Uploads showing invalid image type

Question

Hi just posting in Tech help as I am having an ongoing issue uploading photos or pdfs. It seems that they will not be accepted if they are over 2mb or so. This goes for pdf, jpg, png that I have tried uploading, and have resized and resized. They get to 80%, 95% or 100% uploaded, then a message pops up "invalid image type". However they are pdf, jpg, or png about 5mb or less. If I resize them to under 2mb they work. But not everyone is going to be able to resize images to make the file size smaller. And it's more of a problem for pdf, as it's not a file type people are usually going to be able to make smaller.

I have uploaded images and documents previously (hundreds of them) without problem, it's just happened this week that I am unable to do so.

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/822831/invalid-image-type

Also discussed above.

Could someone check this? Perhaps try a few uploads to a free-space? See if there is any issue there?

I have tried a different browser, clearing the cache, but this did not help. I have uploaded the same files elsewhere, so I don't think it's a server issue on my side...

Thanks in advance for any help. It would be nice not to have to resize each and every photo or document.

Comments

I just uploaded a heavy 5Mb .jpg image to my profile. (Taken with my android cell phone). It took about 30 seconds. I wonder if iphone pictures have something different about them? Something to do with the color profile?

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I see that this bug is still present.  I've also been noticing it, and am still noticing it today on 21 Jul 2019, months after first experiencing a problem uploading jpeg image files that are small in size (less than 1000 k) and just like photos I've uploaded hundreds of times before in months gone by.  I get an "Invalid Image Type" error message on my FireFox browser, when it's a perfectly valid jpeg image type, and ought to be small enough file size.  I see others are having this problem still, too.

Answer 1

Lianne,  I'm not a WikiTree tech specialist, but I do know a lot about photos. After looking at the link you included, I wonder if WikiTree is different from other websites in that many websites will automatically compress and reduce uploaded photos. Nice and easy timesaver for the user.  Possibly on here the website does not handle size reduction.

A 5 Mb photo is quite heavy for uploading from any point of view. Web designers are in the habit of optimizing visuals before uploading.

I had to resize most of the photos I put on here. If I didn't resize they showed up has huge in relation to the size of the web page. --- Connie

Comments

If a WikiTree tech specialist would go here:

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/822831/invalid-image-type?show=827347#c827347

he/she could see that there is quite a variety of images that will not upload which is why I'm wondering if there is a glitch somewhere. I have never had this problem before and have uploaded a variety of sizes and shapes.

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I can set up a second process for resizing for sure (on top of the one I already use), but as I generally use a camera rather than a phone, and a DSLR in the main, the file sizes are larger. I have always resaved them to convert to jpg and reduce the file size for web use, quite considerably from the original. But WikiTree has always showed a file size limit of 10mb, and I haven't had to go down as far as 2 mb before. If it was a colour profile issue, then that would not change with the size of the file. The same photo can be uploaded at a smaller size without the colour profile changed. I have just tried it with Android photos as well, and that has the same problem (this was from a different location using phone data rather than broadband). I am also from time to time getting a time-out issue... whatever the size. So the file uploads only so far then says the server was re-set.

I will try it again tomorrow from a different location if I can. I was hoping to get a bunch of cemetery photos uploaded. It took me about 10 tries before the last one worked.

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Can't help thinking there may be a stupid issue with something other than just size. Sometimes behavior is not the same between a .jpg or .jpeg.  Just a thought. Of if a photo got incorrectly converted somewhere along the line. Good luck! Maybe Wiki engineers will solve this. :)

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Here is one image I tried to upload without success. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerningham_Wakefield#/media/File:Edward_Jerningham_Wakefield,_ca_1850.jpg

However my own photos - which are jpgs, are smaller and will upload if under 2mb. But sometimes even then they have an "Invalid Image" error. I have managed to upload all the images, but sometimes (even when 1mb) they are taking 3 to 4 tries before they are successful. In between the attempts I have done nothing to the file (so the same file will get rejected but then finally is successful, so it can't be to do with file type or color profile). However I haven't had any success uploading pdfs lately as they are all more than 2mb. If I upload pngs - having converted the jpg to png -  I still get an "invalid image type" error. Therefore, it doesn't seem to be related to file type.

Here are a few images that took several tries (there are more than I have listed): https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Upper_Coomera_Cemetery_Free_Space_page

https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Upper_Coomera_Cemetery_Free_Space_page-3

https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Siganto-6

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Most of my images are resized in Lightroom, however, it also affects images saved as screenshots (unmodified), and ones from the web such as the Wikimedia Commons image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerningham_Wakefield#/media/File:Edward_Jerningham_Wakefield,_ca_1850.jpg

Therefore, I do not believe it is to do with the software I am using (also I have used the same software for uploading hundreds of photos 2 months ago to WikiTree).

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That first link .. the Jerningham Wakefield one .. that is HUGE.

It's 2288px by 3196px.  I would never even consider uploading something that large.  Maybe that's the problem with the images that don't load.  It's not so much their file size as it is their dimensions.

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Try uploading the 429 × 599 pixels one, and see if that works:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Edward_Jerningham_Wakefield%2C_ca_1850.jpg/429px-Edward_Jerningham_Wakefield%2C_ca_1850.jpg

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Thanks Melanie, but I have to say I have never had a problem uploading a file of that size, dimension wise, to WikiTree at all, while it is not common practice. It has only ever been the file size that has been a barrier.

I showed this as an example. I can upload the smaller ones no problem. And Wikimedia has smaller sizes already available to do so.

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Are you actually getting an error message for the upload .. or does it simply fail?

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No I don't get an error with the upload. It shows as 99% uploaded. It's just in that last piece, when it says "waiting for WikiTree" that it rejects.

It's fast to upload. So only a few seconds.

Then the WikiTree page changes from the upload page and shows the orange box "Invalid Image Type" and suggests I should only be uploading jpg, bmp, png or pdf for documents, and that the file size should be under 10mb.