Cloud Zoom

Cloud Zoom works by loading a smaller image at page load first.

If the user hovers his mouse over the thumb, the real image is retrieved in the background of the page and a preview panel is shown next to the mouse or thumb with the image at its natural resolution.

Depending on the available space, the real image can be seen in full, or only in a small section.

This visible section is shown based on the mouse cursor's position over the thumbnail. So if the user moves his mouse, the preview panel's image is also changed, basically allowing the user to inspect a smaller thumb with his mouse.

With multiple layout options, the developer can configure Cloud Zoom's behavior to whatever he sees fit for his pages and deploy it without additional headaches.

Cloud Zoom is not only important because it improves a site's UX (user experience), but it also saves a lot of bandwidth in cases the user isn't interested in seeing the bigger resolution image.

A side effect is an increased page load time, a crucial fact in today's SEO strategies.

Cloud Zoom comes in two licensing models. Branch 1.x is available for free under a GPL license, while branch 3.x is only available for purchase under a commercial license.

If you're looking for a non-intrusive zooming plugin, check out Jet Zoom, if you want one based on the mouse wheel, then check out Star Zoom.

What is new in this release:

• Further tweaks that may help sites showing partial image issues due to bugs in FireFox 35.0.

What is new in version 3.1 rev 1503111050 / 1.0.3:

• Further tweaks that may help sites showing partial image issues due to bugs in FireFox 35.0.

What is new in version 3.1 rev 1502121350 / 1.0.3:

• Further tweaks that may help sites showing partial image issues due to bugs in FireFox 35.0.

What is new in version 3.1 rev 1410150700:

• Fixed issue of image save menu appearing on Android devices when using touchStartDelay option.
• touchStartDelay is now boolean only option.
• Fixed issue of error event not triggering on image load failed.
• Fixed issue of DOM elements not being cleaned up if loading of images failed.

What is new in version 3.1:

• New 'hover intent' feature allows for completely unobtrusive zooming for site visitors using mice or touch-pads.

What is new in version 3.0:

• Same 'instant on' action and fluid movement for the user, but now with the major addition of variable zoom.

What is new in version 2.1:

• Now compatible with modal plugins like Fancy Box* for big pop-up images.

What is new in version V1.0.3:

• Now works with jQuery version 1.8.1. This version of jQuery appears to have issues with .find(':last'). Still works with older versions of jQuery too.
• Fixed spurious http request bug that was causing problems on some servers, maybe killing the session. Cloud Zoom expects to find a blank.png image (supplied in download) in same path as .js file

What is new in version V1.0.2:

• Fixed parameter parsing bug.

Requirements:

• JavaScript enabled on client side
• jQuery 1.4.3 or higher