System and computer-implemented method for incorporating an image into a page of content for transmission from a web-site

Abstract

A computer-implemented system and method of operating a web-site that provides accounts for respective users is disclosed. The method comprises: receiving an image uploaded from a user to the account of the user, wherein the image is to be incorporated into the account for presentation to other users who have been granted appropriate access to the account, and wherein the image is received as an image data file encoding the image in accordance with a standard image format; converting the image from the standard image format of the image data file into a format in which the image is encoded using a markup language, wherein the markup language is generally used for transmitting a page of content from said web-site to a browser run by a user; and incorporating the image encoded using the markup language into a page of content prior to transmission of the page of content over a telecommunications network to a browser run by a user.

1 . A computer-implemented method of operating a web-site that provides accounts for respective users, the method comprising:
 receiving an image uploaded from a user to the account of the user, wherein said image is to be incorporated into the account for presentation to other users who have been granted appropriate access to the account, and wherein said image is received as an image data file encoding said image in accordance with a standard image format;   converting said image from said standard image format of the image data file into a format in which the image is encoded using a markup language, wherein said markup language is generally used for transmitting a page of content from said web-site to a browser run by a user; and   incorporating the image encoded using said markup language into a page of content prior to transmission of the page of content over a telecommunications network to a browser run by a user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the conversion of the image from said standard image format into the markup language is performed in response to receiving a request from the browser for the page of content. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing the converted image encoded using said markup language for use in responding to future requests for the page of content. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the converted image is stored separately from the page of content for future incorporation into said page of content. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the page of content incorporating the image encoded using said markup language from a web-site running on a server to a browser running on a receiving client. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein a browser on the receiving client renders the page of content so as to display the image within said page by directly using the image encoded by said markup language and without having to retrieve any image source file. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein converting the image includes converting pixels of the image into dots in said markup language. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein converting the image includes combining a series of two or more dots that are the same as one another into a line in said markup language. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising reducing the volume of the image encoded using said markup language. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein reducing the volume includes lowering the resolution of the image. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein lowering the resolution of the image is performed prior to converting the image. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein lowering the resolution of the image is performed as part of converting the image. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein lowering the resolution of the image comprises subsampling or averaging the image. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein converting the image includes adding a watermark to the image in markup form. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said markup language comprises hypertext markup language (html). 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the converted image is built up on a line-by-line basis;   wherein each line of the converted image comprises one or more HyperText Markup Language (HTML) image units, each HTML image unit being located in just a single line of the converted image and formed from a row of one or more consecutive pixels of the image which have the same color;   and wherein a first line of the converted image has a first arbitrary length and a second line of the converted image has a second arbitrary length, wherein both the first and second arbitrary lengths are independent of the lengths of other lines in the converted image.   
     
     
         17 . A computer-implemented web-site running on a server including one or more processors, wherein the web-site provides accounts for respective users, the one or more processors being configured to execute instructions to perform a method comprising:
 receiving an image uploaded from a user to the account of the user, wherein said image is to be incorporated into the account for presentation to other users who have been granted appropriate access to the account, and wherein said image is received as an image data file encoding said image in accordance with a standard image format;   converting said image from said standard image format of the image data file into a format in which the image is encoded using a markup language, wherein said markup language is generally used for transmitting a page of content from said web-site to a browser run by a user;   incorporating the image encoded using said markup language into a page of content prior to transmission of the page of content over a telecommunications network to a browser run by a user.   
     
     
         18 . A computer-implemented method of operating a web-site that provides image search services, the method comprising:
 receiving a search request from a user for images, wherein said search request specifies one or more search criteria;   retrieving one or more images in accordance with said one or more search criteria;   providing the retrieved images to the user, wherein said provided images are encoded using a markup language, wherein said markup language is generally used for transmitting a page of content from said web-site to a browser run by a user.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising converting said one or more retrieved images from an image data file in a standard image format into said markup language encoding. wherein said converting is optionally performed prior to receiving the search request from the user. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising subsequently providing at least one of the retrieved images to the user in said standard image format upon selection of said at least one retrieved image by the user.