On Friday, a new build of Deep Zoom Composer was released sporting some really neat new functionality including the ability to upload collections to Microsoft Live Labs PhotoZoom.

Download: Deep Zoom Composer (8/1/2008 Release)

Microsoft Live Labs PhotoZoom is designed to let users show off their photos with Deep Zoom and Silverlight by allowing users to upload their Deep Zoom collections to the web. To upload my collection, all I needed to do was login using my Windows Live ID in Deep Zoom Composer under "PhotoZoom Export".

NOTE: Before you are able to upload a collection, you must first go to the Microsoft Live Labs PhotoZoom website and login to create an account associated with your Windows Live ID.

Once signed in, I can create a new album, give it an album name, choose image format and quality and upload. I can also add to existing collections.  

After I published a collection to PhotoZoom - I can embed that collection into a website or blog post to share the collection with others. Here is my first "test" Deep Zoom collection on PhotoZoom. It's a panoramic shot I stitched together

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As announced earlier this week during the Tech•Ed 2008 Keynote - Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 has been released. Tech•Ed 2008 for Developers is taking place in Orlando this week with Tech•Ed 2008 for IT Professionals starting next week. Check out the Virtual Press Room for Tech•Ed 2008 for the latest announcements.

On top of today's Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 release comes two new releases also worth taking note of: Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 CTP and an updated build of Deep Zoom Composer for Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 support.

Because of updates made in Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2, I needed to install the updated build of Deep Zoom Composer and re-publish my Space Needle Deep Zoom Collection to take full advantage of today's Silverlight 2.0 Beta 2 release.

Download: Deep Zoom Composer June 2008 Release (Version 0.9.0.3)

Download: Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 CTP

With the new build of Deep Zoom Composer - I was able to choose between JPEG and PNG for the format of my photos within my Deep Zoom Collection. In my updated Space Needle Deep Zoom Collection I went with PNG. However, when you choose JPEG you can set the quality of

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A couple weeks ago, the Deep Zoom Composer Team announced an update to Deep Zoom Composer that was first released at MIX this year. You can download the new version here (version 0.9.0.2).  I decided to use Deep Zoom Composer myself to create my very own Deep Zoom Collections.  

If you recall, I took a roadtrip around the Pacific Northwest with a friend and took quite a bit of photos with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi  (a Certified for Windows Vista camera). I used many of the photos to create some panoramic shots with Windows Live Photo Gallery. Click here to view the shots as well as the post about my trip. However I still had tons of photos left over from the trip. I decided to use some leftover photos taken from the top of the Space Needle in Seattle, WA to create my very first Deep Zoom Collection.

Deep Zoom Collection*: Top of Space Needle in Seattle, WA

* Silverlight 2.0 Beta is required to view Deep Zoom Collections. If you don't have Silverlight 2.0 installed, it will ask you to install it to view the Deep Zoom Collection.

Creating

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