Uploading of large(ish) files timing out

[PenguinPower]

I'm attempting to upload a fair sized file - 40mb and it's timing out before it completes every time... Am I being throttled on my end or is it on the Z side? Anyone else experiencing problems with big files?

[LFL]

I can only upload files below 1MB right now. I have cover photos that I saved as jpegs to make them smaller that are under 3MB and they are still not uploading.

Maybe a temporary threshold was put in place while the website was lagging this week? If so, we have to wait until it is lifted. Hopefully it will be soon.

[PenguinPower]

I was able to upload a 12mb file... but not the 40, so I'd say it's not a size limit. Perhaps it's not on their end.

[MasterpieceCafe]

I haven't been able to upload large files for months.

[PenguinPower]

That sucks when they've just added huge scale rug products... 

[MasterpieceCafe]

Exactly. I've posted about this and contacted Z via email. I'm hoping this will get resolved soon.

[Fiorenzo]

As I mentioned in a rug-related post, you don't need hugely sized ultra-sharp imagery for rugs simply because a) these rugs are roughly printed at a resolution of 50 to perhaps 70 DPI, and b) the rough material won't show fine details anyway.

Copy-and-pasting the relevant info from my post:

• Forget the PDF guide. It's based on sizes and their resp. ratios and is a vector PDF that will be imported at the dpi/ppi value chosen by yourself in software like Photoshop or Photopaint.
• Such rugs are commonly printed at 50-70 dpi, no need for huge 300 dpi/ppi, so the largest 12x9' / 144x108" size can be easily served with image sizes starting at around 7200 x 5400 pixels assuming a 50 dpi print (plus bleed). A competitor site requests an image size of  7400x5000 pixels for their 12x8' rug + bleed.
• The designer tool requests a min. resolution of 100 dpi/ppi to avoid the dot on the rugs. This means 14400x10800pixels + bleed. tested it out and an image size of rounded 15000 pixels width works perfectly, "filled" on the 12x9' size.
• So, while 7400 pixels are enough but the designer wants at least 14800 or so, create your image at 7500 pixels, then flatten it, resize to double the size (15000 pixels), sharpen, then save as high quality JPG (around 80% quality, more than enough). This should give you acceptable filesizes around 30 to 50 MB on more complex designs without having to give up any quality - you won't get ultrasharp or thin lines on large rugs made of rough fabric anyway.

A note about PNG, JPG and compression rate: Large image files meant to be printed on large and/or rough (e.g. fabric) items such as blankets, duvet covers etc, it's more than enough to save them as JPG at a compression quality of around 80% (and even 70% on very detailed and large images). This radically lowers the file size and doesn't affect the visual quality in any way. Avoid PNG at any cost in these cases, unless you need transparency.

[1234Shine]

@Fiorenzo Thanks for sharing.  You mentioned "Sharpen" the image.  Do you use that a lot? On certain types of products? What "intensity" do you normally use to sharpen?

[Fiorenzo]

Glad to help. I create composite artwork mostly at large sizes of 6000 or more pixels to accommodate Zazzle's products, with the exception of works that are meant to be solely printed on smaller objects, e.g. cards. This implies the resizing and reshaping of the used elements, so a final sharpening is always necessary to get crispy results.

For sharpening I use the Highpass filter on a final merged layer, together with either the linear light or the overlay blend mode. In the cases where I have to resize and adapt the original work to specific product shapes, I first flatten the image, resize and cut it, and only then I'll sharpen it appropriately before saving it separately and exporting it as a JPG (or PNG, depends). The values used vary depending on the needs.

If you don't know the Highpass method, search on YouTube for tutorials depending on the software you're using. There are plenty of them.

Be aware that Zazzle's designer also resizes the images when creating the print file, so you'll always lose some sharpness. This is different than in professional graphic design where you work with exact print sizes.

[PenguinPower]

That's fine Fio, but recently I can't even upload a 30mb file.... It's a good thing all of my rug designs are vectors. 

In any case, the problem really has nothing at all to do with rug designs, I was just commiserating with MC... it's about uploads timing out. What I was attempting to upload wasn't for a rug, it was simply a large file. 

[Fiorenzo]

Yep I know that it's not related but wanted to give some tips for the rugs since you mentioned them. Just tested large uploads on my side. replied to your OP.

[Fiorenzo]

Never had issues on Zazzle even with my old 8 MB (Down) /500KB (Up) connection. So I was wondering and made a test. Just saved a large and complex work of 8000 x 8000 pixels in 3 ways, a) a High-Quality JPG, which resulted in a filesize of 22.7 MB, b) a Max-Quality JPG, filesize 51.5 MB, and c) a PNG, filesize 100 MB. All 3 files uploaded smoothly and without issues. I am using a 200 MB Down / 20 MB Up home internet connection that actually runs at 50/8 MB (shame on them), connected via cable to the router (faster and more reliable than WI-FI) from a Win 10 high-end gaming PC. From Italy with a relatively high PIN.

The problem is most certainly on your end or in between. I had these time-out issues on a different POD back when I had a slow 8MB/500KB connection. I couldn't upload files larger than 3 MB. Zazzle worked perfectly fine even then (a few years ago).

If you have the chance, I would test it out from a library or a friend's connection and see how it works there. What are your specs (connection speed, home or mobile internet, device/PC used)?

[1234Shine]

@Fiorenzo What are the 'High-Quality' JPG and 'Max-Quality' JPG?  How to get them?  Do they look differently in the actual prints?

[Fiorenzo]

Max-Quality is uncompressed or slightly compressed JPG, set quality to 90-100% or compression to 0-10% (depending on your software). In Photoshop set Quality to 90-100% when using the "Export as JPG" option or to 11-12/Maximum when using "Save as". Uncompressed JPG can be pretty heavy, even just a 5 or 10% co0mp'ression lowers them significantly. Compared to PNG it depends on the content, use JPG for complex images (e.g. photos), use PNG for images with fewer colors/complexity and large plain color area such as illustrations.

I consider High Quality JPG files with a quality rate between 80 and 90% (compression 10 to 20%). I would choose the rate depending on the image size in pixels and the complexity of the content. The more detailed and colorful and larger the image, the more compression you can use to get acceptable file sizes at no visible quality losses. For complex images such as extremely detailed landscapes and very large image sizes you can lower the quality even to 70% for good results at pretty "low" file sizes

In every case, always make sure you use the 4:4:4 compression method without subsampling to get clean colors and no or just minimal artifacts. The options you can set depend on the used software. Photoshop unfortunately does not have this option but from what I have read, all quality rates of 70% and above are not subsampled while the rates below use the 4:2:2 subsampling. Which is unfortunate but only affects web imagery, for printing you don't go lower.

There is absolutely no visible difference and quality drop at high to max JPG quality (no-low 4:4:4 compression), unless you have large plain-color fields with specific color shades such as red that may get some artifacts under 90%. In these cases you usually use PNG, though. Or just lower the compression below 10% (quality over 90%) or don't compress at all.

I usually use a 90% quality / 10% compression on my JPG, unless I have very large and complex image files where I go down to 80% to get acceptable file sizes.

Hope this helped.

[PenguinPower]

We're on a fast DSL line.. and I've never had issues in the past, even with very large files... My download speeds look great.. I'm getting 12-14 mbps.. but geezum, my upload isn't even hitting 1. WTF, definitely being throttled. Now to figure out why... 

[Fiorenzo]

As mentioned, works absolutely fine here up to tested 100 MB files at approx 50Mb Download and 8.5 Mb Upload speed. I had the same problems on S6 when I had my 10 Mb Down/500Kb Up connection, but Zazzkle worked fine even then. Zazzle may have issues but I assume the slower connection may add to the issue. As said, try it out in an Internet cafe or library or at a friend's home, just to get a clue if it's Zazzle or your connection. Perhaps you're having interferences or data loss. All assumptions, difficult to analyse blindly.

[Malissa]

I haven't been able to upload a file over around 5mb in almost 2 months now.  I feel like I must be the only one.  I've been posting to this thread periodically, but no one else seems to be still having issues or they have given up posting about it.

I have slow upload speeds on terrible rural country internet (around a HALF mbps upload) BUT I AM able to upload the same files to canva with no issues other than it takes several minutes to complete.  The largest ones I am trying to upload are 10- 25 mb  (most of the ones are 6-15 mb ) and take a few minutes but do load on Canva.  I am able to upload videos to YouTube.  The only place I can not upload my files is Zazzle and I used to be able to up until right around the announcement we could upload videos.  We are on the best internet available in our area since we don't have cable lines we are so rural, but it is what I have been using since I started Zazzle and this is the first time I have been unable to work.

I have had some communication via email, but still no resolution or answers.  They are still looking into it as far as I know, but I am sure missing out on being able to create for the Christmas season and am getting very discouraged. 

[Longdistgramma3]

I am having the same issue. Files that are big enough to create, comforters, fleece blankets, shower curtains will not load. I am really pi--ed. How can this go on for so long? Of course I got the same response, "we're working on it". So when are you going to fix it, give us some kind of update please.😡

[MasterpieceCafe]

I am still having this issue. Is it just me?

I have no idea how to fix this, I've never had this issue in the past and I have a faster connection now.

[Malissa]

I am still having this problem as well.  I wasn't able to upload most of my new stuff for the holiday season.  It has been very discouraging.

[ZProDesigner262]

I'm having the same problem.

[MasterpieceCafe]

Did you ever get this resolved? I can't upload large files to Z. I have no issue at other places. I'm not sure what to do to fix this here. I have many files I want to upload.

[ZProDesigner262]

No, I never did get it resolved.