Enhanced Zoom and Pan for Viewing Digital Images

A system and method is provided that generates and transmits images over a communication network to an end user. The system and method includes a zoom and pan (ZAP) feature that offers a user the ability to see all available detail of a displayed image despite the limited image display area. Specifically, images presented within a zoom and pan interface allow the user to zoom in to a particular area of a displayed image to see additional detail, pan to view various areas of the displayed image, and to zoom out again to view the whole displayed image in context. The ZAP feature is applied to a dynamically generated image that includes at least one dynamic image feature, and viewing-region-tracking information is generated enabling user viewing characteristics to be tracked and analyzed.