What's New in Photo Center
Discover the latest updates to Arc XP's Photo Center Application.
Photo Center
Release dates
Sandbox - Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Production - Wednesday, April 1, 2025
Release summary
This release includes the following items:
WebP is now a supported file type in Photo Center.
Cropping or setting focal points on large images where Resizer V2 URLs were present in ANS now works as expected for all images regardless of size. If you requested a rollback due to the shifting crop or focal point, your images now have V2 URLs again.
Now, when Photo Center adds the
seo_filenameproperty to the resize URL, it separates it with a dash (-). For example,/resizer/v2/screenshot-MKGSWIHP7JMHTOYWRSDEYSY3Y4.png.Images with EXIF rotation set (like those taken by a smart phone) now show the correct dimensions when you upload them to Photo Center.
The date and corresponding day of the week are now aligned correctly in the calendar when you upload a photo.
In lightboxes, the date in the tooltip now accurately reflects the photo metadata dates.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Monday, February 10, 2025
Production - Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Release summary
This release include the following fixes:
Special characters in the slug field of tags are no longer removed in galleries. Tags now retain special characters as entered.
The photographer’s name now appears correctly when uploading multiple photos with the same photographer name.
The Copy to All option during bulk image uploads no longer causes duplicated metadata in the photographer credits field.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Production - Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Release summary
On February 26, all pre-generated Image Resizer URLs in ANS will transition to Resizer V2 paths in Production. As of January 29, this update is available in Sandbox. Four image ANS fields use Resizer V2 paths, and the Arc XP Photo Center UI uses the corresponding updated Resizer V2 URLs.
The following ANS fields in the Additional Properties section of Image documents will update from /resizer/ to /resizer/v2/. Image documents are embedded as content elements or prompt items in primary stories (articles) and galleries documents.
additional_properties.resizeUrladditional_properties.thumbnailResizeUrladditional_properties.fullSizeResizeUrladditional_properties.proxyUrl
These fields support image display across Photo Center, Composer, and other Arc XP applications.
Content API updates
New stories and galleries created after the release will reflect the updated image fields in Content API.
Existing published content will require republishing to apply these updates.
Legacy V1 URLs in previously published content will continue to function and will eventually redirect to their V2 equivalents. See Resizer v1-to-v2 Redirects.
Note
After this change takes place, you may experience a slight performance impact on the initial display of images in the Arc XP UIs for each search due to first-hit processing.
Testing environment
We’ve allocated five weeks between the Sandbox and Production deployments to allow you time for adjustments.
Examples of changes
Here is an example of a Gallery that uses Image ANS in promo_items and content_elements, before and after this update. Note the addition of /v2/ in the URL path. Please check your integrations, especially if you are parsing or performing regular expressions on these URLs.
Before Update (Version 1.81):
{
"_id": "MHSU7SEBTJDAFFEQJXZJXWAUF4",
"canonical_url": "/2025/02/06/dog-gone-it/",
"canonical_website": "beta-max-extreme",
"created_date": "2025-02-06T22:10:45Z",
"promo_items": {
"basic": {
"_id": "ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI",
"additional_properties": {
"fullSizeResizeUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"galleries": [
{
"headlines": {
"basic": "Dog Gone-it"
},
"_id": "MHSU7SEBTJDAFFEQJXZJXWAUF4"
}
],
"galleryOrder": 0,
"ingestionMethod": "manual",
"mime_type": "image/png",
"originalName": "XZ4Y7VHPMFDXBFMKRM7S7FISHQ.png",
"originalUrl": "https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sandbox.arclabs/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png",
"proxyUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"ptgVersion": 0,
"published": true,
"resizeUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"restricted": false,
"thumbnailResizeUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466&width=300",
"version": 1,
"template_id": 1601
},
"content_elements": [
{
"_id": "ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI",
"additional_properties": {
"fullSizeResizeUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"galleries": [
{
"headlines": {
"basic": "Dog Gone-it"
},
"_id": "MHSU7SEBTJDAFFEQJXZJXWAUF4"
}
],
"galleryOrder": 0,
"ingestionMethod": "manual",
"mime_type": "image/png",
"originalName": "XZ4Y7VHPMFDXBFMKRM7S7FISHQ.png",
"originalUrl": "https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sandbox.arclabs/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png",
"proxyUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"ptgVersion": 0,
"published": true,
"resizeUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"restricted": false,
"thumbnailResizeUrl": "/resizer/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466&width=300",
"version": 1,
"template_id": 1601
},
"website": "beta-max-extreme",
"website_url": "/2025/02/06/dog-gone-it/"
}After Update (Version 1.82):
{
"_id": "MHSU7SEBTJDAFFEQJXZJXWAUF4",
"canonical_url": "/2025/02/06/dog-gone-it/",
"canonical_website": "beta-max-extreme",
"created_date": "2025-02-06T22:10:45Z",
"promo_items": {
"basic": {
"_id": "ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI",
"additional_properties": {
"fullSizeResizeUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"galleries": [
{
"headlines": {
"basic": "Dog Gone-it"
},
"_id": "MHSU7SEBTJDAFFEQJXZJXWAUF4"
}
],
"galleryOrder": 0,
"ingestionMethod": "manual",
"mime_type": "image/png",
"originalName": "XZ4Y7VHPMFDXBFMKRM7S7FISHQ.png",
"originalUrl": "https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sandbox.arclabs/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png",
"proxyUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"ptgVersion": 0,
"published": true,
"resizeUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"restricted": false,
"thumbnailResizeUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466&width=300",
"version": 1,
"template_id": 1601
},
"content_elements": [
{
"_id": "ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI",
"additional_properties": {
"fullSizeResizeUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"galleries": [
{
"headlines": {
"basic": "Dog Gone-it"
},
"_id": "MHSU7SEBTJDAFFEQJXZJXWAUF4"
}
],
"galleryOrder": 0,
"ingestionMethod": "manual",
"mime_type": "image/png",
"originalName": "XZ4Y7VHPMFDXBFMKRM7S7FISHQ.png",
"originalUrl": "https://cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/sandbox.arclabs/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png",
"proxyUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"ptgVersion": 0,
"published": true,
"resizeUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466",
"restricted": false,
"thumbnailResizeUrl": "/resizer/v2/ZOST5Q642ZB45LX4L47S4DTLEI.png?auth=05b1f30c42a15572a70651bd4ba3d94942f00849c3f5eeca6b4ec1e48a94b466&width=300",
"version": 1,
"template_id": 1601
},
"website": "beta-max-extreme",
"website_url": "/2025/02/06/dog-gone-it/"
}Here is another example of a Story document with an image embedded as a content element, as shown in the Debugger view:
Here is an example where the Path to Resizer URL is updated in Photo Center UI.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
If your workflows rely on the affected ANS fields for validation or downstream integrations, you must ensure your systems are updated and tested. Key areas to validate include:
ANS validation processes
Send-to-print integrations
Newsletter and social media provider integrations
Mobile applications
Feeds and third-party downstream integrations
Front-end or back-end code referencing these fields
If you encounter any issues while validating your integrations, please open an Arc XP Customer Support ticket immediately.
Update: Unpublished image access through Resizer URL in ANS
A note for customers accessing unpublished images in external systemsL
With the release of Photo Center 1.82, images retrieved from ANS for use in systems external to Arc XP are now accessible only through the resizer URL if they have been published. Consequently, if you utilize images outside of Arc XP systems, the new V2 URLs of any unpublished image URLs fail.
If you are using unpublished images outside of Arc XP, contact Arc XP Customer Support. We will temporarily allow the use of Resizer V1 URLs so that you may continue to use unpublished image URLs externally until an alternate solution is in place.
Release dates
Sandbox - Monday, December 16, 2024
Production - Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Release summary
We are making a behind-the-scenes change to improve the architecture of Photo Center. Specifically, the Photo Center's legacy user interface (UI) will be decoupled from the back end (API) and deployed as a static site.
This work is entirely on the back end and should not impact your experience or workflows. We are sharing this update as a precaution to keep you informed.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Production - Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Release summary
This release includes the following bug fixes:
Duplicate photographers no longer appear in Photo Center
Photo time zone settings now appear as expected
Additional minor fixes that improve performance and stability
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox and Production - Friday, November 1, 2024
Release summary
Photo Center fixed a bug where authors from Author Service weren't populating in the Credits field on both photo and gallery edit pages.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox and Production - Thursday, October 3, 2024
Release summary
This hotfix enhances search performance and resiliency on all photo and gallery search clusters as well as Photo API.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Thursday, June 20, 2024 (was previously Monday, June 10, 2024)
Production - Wednesday, August 21, 2024
On July 8, we implemented a hotfix in Sandbox to resolve an issue with Image Activity rendering.
Release summary
You can now more easily manage your photo usage in Photo Center. This release includes the following enhancements:
Image search page and image selector - the image in Photo Center now includes an icon that indicates the story usage count in both a published or unpublished story. Knowing whether the image is already used in a story helps you determine whether to use the image again. Hovering over the icon displays a count of usage between published and unpublished stories.
Expanded image view - the expand image view now includes more detail, providing you what stories the image is used in.
Show change history - A new Show change history button now lets you view only the change history for the photo. Previously, the Show photo activity showed both the image usage data and the change history. Show photo activity now shows only the usage data, letting you more quickly and more easily view the information you're looking for.
Tracking Featured Media usage - Arc XP now tracks images used as Featured Media for a story as the image being used in a story.
Also consider the following items about image usage:
You must save a story with a new image for the system to reflect image usage in Photo Center.
Image usage activity extends only to images used in the Arc XP platform and is limited to images added to a story or a gallery.
The total image usage data reflected on the Image Search or Image Selector icon may be different than what you see in the expanded view. When you open the expanded image view, the system retrieves the image usage data and its details.
Note
Consider updating your browser for the best compatibility for this feature. The following browser versions are optimal:
Chrome 117 and newer
Microsoft Edge 117 and newer
Firefox 119 and newer
Opera 103 and newer
Safar 17.4 and newer
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Production - Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Release summary
In an effort to improve our product, Arc XP is collecting certain performance data so we can analyze trends and make more strategic product decisions. This Photo Center 1.79 includes internal updates that enable data collection for Photo Center feature usage from users who have consented to share this data with Arc XP through the consent banner that was deployed on December 11, 2023.
Bug fix
Occasionally, new galleries may not display in search results if “In the last 24 hours/week/month” filters are selected before gallery creation. We fixed it so that new galleries will display once filters are re-applied by using the “Apply filter” button
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Monday, January 22, 2024
Production - Monday, January 29, 2024 (was previously Wednesday, January 31, 2024)
Release summary
When you select an image for a story in Composer through the Photo Center window, the correct photo now appears in the story.
The Sponsored and Unsponsored gallery filters now appear as expected, even if a large number of website and tag filters exist.
Now, only users with the correct permissions can crop photos.
Lightboxes received minor workflow and UI improvements.
Photo Center Settings - Templates now provides more insightful error messages.
Users affected
Photo Center users
Action required
None
Release notes from previous versions are available upon request.
Image Resizer
Release dates
Sandbox - Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Production - Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Release summary
This release introduces the following changes:
IPTC Image Metadata Preservation - This release adds the ability to preserve IPTC Image Metadata, designed for publishers in jurisdictions that require identifying metadata on images. This feature is disabled by default but can be enabled upon request. Contact Arc XP Customer Support.
Canvas Expansion - This release introduces a new feature in Resizer V2 that allows you to expand the canvas of an image, allowing you to add borders, change the aspect ratio without resizing the image, and combine images with watermark.
Background Color - You now have the ability to specify a background color for transparent images or images with an expanded canvas.
For more information, see How to transform images with Resizer v2.
Users affected
Developers
Action required
None
Sandbox - Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Production - Wednesday, July 17, 2024
We now support Image Resizer V2 in secondary organizations. You can now migrate any secondary organizations from Resizer V1 to Resizer V2.
Release dates
Sandbox - Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Production - Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Release summary
Watermarks now have an additional layer of security for Resizer V2 to mitigate misuse. Now, if you want to use watermarks hosted outside of Photo Center, contact Arc XP Customer Support to have them added to an allowlist. You can also host your watermark image in Photo Center.
Note
If you already use watermarks in V2 (hosted internally or externally), we’ve accounted for those watermarks. No updates are needed.
Users affected
Developers
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Production - Wednesday, February 21, 2024
Release summary
The release makes Smart and Focal crop parameters less restrictive, allowing you to pass only the
widthorheightdimension instead of requiring both. Resizer V2 now automatically adjusts the other dimension to match the original aspect ratio.Certain third-party images now work as expected in Resizer V2.
CloudFront image loader, Lambda@Edge, no longer adds a trailing slash for third-party URLs that are CloudFront or S3. This update appears only in Production.
Users affected
Developers
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox & Production - Monday, December 11, 2023
Release summary
We are deploying a hotfix to address internal 500 issues affecting several customers that is not impacting your resizing functionality.
Users affected
Developers
Action required
None
Release dates
Sandbox - Tuesday, November 7, 2023
Production - Thursday, November 9, 2023
Release summary
The Smart Crop transformation now outputs better automated crops based on analysis of the image. Previously, the Smart Crop occasionally output an undesired crop selection, especially for a portrait image with a full body person as the subject of the image. Unfortunately, with this update, we have to walk back a previous improvement to Smart Crop, which allowed you to just specify width, height, or both. Now, you must define both width and height. We are looking to support just width, height, or both again in early Q1 of 2024.
Note
Based on our data, no clients are using Smart Crop in Production. However, if you are using Smart Crop for Resizer V2 in Production and you are not using both width and height variables in the URL, your image will break.
Users affected
Developers
Action required
If you are interested in using Smart Crop in Production, do so only after November 9, 2023.