acp3_2 now supports the ability to explicitly apply a gallery image against a specific image area via an app URL.

For example:

http://g3d-app.com/s/app/acp3_2/en_GB/default.html#p=1007644&r=2d-canvas&g=9rbztxdsbg&state[image_areas][Image A][gallery_image_id]=81522

The relevant part of the URL to achieve this is state[image_areas][A][gallery_image_id]=B, where A can either be the name, internal name or ID of the image area and B is the ID of the gallery image that should be loaded.

Note The gallery to which the image belongs must be specified as normal using the g URL parameter.

The state parameter is a core feature and can be added to any v3 app as required.

Finding The Galley Image ID

CPPv2 will make it easier to see determine which ID to use for a specific gallery image, however in the meantime the following URL could have been used to extract the information:

http://legacy.custom-gateway.net/acp/api/p/1/gallery/?_pretty=1&r=9rbztxdsbg

Replace 9rbztxdsbg with your gallery’s reference as needed. The image_id field is the gallery image’s ID.

Comparison With Placeholder Images

  • Placeholder images are still an important feature however using the new parameter provides customers with more control when needed.

  • Placeholder images don’t store separate low quality and high quality versions of the image (one for the app and one for artwork generation). This means large artwork files will slow down app loading times.

  • Placeholder images have to be uploaded per product.

  • Placeholder images are ideal for “Upload Your Image” images or where the image is an integral part of the product’s design.

  • Gallery autoload will only apply the first image in the first gallery to the first image area, it doesn’t allow different images to be applied to different areas automatically.

  • Gallery autoload is not a core feature and is only available in a few apps.

Comparison With the i URL Parameter

  • The i URL parameter does not allow control over which image area to apply the image to.

  • As with placeholder images, it does not allow the use of a separate low quality image for the onscreen preview and a high quality image for artwork.

  • As with gallery autoload, it is not a core feature and is only available in a few apps.

Why Is the state URL Parameter So Long and Ugly?

The state parameter has been designed to allow many other attributes to be controlled via the URL and so needs to be quite verbose to be able to express all the different potential options (i.e. text areas, colours, rotation, etc).

More on the additional attributes will be announced in the future.