Image Server

By Daniel Berthereau Simple and iiif compliant image server to process and share instantly images of any size in the desired formats.
Download 3.6.17

Image Server (module for Omeka S)

New versions of this module and support for Omeka S version 3.0 and above are available on GitLab, which seems to respect users and privacy better than the previous repository.

Image Server is a module for Omeka S that integrates the IIIF specifications and a simple image server (similar to a basic IIP Image) to allow to process and share instantly images of any size and medias (pdf, audio, video, 3D…) in the desired formats. It works with the module Iiif Server, that provides main manifests for items.

The full specifications of the International Image Interoperability Framework standard are supported (versions 2 and 3), so any widget that supports it can use it.

Rotation, zoom, inside search, etc. may be managed too. Dynamic lists of records may be created, for example for browse pages.

Images are automatically tiled to the Deep Zoom, the Zoomify, the jpeg 2000 or the tiled pyramidal tiff format. Then they can be displayed directly in any viewer that support thes formats, or in any viewer that supports the IIIF protocol. Tiled images are displayed with OpenSeadragon, the default viewer integrated in Omeka S.

The Image Server supports the IXIF media extension too, so manifests can be served for any type of file. For non-images files, it is recommended to use a specific viewer or the Universal Viewer, a widget that can display books, images, maps, audio, movies, pdf, 3D, and anything else as long as the appropriate extension is installed.

The IIIF manifests can be displayed with many viewers, the integrated OpenSeadragon, the Universal Viewer, the advanced Mirador, or the ligher and themable Diva, or any other IIIF compatible viewer.

It supports Amazon S3 backend throught the module Amazon S3.

Installation

See general end user documentation for [installing a module].

This module requires the module Common, that should be installed first.

PHP should be installed with the extension exif in order to get the size of images. This is the case for all major distributions and providers.

For performance reasons, the recommanded image processor is vips (command line tool), but the more common ImageMagick (command line convert), GD or Imagick (php extensions) are supported. Except vips, they are installed by default in most servers.

The module Iiif Server is currently required and should be installed first.

Note: To keep old options from Universal Viewer, upgrade it to version 3.4.3 before enabling ImageServer. Else, simply set them in the config form.

  • From the zip

Download the last release ImageServer.zip from the list of releases (the master does not contain the dependencies), uncompress it in the modules directory, and rename the module folder ImageServer.

  • From the source and for development:

If the module was installed from the source, check if the name of the folder of the module is ImageServer, go to the root of the module, and run either:

composer install --no-dev

Then install it like any other Omeka module.

http/2

It is recommended to set the web server (usually Apache or Nginx) to serve files with protocol http/2, that allows to send multiple files during the same tcp connection, so to serve multiple tiles more quickly.

For Apache, you generally just need to enable the module and to replace incompatible modules with new versions, and to make php running via php-fpm:

a2dismod mpm_prefork
a2enmod mpm_event
a2enmod proxy_fcgi
a2enmod http2
systemctl restart apache2
systemctl restart php7.4-fpm

CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)

To be able to share manifests and contents with other IIIF servers, the server should allow CORS. The header is automatically set for manifests, but you may have to allow access for files via the config of the server.

On Apache 2.4, the module "headers" should be enabled:

a2enmod headers
systemctl restart apache2

Then, you have to add the following rules, adapted to your needs, to the file .htaccess at the root of Omeka S or in the main config of the server:

# CORS access for some files.
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header setIfEmpty Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
    Header setIfEmpty Access-Control-Allow-Headers "origin, x-requested-with, content-type"
    Header setIfEmpty Access-Control-Allow-Methods "GET, POST"
</IfModule>

It is recommended to use the main config of the server, for example with the directive <Directory>.

To fix Amazon cors issues, see the aws documentation.

Vips

To install vips, just run on Debian/Ubuntu, without the recommended graphical interface:

sudo apt install --no-install-recommends libvips-tools

or for on Centos/RedHat:

sudo dnf install vips-tools

Recommanded version is 8.10 or higher. Versions prior to 8.4 have not been tested.

Tile formats

Four format are proposed to create tiles: DeepZoom, Zoomify, Jpeg 2000 and pyramidal Tiff. The recommended format is DeepZoom. For Jpeg 2000 and pyramidal tiff, some other tools may be required.

Jpeg 2000

If you choose jpeg 2000 as the tile format, it should be available with ImageMagick. It is available by default since version 6.9.1.2-1 (2015, Debian/Ubuntu 2017). In some cases, you may need to install openjpeg tools:

sudo apt install libopenjp2-tools

Or add a specific and maintained repository. See https://launchpad.net/~lyrasis/+archive/ubuntu/imagemagick-jp2.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lyrasis/imagemagick-jp2
sudo apt-get update
# Force install of the full stack, included libmagickcore-6.
sudo apt install --reinstall libopenjp2-tools libopenjp2-7 imagemagick libmagickcore-6.q16-6
# Check installed version.
apt-cache policy imagemagick
# Check support
/usr/bin/convert --version

Tiled pyramidal tiff

If you choose pyramidal tiff as the tile format, note that the Tiled pyramidal tiff is supported natively by ImageMagick, but not efficiently for reading, because it cannot extract a small portion without reading the whole file. So it is recommended to use the separate library libvips for dynamic extraction.

Image Server

From version 3.6.3.1, tiles are created automatically for all new images, if option is set. It's not recommended to set it if the existing media doesn't have tiles yet, so you have to bulk size them first. The conversion of the renderer from "tile" to the standard "file" can be done with the job in the config form.

Furthermore, an option in settings and site settings allows to specify the default display: tile or large thumbnail. It can be selected directly in the theme too (thumbnail "tile").

Creation of static tiles

If you use vips, the recommended processor strategy is "Auto/Vips" and "tiled tiff". Else, if jpeg2000 is available, use "Auto/ImageMagick" and "Jpeg 2000". Else, use "Auto" and Deepzoom.

For big images that are not stored in a versatile format (jpeg 2000 or tiled tiff) and that cannot be processed dynamically quickly (for example with vips), it is recommended to pre-tile them to load and zoom them instantly. It can be done for any size of images. It may be recommended to manage at least the big images (more than 10 to 50 MB, according to your server and your public.

Tiles can be created in four formats:

  • [DeepZoom Image] creates tile files. It is a free proprietary format from Microsoft largely supported.
  • Zoomify is an old format that was largely supported by proprietary image softwares and free viewers, like the OpenLayers Zoom. Nevertheless, it's integration in the module is less optimized than Deep Zoom and is not recommended for now.
  • Jpeg 2000 creates a single file that can be processed quickly with some image processor.
  • Tiled pyramidal tiff creates a single file too?

All files created are stored in directory files/tile of Omeka and can be renamed with Archive Repertory too.

The tiles are created via a background job for any image if the option is set to manage them automatically. Images can be uploaded from a file, a url, or imported.

The tiles can be created in bulk via a job, that can be run via a button in the config form of the module.

Dynamic creation of tiles and transformation

The IIIF specifications allow to ask for any region of the original image, at any size, eventually with a rotation and a specified quality and format. The image server creates them dynamically from the original image, from the Omeka thumbnails or from the tiles if any.

This dynamic creation is quick when the original is not too big, or in a tiled format like tiled pyramidal tiff or jpeg 2000, and when vips is used.

The dynamic creation of tiles can be done with the php extensions GD or Imagick and with the command line tools ImageMagick, default in Omeka, and vips. GD is generally a little quicker, but ImageMagick manages many more formats. An option allows to select the library to use according to your server and your documents or to let the module chooses automagically. Vips is the largely the quickest in all cases, and it manages natively common formats (jpeg, png, pdf, tiff).

In case of big files, it is recommended to use vips or the command line version of ImageMagick, that is not limited by the php memory.

Furthermore, the limit of the size (10000000 bytes by default) can be increased if you have enough memory, so images won't appear blurry even if they are not tiled. Vips bypasses this limitation.

Display of standard and tiled images

When created, the tiles are displayed automatically in admin and theme, according to the setting in the section Image Server.

Any viewer that supports Deep Zoom or Zoomify can display them directly. OpenSeadragon, the viewer integrated by default in Omeka S, can display them directly (from version 2.2.2), so it is quicker. This is the case for any derivated viewer too (Universal Viewer, Mirador, etc.). The OpenLayers viewer supports the two formats too.

The options for the default viewer can be changed in the theme (in partial "common/renderer/tile.phtml", to copy in your theme, or by passing option template in the renderer).

When the viewer doesn’t support a format, but the IIIF protocol, the image can be displayed through its IIIF url (https://example.org/iiif/{identifier}). It can be done for any image, even if it is not tiled, because of the dynamic transformation of images. OpenSeadragon supports iiif too (v2 and v3).

To display an image with the IIIF protocol, set its url (https://example.org/iiif/{identifier}/info.json) in an attached media of type "IIIF" or use it directly in your viewer. The id is the one of the media, not the item.

Routes

All routes of the Image server are defined in config/module.config.php. They follow the recommandations of the IIIF specifications.

To view the json-ld manifests created for each resources of Omeka S, simply try these urls (replace :id by a true id):

  • https://example.org/iiif/:id/info.json for images files;
  • https://example.org/iiif/:id/:region/:size/:rotation/:quality.:format for images, for example: https://example.org/iiif/1/full/full/270/gray.png;
  • https://example.org/iiif/:id/info.json for other files;
  • https://example.org/iiif/:id.:format for the files.

By default, ids are the internal ids of Omeka S, but it is recommended to use your own single and permanent identifiers that don’t depend on an internal pointer in a database. The term Dublin Core Identifier is designed for that and a record can have multiple single identifiers. There are many possibilities: named number like in a library or a museum, isbn for books, or random id like with ark, noid, doi, etc. They can be displayed in the public url with the modules Ark and/or Clean Url.

Amazon S3

Currently, only the public files are available: let the option "expiration" to "0". You should add CORS header Access-Control-Allow-Origin to make OpenSeadragon and other viewers working. See aws documentation.

Vips as default thumbnailer

If you installed vips, you can use it as a default thumbnailer for Omeka. The main interest to use Vips as thumbnailer is not only the performance, but the possibility to center on the region of interest when cropping the image to get the square thumbnails. Just set it in the file "config/local.config.php" at the root of Omeka:

    'thumbnails' => [
        'types' => [
            'square' => [
                'options' => [
                    // Other options: low, centre, high, attention, entropy, depending on version of vips.
                    'gravity' => 'attention',
                ],
            ],
        ],
        'thumbnailer_options' => [
            // Set directory path of "vips" if not in the system path.
            'vips_dir' => null,
        ],
    ],
    'service_manager' => [
        'aliases' => [
            'Omeka\File\Thumbnailer' => 'ImageServer\File\Thumbnailer\Vips',
        ],
    ],

TODO / Bugs

  • [ ] Separate from Omeka/Laminas and Convert into a standalone composer package.
  • [x] Cache all original images as jpeg2000 to speed up dynamic requests or any region/size.
  • [x] Create thumbnails from the tiled image, not from the original (ok for vips).
  • [ ] Skip old dynamic tile requests when they are too many, so only the last displayed ones are built.
  • [ ] Add a cache mechanism for tiles (doc for server level or in php).
  • [ ] Add the iiif tiling (see vips dzsave) and check it for performance.
  • [ ] Support curl when allow_url_fopen and allow_url_include are forbidden.
  • [ ] Automatically manage pdf as a list of canvas and images (extract size and page number, then manage it by the image server)
  • [ ] Remove the specific choice of the processor and use the Omeka one (gd/imagemagick/imagick)
  • [ ] Adapt the info.json to the image processor.
  • [ ] Add the canonical link header.
  • [x] Use the tiled images when available for arbitrary size request (ok for vips/tiled tiff).
  • [ ] Update vendor tilers to manage Amazon directly.
  • [ ] Add a limit (width/height) for dynamic extraction (used with zoning and annotations).
  • [ ] Add a processor for php-vips.
  • [x] Use vips as Omeka thumbnailer.
  • [ ] Add auto as default type of tiles (so choose tiled tiff if vips is installed, etc.).
  • [ ] Use the library OpenJpeg ("libopenjp2-tools" on Debian, or "openjpeg" on Centos instead of ImageMagick for a performance reason: ImageMagick always open the file as a whole even when extracting a small part.
  • [ ] Fix bitonal with vips.
  • [ ] Fix save jp2 with vips/convert.
  • [ ] Add an auto choice for thumbnailer (and select it accordiing to input format) and tile type.
  • [ ] Check why zoomify and deepzoom arounds (or overlap) are different (deepzoom is more compliant with OpenSeadragon).
  • [ ] Check why zoomify create bigger thumbnails.
  • [ ] Fix conversion of some iiif tiles for zoomify.

See module Iiif Server.

Warning

Use it at your own risk.

It’s always recommended to backup your files and your databases and to check your archives regularly so you can roll back if needed.

Troubleshooting

See online issues on the module issues page on GitLab.

License

This module is published under the CeCILL v2.1 license, compatible with GNU/GPL and approved by FSF and OSI.

In consideration of access to the source code and the rights to copy, modify and redistribute granted by the license, users are provided only with a limited warranty and the software’s author, the holder of the economic rights, and the successive licensors only have limited liability.

In this respect, the risks associated with loading, using, modifying and/or developing or reproducing the software by the user are brought to the user’s attention, given its Free Software status, which may make it complicated to use, with the result that its use is reserved for developers and experienced professionals having in-depth computer knowledge. Users are therefore encouraged to load and test the suitability of the software as regards their requirements in conditions enabling the security of their systems and/or data to be ensured and, more generally, to use and operate it in the same conditions of security.

This Agreement may be freely reproduced and published, provided it is not altered, and that no provisions are either added or removed herefrom.

The module uses the Deepzoom library and Zoomify library, the first based on Deepzoom of Jeremy Buggs (license MIT) and the second of various authors (license GNU/GPL). See files inside the folder vendor for more information.

  • icc profile

The minimal sRGB ICC v2 profile is a domain public one from Gimp.

Copyright

  • Copyright Daniel Berthereau, 2015-2024 (see Daniel-KM)
  • Copyright BibLibre, 2016-2017

This module is a rewrite of the Universal Viewer plugin for Omeka Classic, built for the Bibliothèque patrimoniale of Mines ParisTech. The upgrade to Omeka S was initially done by BibLibre. It has the same features as the original plugin, but separated into three modules (the IIIF server, the image server and the widget Universal Viewer). It integrates the tiler Zoomify that was used the plugin OpenLayers Zoom for Omeka Classic and another tiler to support the Deep Zoom Image tile format.

Version Released Minimum Omeka version
3.6.17March 25, 2024 [info]^4.0.0
3.6.16February 26, 2024 [info]^4.0.0
3.6.15November 05, 2023 [info]^3.1.0 || ^4.0.0
3.6.14May 29, 2023 [info]^3.1.0 || ^4.0.0
3.6.13March 20, 2023 [info]^3.1.0 || ^4.0.0
3.6.12.4January 23, 2023 [info]^3.1.0 || ^4.0.0
3.6.11.4January 09, 2023 [info]^3.1.0 || ^4.0.0
3.6.11.3October 10, 2022 [info]^3.1.0
3.6.10.3February 14, 2022 [info]^3.1.0
3.6.9.3January 03, 2022 [info]^3.1.0
3.6.8.3August 30, 2021 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.7.3August 09, 2021 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.6.3July 05, 2021 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.5.3March 15, 2021 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.4.3November 30, 2020 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.3.3November 30, 2020 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.3.2November 23, 2020 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.3.1November 23, 2020 [info]^3.0.0
3.6.0-beta.5August 17, 2020 [info]^1.2.0 || ^2.0.0
3.6.0-beta.4July 27, 2020 [info]^1.2.0 || ^2.0.0