Thumbnails from cards containing images in low resolution. How do I fix this?

[VizzyInks]

In summary:

• I have been using Trello for years. Recently I noticed that new images (digital paintings I sell and display on Trello cards) are always in lower resolution/blurry compared to the old images I uploaded previously.

I tried:

• Different browsers, mobile and desktop. Images are still blurry.
• Checking image size in pixels and dimensions on Photoshop. All images are saved to standard HD (1920px on the larger size of the image, either height or width)
• Re-setting zoom size of the browser to the standard size.
  
  

For reference: I downloaded a painting that was previously looking very sharp and HD from an old card and re-posted it on a new card. The image is now blurry as well. This implies the issue is on Trello, not my browser or image resizing habits. 

I fear I might have to leave Trello and use something else if the thumbnails are low-resolution from now on. I hope not! Thank you in advance for anyone reading. 

[Alisson Sartor]

Hello, Welcome to the community.

When uploading attachments to Trello, you should still be able to download the original image in its original quality, as Trello doesn't downgrade image quality upon upload.

However, to help make sure that we can load your board as quickly as possible, what we are doing is rendering preview images that you see on your board as a webp file. I know that may seem a bit odd, but rendering these images as these files allows for the board to load up quicker and more efficient which can be helpful for say a board that has uploaded a bunch of high quality images to their card that could be massive in file size and would slow down the loading of the board if we had to render all of those photos in their original quality to be displayed. However, the caveat that can come with webp is that this format is intentionally lossy by design and is usually not the correct quality as this process does technically scale down the image to load it quicker which can result in some lower quality images that you see upon immediately loading the board.

That being said, the original file should still be intact and you should be able to get to the original resolution/file format by clicking on "Open in new tab" near the bottom of the screen when opening an image or you can click on the three dots button next to an attachment and selecting "download".

This will download them in their original, uncompressed quality!

Kind Regards
Alisson
Trello Team

[VizzyInks]

Alisson! Thank you. It explains everything. I'm glad the sizes are still intact somehow. If I upload even smaller images, would that help? Say, instead of HD (1920x1080), I upload on >HD (1280x720). If not, I can leave it as it is. 

[Kirk Barnett]

@Alisson Sartor 
I came here to ask the same question.

While I understand the lossy preview will increase load speed, and that the original file can be downloaded, it's not ideal for the type of work I do.
I'm a pixel artist so the image is affected by a lossy format.
All my new cards are blurry and it isn't what I've come to expect from using Trello after all these years.

Any chance you can make this optional in the future?

[Alisson Sartor]

Hello, Kirk and VizzyInks

I'm checking with our engineering team, they have some questions about it.

Can you give us more details about what type of image are you both uploading?

Kind Regards
Alisson
Trello Team

[Kirk Barnett]

Hi @Alisson Sartor !

I'm uploading PNGs.
They get compressed in the main view Card Cover image as well as when I click to Preview the image.



The lower the resolution of the characters the more they are affected.
This might not seem like a huge deal, but when it comes to Pixel Art it greatly alters the solidity of the pixels, which is unpleasant to look at and an inaccurate version of the image.
Here's a comparison.



As you've said I am able to download the original image without compression.
But viewing the images on Trello, which I use for reference, reviews with teammates, quickly showing my work to friends, etc, is hindered by the compressed preview.

I noticed that uploading GIF files do NOT get compressed in the preview.
While this is a decent workaround, GIFs only support 256 colors so it is still not ideal for most images.

A faster loading page with lower quality images doesn't suit my needs.
Is it possible to have the image compression on by default, and then optional for users like me to turn off?

I greatly appreciate your time, thanks!

[Alisson Sartor]

Hey Kirk

I appreciate the details and imput of it! I got a comment of our devs and I'll quote below.

"We are looking at improving the quality of webp previews, as well as displaying the original attachment (not the webp version) we should have some news soon."

Since we have some requests about it the team is already checking upon changes on it again, as soon as I have new information I'll share here

Thank you for your patience!

Kind Regards
Alisson
Trello Team

[Kirk Barnett]

@Alisson Sartor 
Awesome thanks!