| --- |
| viewer: false |
| tags: |
| - uv-script |
| - iiif |
| - glam |
| - deep-zoom |
| - static-tiles |
| --- |
| |
| # IIIF Static Tiles from HF Storage Buckets |
|
|
| Generate [IIIF Image API 3.0](https://iiif.io/api/image/3.0/) Level 0 static tiles from images and serve them via Hugging Face Storage Buckets — no image server required. |
|
|
| Drop images into a bucket, run one command, and get deep-zoom viewing in any IIIF viewer (Mirador, Universal Viewer, OpenSeadragon). |
|
|
| ## Demo |
|
|
| [View in Mirador](https://projectmirador.org/embed/?iiif-content=https://huggingface.co/buckets/davanstrien/iiif-tiles-streaming/resolve/manifest.json) — 6 pages from the Wellcome Collection, served entirely from an HF Storage Bucket. |
|
|
| ## How it works |
|
|
| ``` |
| Source images (bucket or local) |
| → tile_iiif.py (pyvips generates tile pyramid) |
| → Output bucket (static files served via HF CDN) |
| → Any IIIF viewer (deep zoom, pan, browse) |
| ``` |
|
|
| The script generates a complete IIIF Level 0 tile set: a directory tree of pre-rendered JPEG tiles at multiple zoom levels, plus `info.json` descriptors and a IIIF Presentation v3 `manifest.json`. Since everything is static files, any CDN or file server works — no dynamic image server needed. |
|
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| In bucket-to-bucket mode, images are streamed through in small batches (download → tile → upload → cleanup) so local storage stays minimal regardless of collection size. |
|
|
| ## Quick start |
|
|
| ```bash |
| # Bucket to bucket (recommended for large collections) |
| uv run tile_iiif.py \ |
| --source-bucket myorg/source-images \ |
| --output-bucket myorg/iiif-tiles |
| |
| # From a local directory → HF Bucket |
| uv run tile_iiif.py \ |
| --source-dir ./my-scans \ |
| --output-bucket myorg/iiif-tiles \ |
| --collection-name "My Collection" |
| |
| # Local only (for testing) |
| uv run tile_iiif.py \ |
| --source-dir ./my-scans \ |
| --output-dir ./tiles |
| # Then: cd tiles && python -m http.server |
| ``` |
|
|
| No system dependencies — `pyvips[binary]` bundles libvips in the pip wheel. |
|
|
| ## Run on HF Jobs |
|
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| Process large collections without tying up your machine: |
|
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| ```bash |
| hf jobs uv run tile_iiif.py \ |
| --source-bucket myorg/source-images \ |
| --output-bucket myorg/iiif-tiles \ |
| --collection-name "Historic Manuscripts" |
| ``` |
|
|
| ## View the results |
|
|
| Once tiles are in a bucket, open the manifest in any IIIF viewer: |
|
|
| - **Mirador**: `https://projectmirador.org/embed/?iiif-content=https://huggingface.co/buckets/myorg/iiif-tiles/resolve/manifest.json` |
| - **Universal Viewer**: `https://uv-v4.netlify.app/#?manifest=https://huggingface.co/buckets/myorg/iiif-tiles/resolve/manifest.json` |
|
|
| ## Options |
|
|
| | Flag | Default | Description | |
| |------|---------|-------------| |
| | `--source-bucket` | — | HF bucket with source images (e.g., `org/source`) | |
| | `--source-dir` | — | Local directory with source images | |
| | `--output-bucket` | — | HF bucket for tiles (e.g., `org/tiles`) | |
| | `--output-dir` | — | Local directory for tiles | |
| | `--tile-size` | 512 | Tile size in pixels | |
| | `--base-url` | auto | Base URL for IIIF ids | |
| | `--collection-name` | "IIIF Collection" | Label for the manifest | |
| | `--workers` | 3 | Concurrent workers for bucket-to-bucket mode | |
|
|
| Supported image formats: JPEG, TIFF, PNG, WebP. |
|
|
| ## Performance |
|
|
| Bucket-to-bucket with 6 images (2411x3372 each), generating 54 tiles per image: |
|
|
| | Workers | Time | Local storage | |
| |---------|------|---------------| |
| | 1 | 14.3s | ~10MB (1 image + tiles) | |
| | 3 | 6.7s | ~30MB (3 images + tiles) | |
|
|
| Per image: ~0.6s download, ~0.2s tile, ~1.4s upload. The bottleneck is upload I/O, so concurrent workers overlap network time effectively. |
|
|
| ## What is IIIF Level 0? |
|
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| [IIIF](https://iiif.io/) (International Image Interoperability Framework) is a set of APIs for serving and annotating images, widely used by libraries, archives, and museums. Level 0 means all tiles are pre-generated static files — no dynamic image server needed. Viewers request tiles that already exist on disk (or in a bucket). |
|
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| This covers the primary use case: deep-zoom viewing of high-resolution scans. What you don't get (vs. a full IIIF server) is arbitrary cropping, rotation, or format conversion on the fly — but for browsing collections, Level 0 is all you need. |
|
|
| ## Why HF Storage Buckets? |
|
|
| - **Free hosting** for public buckets |
| - **Global CDN** with signed URLs |
| - **CORS support** for browser-based IIIF viewers |
| - **No infrastructure to maintain** — just static files |
| - **Streaming processing** — handles large collections without landing everything locally |
|
|
