A "Spotlight" feature

[budz45]

For XnView/XnView MP I would definitely like a 'Spotlight' editing feature with additional effects e.g. blur. Just like Snagit Editor's


Basically a user highlight's an area of the picture and then the area that is not highlighted get's dimmed in light, along with additional options like blurring. Basically this feature puts focus on a particular area of a picture which is useful for presentations and making things clearer.

You see, this is what the feature can create:

[budz45]

Still would be an awesome feature for XnView/XnView MP.

XnView has long already been able to adjust 'brightness/contrast' and this is basically what 'spotlight' would be doing except it would be adjusting all area's of the image outside of a cursor-drawn selection-box and instead of within one. This is for viewer mode.

I think the 'spotlight' should have it's own item under the 'Image' menu for xnview/xnview mp

It could get it's own icon (mezich) too. An icon for this would too easy (torch).

[budz45]

Hmm, another idea has just come to my mind.

What if a user, for any purpose, wanted to 'Spotlight' multiple areas of a picture like I made this:

source of photo: http://www.apartments-liverpool.co.uk
application used to make 'spotlight': Paint.NET v3.55 wi/ 2nd black filled Layer, adjusted opacity + selection

1.) To perfom such multiple spotlighting, should we have a hotkey control like Shift+left-click select area's (select multiple areas) ----> to select multiple area's during this spotlight mode and then to press 'ok' for all non-selected area's to be adjusted in this spotlight mode

2.) So should 'spotlight' be named 'Spotlight mode' [in English] in where it would enter a special mode in the xnview Viewer.

3.) Would this feature take up a lot of memory while in use. I hope not and really it should not, except if the picture's dimensions are really huge (e.g. 4000x4000)

Perhaps, later, the ability to use other selection-shapes common in picture graphic editors such as 'circle', 'oval', 'triangle' and even 'freehand lasso' ; http://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=19288 - could make a 'Spotlight' much more interesting and even preciser in the long run.

4.) What about setting a 'background color' for the non-spotlight areas.. hmmm.. Could come in handy especially for old black+white photograph's


5.) This 'Spotlight' feature would have so many helpful uses if implemented into XnView Think about 'spotlighting' yourself or other friends in a school class photograph

6.) So in summary for xnview , the 'spotlight' could entail (not at first, but fully later):
-opacity (of non-spotlighted area of picture)
-adjust brightness/contrast (of non-spotlighted area of picture)
-average blur (of the picture itself)
-background color (of non-spotlighted area of picture)
-hue/saturation of same background color
-drop shadow that surrounds each spotlight.. Sooner or later version?)

....All of these things XnView can already do itself in other places of the app, just never existed all at the same time within one fucntion.

[Vapavite]

Hi,
English:
Would be very useful in the context of formal education and others to highlight one (or more) item (s) of an image!
Should be based on ease of use "with advanced options" if a program wants to become XnView image processing
Fr :
Serait très utile dans le cadre de formation scolaire et autres pour mettre en évidence un (des) élément(s) d'une image !
Devrait être basé sur une utilisation simple et "avec options avancée" si XnView veut devenir un programme de traitement d'image

[budz45]

This Spotlight feature has now made it into XnView MP 0.38 It can be found under the "Image" drop-down menu item and it has it's own toolbar mode similar to 'crop' the toolbar. Thanks to all those that supported it (you too, Vapavite).


There's support for multi-area Spotlighting, opacity, brightness, RGB color change, 'remove' of each spotlight and standard 'undo/redo' support after applying spotlight

Example pic Result...



So still remaining for future version is:
'blur' background
MAYBE 'auto-number markers' (while each drawing selection) ---> example. http://i.imgur.com/a3jET.png
MAYBE 'auto-highlight each selection'

[budz45]

Ok,

I have changed the toolbar of this current one; http://i52.tinypic.com/2m6ojmp.png

..and have changed it to now look like this this:
IMAGE REMOVED, see new image here

So to explain:

• The 'options' could be better named as 'adjust' and this would open a little child-window in where opacity, brightness, others etc can all be adjusted
• I thought it would be nice if users had the ability to use different selection shapes, so the same selection shapes functions from Paint plugin should be just sufficient enough and these include 'circle' selection and 'rounded-rectangle' selection (this would be really awesome if added). I used those same Paint plugin icons in this case which would be ok.
• Please ignore that 'draw limit' on this toolbar UI mock-up

Below, this would be that 'options' window, perhaps the window title could be now called 'Spotlight adjust':

I thought it would be better if main adjustment functions such as opacity, brightness etc. were in a window like this because of the ease of using the adjustment knobs and the availability of a 'reset' button beside each knob. Furthermore the already existing ability to save/restore presets in XnView MP's 'adjust' feature windows an Spotlight would have all that the same.


+Additionally in far future, there could be hotkey support in starting "Spotlight" mode. This could be Shift+left click draw-selection to immediately start drawing a spotlight with the spotlight toolbar mode automatically displaying.


Please forgive me if I ask for so much in one time, I just got to get this stuff out of my mind. Feel free anyone to give feedback, opinions.

[helmut]

The spotlight feature is a good and handy utiltity. Thank you for suggesting and even improving it, budz45!

From my point of view, "Spotlight" is a way of highlighting. In your latest suggestion you have added "Outline" and this will more and more lead to a more general function "Highlight". Once more highlighting features are included, "Spotlight" might be renamed to "Highlight".

In your latest GUI suggestion, there is RGB for selecting a colour. Users will want to have a yellow background, for example. So background colour should be choosable directly by providing a colour dialog.

[budz45]

Well I originally suggested color choosing/RGB coloring because I thought it would be suitable for black+white photo's.

Users will want to have a yellow background, for example. So background colour should be choosable directly by providing a colour dialog.

User's can get the same color effect by carefully configuring the RGB (red,green,blue) alongside configuring the Opacity and slight brightness.

hopefully, in future, if "Spotlight" get's own child window (my latest mock-up) then configuring of these would be much faster and efficient than the existing method of manual input of number codes.

[helmut]

Well I originally suggested color choosing/RGB coloring because I thought it would be suitable for black+white photo's.

As written above spotlight is for highlighting areas, not for image processing. So the normal colour dialog should be used and not RGB. Opacity and brightness could still be used, I think.

Remove = Undo
Currently, there's a "Remove" button which removes the painted last rectangle. I think this button should be renamed to "Undo". Then it's even intuitive that you can press "Undo" multiple times.

[budz45]

double post [accidental]
helmut,

I just don't agree with the name "highlight". Ok would you agree on the simpler name of calling it "Focal" ?

[budz45]

helmut,

I just don't agree with the name "highlight".

Ok, I was thinking, would you agree on the simpler name of calling it "Focal" ?

Yes perhaps 'Remove' could be named as 'Undo', Pierre get's the final say on that.

So the normal colour dialog should be used and not RGB.

Hmm I don't know.

[budz45]

I prefer the RGB is kept in 'spotlight' and not replaced by a standard color-choose dialog, it's better for now

[budz45]

..and have changed it to now look like this this:
http://i56.tinypic.com/2vxj9js.png

Ok on this new toolbar of mine. Remove that 'draw limit' mistake on the mock-up and replace it with a tickbox feature called "always display window"

Another tickbox setting named "always display this window" - could be placed on the bottom of this same Spotlight configure window (below):

so this window, would instead be better named "Spotlight configure"

perhaps auto screen positioned to left/right of screen

[budz45]

I have done a final mock-up of how the new toolbar for "Spotlight", this is it:



Notice a triangle selection tool, an actual icon (request to mezich) would be needed for that.

I will delete the past toolbar mock-ups.

[xnview]

I have done a final mock-up of how the new toolbar for "Spotlight", this is it:



Notice a triangle selection tool, an actual icon (request to mezich) would be needed for that.

I will delete the past toolbar mock-ups.

Currently only rectangular selection can be made