Introduction

In the fields of digital archives and digital humanities, choosing the right IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) viewer is a critical decision. While feature-rich viewers like Mirador and Universal Viewer (UV) are widely used, there are many situations where a lighter, faster-loading viewer is preferable.

This is where Tify comes in. Tify is a lightweight, fast IIIF document viewer developed primarily by the Goettingen State and University Library (SUB Goettingen) in Germany.

What Is Tify?

Tify is a web-based viewer for browsing materials via IIIF manifests. Built with Vue.js and released under the MIT license as open-source software, you can try a live demo at the official site (https://tify.rocks/).

Its standout feature is lightweight size and fast loading. The JavaScript bundle is small, resulting in very short load times that provide a smooth user experience. It is particularly well-suited for mobile devices, with a responsive design that works comfortably on smartphones and tablets.

Key Features

IIIF Presentation API Support

Tify supports both IIIF Presentation API 2.1 and 3.0. This means it can work directly with existing IIIF manifests, making adoption straightforward for institutions that already have IIIF-compliant image delivery infrastructure.

Page Navigation with Thumbnails

Users can navigate multi-page documents by selecting pages from a thumbnail overview. This is especially useful for books, manuscripts, and other multi-page materials. The thumbnail panel is displayed alongside the main view, enabling intuitive navigation.

Table of Contents (Structures)

When Structures (Ranges) are defined in the IIIF manifest, Tify renders them as a navigable table of contents. For books with chapters or documents with defined sections, users can quickly jump to the desired location.

Full-Text Search via OCR

For manifests with associated OCR data, Tify provides full-text search functionality. Users can enter search terms and see matching passages highlighted within the document. This is a powerful feature for researching historical materials that contain large volumes of text.

Metadata and Annotations

Tify displays metadata included in the manifest (such as title, author, and holding institution) in a structured format. It also supports the display of annotations, allowing users to view scholarly notes and commentary associated with the document.

Easy Embedding

One of Tify’s greatest strengths is how easy it is to embed. At its simplest, you just add a single script tag to your HTML and specify a manifest URL.

<div id="tify"></div>
<script type="module">
  import Tify from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/tify/dist/tify.js';
  new Tify({
    container: '#tify',
    manifestUrl: 'https://example.org/manifest.json',
  });
</script>

It is also available as an npm package and can be easily integrated into Vue.js projects. Configuration options are extensive, allowing customization of display language, initial page, panel visibility, and more.

Comparison with Other IIIF Viewers

Here is a brief comparison with the major IIIF viewers, Mirador and Universal Viewer.

Mirador is a feature-rich viewer that supports opening and comparing multiple manifests simultaneously. It is well-suited for research use cases but comes with a larger file size and slower loading times. It offers high extensibility through plugins, though initial configuration can be complex.

Universal Viewer (UV) supports diverse media types beyond images, including audio and video. While highly versatile, its bundle size is larger compared to Tify.

Tify occupies a distinct position as a simple, lightweight alternative. It does not offer multi-manifest comparison or multimedia support, but for the use case of comfortably viewing a single document, it is one of the best options available. It excels in scenarios such as digital archive portals and collection exhibition pages where browsing comfort is the priority.

Adoption

Tify is used primarily by German libraries and cultural institutions. Starting with SUB Goettingen, where it was developed, multiple institutions use Tify as the browsing interface for their digital collections. Its lightweight nature makes it easy to integrate into existing websites, and there are examples of integration with content management systems (CMS).

Conclusion

Tify is an IIIF document viewer built around the principles of being lightweight, fast, and mobile-friendly. It takes a different approach from feature-rich viewers like Mirador and UV, focusing instead on simplicity and a comfortable browsing experience.

For scenarios where you need to quickly display an IIIF manifest, where mobile user experience is a priority, or where you want to embed a lightweight viewer into an existing web page, Tify is an excellent choice. It is provided under the MIT license, making it free to use for both commercial and non-commercial purposes.

Official site: https://tify.rocks/ GitHub: https://github.com/tify-iiif-viewer/tify Demo: https://tify.rocks/demo.html