Matt Blaze

Quick note: If you follow me, you probably noticed that I post occasional photos. Unfortunately, the default display behavior on most Mastodon instances and clients crops many images unless you click on them. I hate this, as does every other photographer here, but it's not likely to change any time soon.

You can disable this broken behavior in the Mastodon web interface by unchecking a box under display preferences.

But in any case, please be aware you might not be seeing the whole photo.

May 17, 2023 at 5:26pmWeb
Show threadMatt BlazeMay 20, 2023
Note that this setting may or may not change whether images are cropped on mobile clients - it depends on the particular client.
Show threadMatt BlazeJun 12, 2023
Every time I post about the stupid image cropping 3/4 of the replies thank me for pointing it out and 1/4 tell me to stop whining.
Show threadDraken BlackKnightJun 12, 2023
@mattblaze The official Mastodon app on F-Droid shows the whole image just fine. So do the PWAs on Android.
Show threadSteven LiptonJun 12, 2023

@mattblaze the 1/4 don’t know what an aspect ratio is or why it is important. They like all their movies in 4:3*. Anything else is bad writing in their opinion.

*Oddly this is the inverse of 3/4. Hmmm…

Show threadRue CiphervaleJun 12, 2023
@mattblaze it is the Masto Way, apparently, and why I'm having a better time on Bluesky; I'm mainly here for Foone nowadays
Show threadDave the introvert 🦩Jun 12, 2023
@mattblaze I turned cropping back on cuz I follow one of the Nasa bots that posts pictures that are 2 screens tall.
Show threadMatt BlazeJun 12, 2023
@max_headroom Yes, that's an example of why the behavior is broken. It should downsize those images, not crop them
Show threadMastodon MigrationJun 12, 2023

@mattblaze Preach brother Blaze! Let's get this knuckleheaded behavior changed.

IMO this alone is a primary reason why Mastodon is so off-putting to new users. It looks so amateurish.

Show threadSteve WilliamsJun 12, 2023
@mattblaze
👏👏👏
Show threadJeff CraigJun 12, 2023
@mattblaze The silver lining here, is that you quickly get to identify people worth blocking immediately.
Show threadC.Jun 12, 2023

@mattblaze

I'll have to try that!

Anyone else got #tricks for figuring out who to #block? 😂

Show threadJorj BauerJun 12, 2023
@mattblaze Maybe you should crop the replies.
Show threadJL Johnson Jun 13, 2023
@mattblaze @mastodonmigration that’s a decent ratio. It’d be at least reversed on birdsite me thinks
Show threadMatt BlazeJun 18, 2023
I will continue to criticize this stupid default image cropping behavior until I've blocked every single asshole who uses it as an opportunity to tell me to go back to Twitter.
Show threadBob DavidsonJun 18, 2023
@mattblaze sort of a spatial filter!
Show threadse_ph 🕊️Jun 18, 2023
@mattblaze ok 😁
Show threadGlyphJun 18, 2023
@mattblaze did twitter eventually fix their own asinine cropping rules? I do not remember this situation being better over there
Show threadMatt BlazeJun 18, 2023
@glyph I don’t think they ever did. But the people yelling at me don’t like that I’m “disrespectful” of the “way things are done here”.
Show threadGlyphJun 18, 2023

@mattblaze I think there’s a minority of posters on here with no real structural power that felt like they ran the show in this little fiefdom, because they managed to set norms in a tiny corner of the Internet when everybody else was ignoring it. Now, they’re Posting Through It ™️ as scale gradually crushes that sense of their own agency, living through the hell of their own private Eternal September. I mostly pity them at this point.

But I still block pretty much immediately.

Show threadChris is.Jun 18, 2023

@glyph @mattblaze there's also the aftereffects of the early days of FOSS where all users were assumed to be developers. This has, imo, left a lot of FOSS users with the impression that somehow it's every user's JOB to fix any criticisms they have of the software they use… or gtfo.

Combine that with the usual toxic stew of "internet commenter" and I think you have a winning recipe for block stew.

Show threadÖlbaumJun 18, 2023
@mattblaze @glyph Also, probably with Twitter, everyone was using a third party client, because both the official app and the web site sucked, and those might have had better cropping behaviour.
Show threadDraken BlackKnightJun 18, 2023
@mattblaze Keep up the fight.
Show threadDavid Penfold May 20, 2023
@mattblaze it works on my web client from infosec.exchange FWIW.
Show threadMatt BlazeMay 20, 2023
@davep Yeah, the web client is the only place it always works.
Show threadNaraMoore ⛩️👻八尺様👻⛩️ Toot.ComJun 12, 2023

@mattblaze

Since I mainly post and view on a GLITCH instance, I really hadn't noticed, but your right turning that off works so much better on a vanilla Mastodon instance.

Nice tip - part of the 3/4ths

Show threadMikeJun 18, 2023
@mattblaze FYI @IceCubesApp shows the image in the original/correct aspect ratio. I don’t think I’ve changed the setting in the web interface - I only use mobile clients to interact with Mastodon.
Show threadBruceMay 17, 2023

@mattblaze

Thank you!

Show threadSozialweltenMay 17, 2023
@mattblaze Thank you, I have unchecked.
Show threadJohn MitchellMay 17, 2023

@mattblaze It's 2023 and we've been doing this "internet thing" with photos for multiple decades... it boggles the mind how silly behaviors like this image cropping are still (being made) the default and that people are still defending this silliness.

Sorry you're getting harassed by people about this.

Show threadjohn r red-horseMay 19, 2023

@johnm

Whoa! I didn't read that he was being harassed about it in his post. Did I miss something?!

@mattblaze simply stated a fact that he finds annoying: The default behavior on most clients, and in the main web interface, is to crop posted images rather than shrink them to fit. He never implied that it couldn't be changed, so, I can imagine, it was useful for some to be reminded of that.

Show threadDaniel EthierMay 17, 2023
@mattblaze Thanks for sharing this! Nice to see the entire image by default.
Show threadJoYoMay 17, 2023
@mattblaze yall want full rez previews until some pleroma Nazi wants to post a long ass screen cap of their recent Qanon hell threads.
Show threadMatt BlazeMay 17, 2023

@joyo No one is asking for full res previews. What photographers want is the aspect ratio to be preserved when the image is downsized to preview.

It's not hard.

Show threadNihl L'AmasMay 17, 2023

@mattblaze 16x9 isn't even a reasonable default for a forced crop.

Proposed rules: Original ratio as long as it's no narrower than 3x4 portrait. Any ratio landscape. The viewing user gets to decide if they want absurdly skinny vertical image previews to either crop or shrink to fit within 3x4 empty space.

Show threadmkandle May 17, 2023
@mattblaze photos on my feed have always been full, never cropped. I wonder what the difference is.
Show threadDavid 🇨🇦May 17, 2023
@mattblaze thanks for the tip. I had it set.
Show threadKris Sargent, MDMay 17, 2023
@mattblaze After switching to dark mode, I think this was the first thing I fixed when I joined Mastodon. The cropping is obnoxious.
Show threadTim FredeMay 17, 2023
@mattblaze I love your photography! It’s so good and makes me want to improve my skills. I use Ivory and from a quick check, it looks like the only difference between the feed and expanded view with the photo is the corners are rounded. Is this something that affects the web and/or different clients?
Show threadMatt BlazeMay 17, 2023
@frede Yes, it's a client thing, with no standard default behavior.
Show threadStuart MarksMay 18, 2023
@mattblaze Wow. I had unchecked “crop to 16x9” box yesterday to see if I could tell the difference. I promptly forgot about it. Then you boosted your photo of the Philadelphia Inquirer building so it came across my timeline again. HUGE difference seeing the whole photo. The 16x9 crop is just wrong. Thanks for raising awareness of this issue.
Show threadErica "digifox" Kovac 🌐⚛️⚡May 18, 2023
@mattblaze While extreme aspect ratios (probably anything in excess of 1:2) could be annoying, it really seems like cropping should *never* be the default behavior except in those extreme cases. It's always baffled me that we've decided on these clumsy behaviors pretty universally as an industry.
Show threadDavid Penfold May 18, 2023
@mattblaze I did that yesterday based on your rant 😁
Show threadjust_one_bearMay 19, 2023
@mattblaze Thanks! This makes things MUCH better in my timeline!
Show threadRom | Tapas in the sunMay 19, 2023
@mattblaze I believe #ivory doesn’t crop posts with a single image.
Show threadBinkMay 19, 2023
@mattblaze Thank you!
Show threadCarlGMay 19, 2023
@mattblaze Thank you for this pointer! I'm not sure how I ever missed that setting before, but it's so much better unticking that box and being able to see images w/o having to click on them.
Show threadStan R. MitchellMay 19, 2023

@mattblaze Bless you for saying this!! lol.

I had no idea, but easily just fixed that. 👊 ❤️

Show threadtlarivMay 19, 2023
@mattblaze
In Fedilab Settings > Timelines > Fit preview images
Show threadMichael K JohnsonMay 19, 2023

This has been one of the great benefits of using #elkzone https://elk.zone as my web-based client, both on desktop and on mobile — it shows the whole picture without any nonsense of going into preferences and asking pretty please to show me non-mutilated pictures from the photographers who I follow.

Anyone frustrated by this behavior who would like to try a different user experience, I strongly recommend giving it a shot.

Elk

A nimble Mastodon web client

Elk
Show threadChuck Taggart, Private EyeOct 12, 2023

@mcdanlj Thanks for this! I'd never heard of it, and it looks great.

I feel a bit foolish but I simply cannot find that 16x9 crop box to uncheck in my appearance prerferences.

Show threadMichael K JohnsonOct 12, 2023

@SazeracLA This was recently changed to be a more sane default. So Mastodon servers that are up to date don't have the 16:9 cropping any more.

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/18686

Limit height of images in timelines to 2:3 instead of cropping · Issue #18686 · mastodon/mastodon

Pitch By default, Mastodon currently crops images in timelines to a 16:9 aspect ratio if they're taller than that; there is a setting to disable the crop completely. I propose changing the default ...

GitHub
Show threadChuck Taggart, Private EyeOct 12, 2023
@mcdanlj Aha… I just noticed that (I'm a bit scarlet too). I've been using Mastodon on mobile mostly and not on the web, and just saw our admin had updated. Thanks!
Show threadNavarr Barnier May 20, 2023
@mattblaze screenshots like this could potentially be the reason
Show threadMatt BlazeMay 20, 2023
@navarr No one is saying that's how very long images should be previewed. There can be a max height and max width, with the image scale down. The point is to scale it down rather than crop.
Show threadfunnelMay 20, 2023
@mattblaze thanks, v. helpful
Show threadAirplanista 🇺🇦May 20, 2023
@mattblaze TY Matt this is a very good pro tip I did not know about. Was wondering why the instance did this, great to know there is a solve. Nice to see all of the vertical images now!
Show threadCitrouilleMay 21, 2023
@mattblaze on the web client it lets you at least select which part gets cropped. Not ideal but Ieast you get some control
Show threadMatt BlazeMay 21, 2023
@citrouille Yeah, but that's pretty useless to me most of the time. I make photos for a particular aspect ratio. I'm not a good enough photographer to make them for two.
Show threadhko 😷🪁May 24, 2023
@mattblaze Oh, that is a very good button to know about (and an unfortunate default setting). Thanks!