Image quality
Your photograph should look like the file you chose to share. Glass keeps your original upload and creates optimized display versions for different screens while preserving the color and detail photographers care about.
For upload formats, aspect ratios, and posting steps, see Sharing your work.
What happens after you upload
Glass prepares several things from one upload:
Your original file is kept but never served to other members.
Display copies are created at sizes suited to different screens, up to 3072 pixels on the longest dimension.
Available EXIF is read for camera, lens, focal length, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and capture date.
Sensitive metadata, including GPS, is removed from copies served to other people.
Display copies favor image fidelity over the smallest possible file. Editing and export tools sometimes remove EXIF, so include it in your export if you want those details to appear.
Formats and color
On the web, upload JPEG or PNG. On iPhone and iPad, choose photos from your library. Prefer an export with an embedded sRGB or P3 profile. Glass chooses a display format supported by each browser or app, including JPEG XL, AVIF, WebP, or JPEG. You do not need to choose the display format yourself.
Glass preserves embedded color profiles through processing, including P3. On a color-managed browser or app and a wide-gamut display, this keeps colors closer to your edit. A device or browser without wide-gamut support may show the photograph in a smaller color space.
View a photo at its best
Open a photo away from the surrounding feed, then use full-screen view when you want it to fill the display. On a touch screen, pinch or double-tap to zoom. On the web, use the full-screen control or press F.
Zoom loads Glass's largest display version, up to 3072 pixels on the longest dimension. The photo detail view also shows any EXIF Glass could read, and camera or lens names may link to their equipment feeds.
For the most accurate comparison with your edit, use the same calibrated display and color-managed browser for the local file and Glass. If they still differ, email support@glass.photo with the original file, Glass post link, and browser or app you used.
Banding after upload
Banding is when smooth gradients, such as soft skies or subtle shadows, show visible steps or stripes. It shows up most often in black and white work or images with delicate tonal shifts.
Glass creates multiple display versions from your upload. That compression can struggle with ultra-subtle gradients. Your original file on Glass is unchanged. Adding a small amount of noise or grain before export can reduce banding in the display copies without changing the look much.
Protecting your work
Glass places an invisible layer over full-size photos on the web to deter common right-click and drag-to-desktop downloads. It is not absolute protection: a browser or app must receive a display copy to show it, so a determined person can still save that copy.
Glass never serves your original upload to other members. It also tells known AI crawlers not to access member photography, blocks known scraping bots, and does not use your photos to train AI. No anti-scraping measure can promise perfect coverage.
Your work remains yours. If you want tighter visibility, set your profile to members only. Privacy, safety, and your data explains those controls.
Common questions
What does the focal length in parentheses mean?
When Glass shows something like 50mm (75mm), the value in parentheses comes from the FocalLengthIn35mmFormat field in your photo's EXIF when it differs from the native focal length. Glass does not calculate it from how much you cropped the image. If that field is missing, only the native focal length appears.