About Section slide show

[#1]

This week, I noticed that the pictures in my About Section slide show have been cropped to just a corner of the image.

I compared the DPI for the current photos to the original photos.

Previously, the slide show images were formatted to 2550x1700 DPI.

Now, the allowable image size is only 760x468 DPI, significantly smaller and a very different ratio than the original slide show.

Is anyone else seeing this difference?  

Or am I just in a test?

It is very unfortunate to have such a prominent aesthetic change to our shops without notification.  I had a beautiful, cohesive slide show created to Etsy's requirements.  Now I have a weirdly cropped slide show that looks sloppy and unprofessional. 

If others are seeing this, then I will need to reformat my slide show to fit the new parameters so it does not look like a sloppy mistake.

Thanks for checking!

[NancyQstudio]

@SmudgePlant I hope so.  I attempted to contact Etsy. But that page has a "whoopsie" error message.  

[SurnamePro]

My about images look okay on a PC but on a cell phone they are minced like a small bottle of garlic at the grocery store.

[SkyGliderDesigns]

I noticed this change about 4 weeks ago.  About 3 weeks ago I contacted CS.  I was bounced through probably 4 agents who didn't seem to understand my issue, hadn't read previous messages and were convinced I had done something wrong.  I went through all of the "fixes"(cookies, cache, restart, different browsers, different phone, etc.).  I sent numerous screenshots.  None of the agents really understood why this was so unprofessional looking.  I just wanted my shop and others to look as the owners had intended.  I last responded 2 weeks ago and still waiting on a reply or mysterious change.

This beyond frustrating to be ignored while trying to help improve the site.  From reading some of the current login forum posts I guess I'm not alone.  Why don't they understand making managing OUR shops and customer experience is related to sales?!

Anybody out there?  Moderators?  @KristenLovesClaire 

[SmudgePlant]

Received another email from Etsy. I asked if the matter could be bumped to someone who knew about the About section layout. The request is getting transferred to the tech team. I will try to give them time to fix it, but I feel like removing my photos.

After what @SkyGliderDesigns  posted, I know they have been aware of the issue. I'm curious as to why it seemed so new to them.

I have also thought of putting a notice on the first line of my About section:

"If you are having trouble viewing my photos on a mobile device, please rotate your phone or tablet into Landscape mode. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."

[SeasideRoseCreations]

It seems new to them because they read off a script and have zero clue about the site.

They are outsourced, at the minimum.  The next level personnel, know a little more but mostly, they "escalate" the issue to a team.

It's all very 1920's customer service.

[NancyQstudio]

Yes, Etsy's customer service is very disappointing to say the least.  

[SmudgePlant]

If it's 1920's customer service then maybe I need to bribe them with contraband liquor.

[SkyGliderDesigns]

@SmudgePlant 

I also asked to be  escalated for better help.  Crickets.

I think having multiple reports really shows that this is important.  Maybe, eventually, they will actually look into it.  Maybe...

[SmudgePlant]

I also received another email from another customer rep. It said that my report would be added to an investigation (maybe with @SkyGliderDesigns report?) and that the engineering team was working on it.

It sounded like they were taking things seriously. (I'm wearing my rose colored glasses today.)

[SkyGliderDesigns]

@SmudgePlant 

I sincerely hope that you are right!  After a week of endless circles with different reps and no action, followed by two weeks of silence I have little confidence.

I have considered trying to doctor my photos myself.  However, I'm a bit concerned if they ever figure the issue out (blanket fix) the photos will be wrong, again.  Just trying to create a cohesive shop.

Ugh.  I wish they would just take sellers seriously.  We are more connected to what is happening on the site.  We provide free reporting right here in the forums too.  So many of the reps seemed unsure of how the site actually works in reality.

[NancyQstudio]

@SmudgePlant I hope so.  That's great to hear too!  Thanks for sharing. 

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

I just read through this thread and the About page images in my shop look perfect on both my laptop and the buyer app on my iPhone 11. 

[NancyQstudio]

I wonder if these photos can only work on the new Etsy app when viewing on a phone?  I'm still seeing the poorly cropped photos when viewing on a cell phone.

@PiecesOfMePaperCraft  I took a peek at your shop.  It looks great on my laptop! But, your About Photos only show wood packing with a corner of the print on my phone. None of your wonderful art can be seen when viewing it this way. 

 I just had my son and husband look at my shop on their phones. The About section appeared the same.  Only the top part of an oversized image could be seen on each of them.  It was bad.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

@NancyQstudio 

I don't use the new app. I use the buyer app and the old seller app (at least I think that's what it is) and I do updates when they're available.

I just looked at my About section using the Chrome browser on my phone and I see what you're seeing with the chopped images. I normally browse on the buyer app or my laptop so I've never noticed it before.

[NancyQstudio]

@PiecesOfMePaperCraft That's interesting and good to know.  I imagine it's complicated getting all of the information to look right across so many various programs.  

[SmudgePlant]

No change yet.

I will post periodically to keep this thread going and if I get any more emails.

Maybe we should start a pool...

[SmudgePlant]

Still no change.

Marking one week for me, and one month for others on this post.

[irmaKdesigns]

And here I was blaming my Pixel phone. Every shop's About photos have been zoomed for some time now (phone only). 

About 85% of my shop's visits come from mobile devices. We sellers look so incompetent when potential buyers look at our mangled About section. I was so holding on to an illusion that it's just my device's problem...

[SmudgePlant]

It's not you @irmaKdesigns .

It's definitely Etsy.  And it makes us look like we don't care. Or that we're crazy: Where it says "My friend, co-worker and sometimes model", it shows a picture of a green bin. : (

[irmaKdesigns]

@SmudgePlant First time I saw distorted About photos in someone's shop, I thought, poor thing doesn't know how to upload photos... untill I checked mine. My last photo is of our dog (staff member:), and instead I have some unexplained rag hanging there (corner of a tablecloth). Yah, that makes this shop owner look very sharp.

[VibeEnvy]

Mines been like that for a while.

[Vintagecountdown]

I submitted a help request about this weeks ago and they said they were going to investigate. Haven’t heard anything back in weeks. I’m going to reply again to the email and include this thread so they can see it’s affecting many of us!

[SmudgePlant]

I found somewhat of a work around. It may not work for everyone's pictures.

I uploaded two more pictures of my dog. I made sure both were 760 px by 468 px.  On one of the pictures, I layered a smaller picture of the same photo in the top left hand corner where the crop occurs.

The other picture I left "as is" so if they ever look at my shop, they will see the extreme crop.

A "collage" type picture would also work, just keep in mind the top left corner.

[NancyQstudio]

Thank you.  It's so sad that this has to be done because Etsy can't fix their darn system.  Their support needs serious improvement! 

[SmudgePlant]

Still no fix from Etsy.

I decided to redo both photos in a layout that would work for both desktop and mobile.

Not ideal, but better than what it was.

I think they want us to drop photos and just have a video or it would have been fixed by now.