can't get true height/width of object in chrome

The images aren't loaded in document.ready, you need to use the window.load event to make sure they're present, like this:

$(window).load(function(){    $("#text").append($("#img_0").height());    $("#text").append($("#img_0").width());});

Here's a quick read on the difference, the important part is that pictures are loaded.

Nick Craver's answer to use $(window).load() is correct, but the images also have a load() method, which allows finer granularity, especially if there are perhaps multiple images to load.

  $(document).ready(function(){     $("#top_img_0").load (function (){      $("#text").append( "height: " + $("#top_img_0").attr("height")+"<br/>" );      $("#text").append( "width: " + $("#top_img_0").attr("width")+"<br/>" );         });   });

It looks like it is a race condition, at least it was for me using Chrome. The image isn't finished loading at the time you are getting the dimensions. I set everything to fire after a 200ms timeout and the real width/height are displayed.

    $(document).ready(function() {        setTimeout("getImageDimensions()", 200);    });    function getImageDimensions() {        var pic_real_width;        var pic_real_height;        $("#topContent img").each(function() {            var $this = $(this);            $this.removeAttr("width");            $this.removeAttr("height");            $this.css({ width: 'auto', height: 'auto' });            pic_real_width = $this.width();            pic_real_height = $this.height();            $this.css({ width: '', height: '100px' });        });        $("#text").append(" height: " + pic_real_height/*$("#top_img_0").attr("height")*/ + "<br/>");        $("#text").append(" width: " + pic_real_width/*$("#top_img_0").attr("width")*/ + "<br/>");    }

Tested and works in Chrome, IE and Firefox. All display 2008 x 3008.