Why do Denver Metrolist IDX large photos sometimes look terrible?

We recently upgraded our Denver Metrolist IDX feed to receive the large, high-resolution images. Although this was meant to a be positive development with an enhanced quality for you and your clients, we are now receiving complaints and questions from our Denver Metrolist Agents and Brokers about the fact that some properties have photos that appear to be thumbnails rather than full size images.

[blocktext align=”center”]The problems with presentation are due to the method Metrolist have adopted for handling cases where photos uploaded for a listing are smaller than the ‘large’ size required. [/blocktext]

Where an MLS provides large photos, but not all images fit that specification, we would normally expect a correctly presented image, but one that is lower resolution. This strategy allows a graceful degradation of the image quality from a “thumbnail” view of the image that would be shown on search-results, through to a larger presentation when viewing the property in detail. This type of method appears to be a common approach we see from other MLS we work with.

However, Metrolist have not taken this approach. Instead they are actually modifying the image that was uploaded by the broker and placing the original image in the center of a large-sized white canvas background to create a new image of the right size. However, when visualized, the effect is to add a large wide white border around the image. Now when the image is viewed, it will always look like a smaller thumbnail placed on a white canvas background – no matter what size you view it at.

The bottom line is that these listings present poorly in your website, or indeed any presentation anywhere that has opted to use these ‘large’ photos.

From the feedback you are giving us, we appreciate that this is unacceptable to you and that you are not happy with the quality of this data and the photo service from Denver Metrolist.

We are engaging Metrolist with your concerns.

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