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7 Responses
Dear @Dribbble,
As Retina/HiDPI screens are becoming more and more widespread, you've responded with an @2x feature fairly recently, giving users the possibility to submit shots with the double (actually quadruple) resolution. Although that's definitely a step in the right direction, the feature isn't all sunshine. On a closer look, it actually causes a fundamental problem: the problem of choice. Upload @1x, and you'll disregard the HD folk; upload @2x and you'll leave out the SD people.
"Leave out the SD people? @2x shots are automatically scaled down to meet lower resolutions!", one might argue. Well, interface design isn't just math. A downscaled image will simply never reach the quality of something explicitly created for a certain resolution. Using 1px bevels in your HD shot? Too bad, there's no such thing as 0.5px effects at the downscaled @1x size.
"Fair enough, but SD users can still hit the @2x button to view the non-scaled image!" might be a follow-up remark. True, but isn't showcasing your work meant for people to not only view, but actually feel/experience your work? Remember that when clicking @2x on a low-res screen, you end up viewing something over-dimensional, created for someone else's screen, not yours. And that won't work if you want people to have that first-hand experience with your design.
In the end, SD users are clearly put at a disadvantage for shots using the new @2x feature, as they don't get the same precision and crispness as before. However, Apple demonstrated a simple, yet effective solution to this problem when introducing Retina screens over two years ago. If their Retina support were a single image solution and all SD users (still the clear majority at that point) had to suddenly start using lower-quality, downscaled images in favor of the new HD people, that would be pretty counterproductive. But that's exactly what's happening here on Dribbble.
Therefore, @Rich Thornett, @Dan Cederholm and @Samuel Fine, I'd like to make a proposition. Please give us the possibility to add separate @1x and @2x images to a shot. This does not have to change the current user experience in any way: Upload solely @1x, and it stays @1x for everyone. Upload solely @2x, and @1x users get a downscaled image. But upload @1x and @2x, and the right image is chosen and displayed depending on the user's individual resolution.
Dribbble is an incredible platform, a place where extreme precision and immense attention to detail are valued like nowhere else on the internet. Implementing this suggestion will give us users a further opportunity to meet and live up to those standards.
Thank you.
If you agree with me, please consider liking and sharing this shot. I'd be incredibly grateful if this could catch people's attention by becoming at least a tiny little bit popular.
5 months ago
Pro
Raquel
True i had the same thoughts when the @2x feature came out! It's better to have the possibility to upload 2 files one at 1x and one at 2x ;-)
but i guess that means doubling the amount of pictures and that's alot of bandwidth.. :/ i dont know if they can allow that.
5 months ago
@Raquel As far as I know, the original @2x and the downscaled @1x image are already stored as two separate files on the servers, so implementing this wouldn't use up any more bandwidth than right now. But since @1x images are only ~1/4 as large (filesize-wise) as their @2x counterparts, the additional bandwidth would remain somewhat small anyway.
Nonetheless, great thought and thanks for your support!
5 months ago
Pro
Gustav Ågren
Very well written! And I love the shot!
5 months ago
@Gustav Ågren Thanks a lot!
5 months ago
Pro
Dan Cederholm
@Jona Thanks for the suggestion. In an effort to keep things simple, we decided having a single, canonical shot image was the best route to take. There are implications and complexities we wanted to avoid if a shot can have 2 images associated with it. One example: the API.
We think showing a 400x300 resized with the option of seeing the larger version via the @2x link is the best course for now. HiDPI displays will only increase from here on out :)
5 months ago
@Dan Cederholm Fair enough. It's about setting priorities afterall, and although I still believe this would be a great feature for us users, you do have a point with taking the simplicity route. Guess that means I'll have to stick with @1x for some more time though.
5 months ago