allowed in a Share
• Set Maximum number of users allowed in a Share
• View traffic statistics from a Share
• Create and edit Real Time Templates
• Create and edit Download Templates

Yes. maxoom has an API for accessing a range of functions via SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).

The SOAP interface of maxoom makes part of the maxoom Imaging Server functionality available for programmatic access from other software packages. The SOAP Web Service can also be used by software programs to retrieve information on, and process, images.

Yes, User Rights are assigned at a folder level; this means that an administrator could see all folders while another user will only see the folders they have User Rights to.

Yes. You can create a template with the following attributes:

• Name
• Description
• Width (Pixels)
• Height (Pixels)
• Maximum Scaling
• Over scale Action
• Use Black point Compensation
• Format
• ICC Profile
• Rendering Intent
• Compression (Tiff Files)
• Quality (JPEG Files)
• Resolution in DPI
• Sharpen
• JPEG Chroma Subsampling
• Render Clippath
• Crop
• Unsharp Mask

No, your logo will need to be converted to a text base file for dynamic watermarking then referenced in the svp file. This is a one off set up that will need to be done by webqem.