There's another API that has most of the images - http://api.mtgdb.info/. Hopefully they'll stick around for a while without suffering a similar fate. There's also another tool in this thread for pulling down images from assorted sources, if you don't mind preloading them.
I notice you've got a little bit of white border around some of your images - have you thought of scaling your crops to slightly larger than the image frame so it's eliminated?
I'd also use a sans-serif font for the card text, preferably one of the standard, boring web fonts like Verdana - boring, I know, but I found that at the default zoom the text was a little hard to read. Using a serifless font would make the text easier to read at small sizes
[quote from="minouris »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/digital-magic-and-mtg-software/494332-mtg-json-new-website-provides-mtg-card-data-in?comment=409"]The nice thing was that file was small, just had up to like 5 values s, m, r, u, c. I think that would be a nice addition to each set. Otherwise I have to query each card.
I think the best solution there, if you're not doing it already, is to download the individual set files once (unless they change, which for the purposes of rarity data is highly unlikely), and then store the relevant values in your app in a data structure of your own making, rather than parsing the entire JSON file each time you want to refer to the data
I'm pretty sure that attribution is the key point here - all the other sites mentioned clearly display a copyright message attributing ownership of the images and related trademarks to Wizards. The license for their fan kits states that anything of theirs that you display must be displayed with a legal disclaimer.
The fact that mtgimage.com allowed direct downloads of card images without any of the accompanying legal baggage is probably what sparked off their lawyers.
At least I hope that's it - otherwise we could all be in trouble.
Another thing, I did a mistake putting 2 copies of a card, I have only one.
I have tried to remove 1 (by removing both, seems to be the only option??), without any luck.
Am I doing something wrong? (Clicking "manage coll." - "CARDS under manage" - REMOVE under remove"!
Tried both with and without checking the square to the left of the cards name
without any luck)
Quick query about this - did you select a quantity to remove in the Collection Cards screen? The "#" on the "Remove #" refers to the number you enter in the "#" column with the arrow icons
I should probably update the help pages for the app at some point - I can see how it would be ambiguous.
I might add a "Clear Search" option to the "Add Cards" form for that purpose, and I'll definitely be making it clear the selected / quantity fields in the search results once it's added the cards. It's much quicker to add your cards by set than by searching for each individual card by name, though, although it requires a bit of initial sorting of your collections.
Here's how I do it when I get a new batch of cards:
Separate the cards into different piles by set, or sometimes by block
Separate each Set / Block pile into Colors (for spells) and types (for Lands, Artifacts and Planeswalkers)
Sort each color pile alphabetically (I usually make a pile for each letter, then sort each pile separately before combining them again)
Lastly, I open up the app, and filter by Set / Color / Type, going down the list and entering the quantity for each card on the list, and hitting "Add Cards" at the end of each page of search results (when i enter a card, I put it face down in another pile to show I've entered it)
I can get through a booster box in about an hour that way
I'm also hoping to add a feature at some point that lets you type up all your cards in a list with quantities and set codes. I need to ponder a few things first, though, such as providing an easy way to identify card names with spelling mistakes, special characters, etc.
Since I started building this site, I've been using card images served up from http://mtgimage.com/, a fantastic resource provided by Sembiance, an officer and a gentleman of the highest calibre.
Unfortunately, as of today, mtgimage.com has been hit by a DMCA takedown notice from Wizards of the Coast, which means that my source of images has abruptly vanished.
I am unsure what to do about this, as of now. This issue has made the use of card images a bit murky. I note that other sites, such as MTGSalvation, TCGPlayer, etc, are able to display card images as they did before, which gives me hope that I will be able to as well, provided I can find another source for images.
Hold tight, and hopefully things will return to normal soon.
Edit: I've found an alternative source for images, which may or may not be permanent. The images aren't very high quality, unfortunately, and they load slower than the ones from mtgimage.com, but it'll have to do for now.
Good luck, Sembiance. Yours is the best API out there for card data - it'd be a real shame if they shut it down
Do you know what the legal ramifications might be for sites making use of card images in general - i.e., is it the fact that the images could be downloaded without any copyright disclaimers displayed alongside the principal problem?
If you could PM me the file, that would be very useful - I only had my own limited test data to work from when producing the import, so there's likely stuff i don't know about that I'm not supporting fully.
Enter in the password form is a small gripe that I intend to remedy soon
I'm currently working on a complete overhaul of the deck builder, at the end of which it should be a lot more accessible. The changes to the data structures that this is mandating have led to a lot of changes elsewhere in the site, including forcing me down into scary refactors that are proving to be ultimately beneficial (there are a lot of speed issues that I'm aware of that will hopefulyl vanish in a puff of purple smoke). It's not quite on par with Deckbox yet, but give it time
Thanks for the feedback - even bug reports are of vital importance for steering me in the right direction
Oops.
I notice you've got a little bit of white border around some of your images - have you thought of scaling your crops to slightly larger than the image frame so it's eliminated?
I'd also use a sans-serif font for the card text, preferably one of the standard, boring web fonts like Verdana - boring, I know, but I found that at the default zoom the text was a little hard to read. Using a serifless font would make the text easier to read at small sizes
Quick question... In the wake of MTGImage going down, will the imageName field still be populated with a unique value?
I think the best solution there, if you're not doing it already, is to download the individual set files once (unless they change, which for the purposes of rarity data is highly unlikely), and then store the relevant values in your app in a data structure of your own making, rather than parsing the entire JSON file each time you want to refer to the data
The fact that mtgimage.com allowed direct downloads of card images without any of the accompanying legal baggage is probably what sparked off their lawyers.
At least I hope that's it - otherwise we could all be in trouble.
MTGJSON has that data, at the card level - look at the "rarity" field
Quick query about this - did you select a quantity to remove in the Collection Cards screen? The "#" on the "Remove #" refers to the number you enter in the "#" column with the arrow icons
I should probably update the help pages for the app at some point - I can see how it would be ambiguous.
Here's how I do it when I get a new batch of cards:
I can get through a booster box in about an hour that way
I'm also hoping to add a feature at some point that lets you type up all your cards in a list with quantities and set codes. I need to ponder a few things first, though, such as providing an easy way to identify card names with spelling mistakes, special characters, etc.
Since I started building this site, I've been using card images served up from http://mtgimage.com/, a fantastic resource provided by Sembiance, an officer and a gentleman of the highest calibre.
Unfortunately, as of today, mtgimage.com has been hit by a DMCA takedown notice from Wizards of the Coast, which means that my source of images has abruptly vanished.
I am unsure what to do about this, as of now. This issue has made the use of card images a bit murky. I note that other sites, such as MTGSalvation, TCGPlayer, etc, are able to display card images as they did before, which gives me hope that I will be able to as well, provided I can find another source for images.
Hold tight, and hopefully things will return to normal soon.
Edit: I've found an alternative source for images, which may or may not be permanent. The images aren't very high quality, unfortunately, and they load slower than the ones from mtgimage.com, but it'll have to do for now.
Do you know what the legal ramifications might be for sites making use of card images in general - i.e., is it the fact that the images could be downloaded without any copyright disclaimers displayed alongside the principal problem?
Enter in the password form is a small gripe that I intend to remedy soon
I'm currently working on a complete overhaul of the deck builder, at the end of which it should be a lot more accessible. The changes to the data structures that this is mandating have led to a lot of changes elsewhere in the site, including forcing me down into scary refactors that are proving to be ultimately beneficial (there are a lot of speed issues that I'm aware of that will hopefulyl vanish in a puff of purple smoke). It's not quite on par with Deckbox yet, but give it time
Thanks for the feedback - even bug reports are of vital importance for steering me in the right direction