Reqst: Integer Thumb Tiling/Autofit thumbs

[JohnFredC]

I started paying attention to my own "unconscious" behaviors with XnView recently, both XnView 1.95 and MP. One discovery is that I seem to spend an inordinate amount of wasted time making the thumbs fit perfectly into the thumb panel.

In 1.95 I adjust the dividers for every layout change in order to make the thumbs exactly fit the horizontal space available. In MP, I perform a combination of divider adjustment and thumb-size adjustment to do the same thing.

Yes, it seems compulsive behavior, but having the thumbs fill the thumb panel is the most efficient use of the display real-estate.


In any case, please consider an option to automatically fit the image thumbnails to the size of the thumb panel a la Lightroom's behavior, filling the panel with thumbs.

[XnTriq]

Great idea! I would also like to see some kind of auto-fit behavior of the thumbnail panel. Recently someone posted two screenshots which reminded me of just that:

In layout 3 there is a GUI bug when hiding preview and tree.
Bug in version 1.94.2 and 1.95.

correct:


incorrect when hiding preview:

[thibaud]

no doubt, my vote for that as well.
I was just afraid to ask.

[JohnFredC]

Bump!

[m.Th.]

Bump +1!

A nice solution would be this:

Fit buttons.png

Having the following function...

Code: Select all

DoFitThumbs(aCols: integer)
{
 if aCols>0 then //a small check, you know...
   ThumbsHorizTrackBar.Position = Int(ThumbsPane.ActiveWidth / aCols);

   //usually changing the position of the track bar / slider calls also the OnChange delegate to resize the thumbs. If not, we'll call it manually
   //also, we rely on the Position's setter that it will trim the out of range values
}

...we will use it as follows:

When the user presses the 'Fit' button we'll call DoFitThumbs(ThumbsPane.NumberOfCols)
When user will press the '<' button we'll call DoFitThumbs(ThumbsPane.NumberOfCols+1) ("<" means smaller thumbs hence more columns)
When user will press the '>' button we'll call DoFitThumbs(ThumbsPane.NumberOfCols-1)

Note: the ThumbsPane.ActiveWidth is the width of the widget left for thumbnails. IOW the total width from which we extracted the Vertical scrollbar width, borders, bevels etc.

[thibaud]

Mhh, seems weird to have "fit" to be a button you'd need to push every time the browse pane is resized.
imo it should a be either a toggle button or an option in the settings that once turned on:

• make the thumb size slider behaves like a step slider ranging from 1 thumb per row to 50 or whatever (you would then not need to add these 2 '< & >' buttons controls)
• call DoFitThumbs everytime the browse pane is resized.

[m.Th.]

Mhh, seems weird to have "fit" to be a button you'd need to push every time the browse pane is resized.
imo it should a be either a toggle button or an option in the settings that once turned on:

• make the thumb size slider behaves like a step slider ranging from 1 thumb per row to 50 or whatever (you would then not need to add these 2 '< & >' buttons controls)
• call DoFitThumbs everytime the browse pane is resized.

Hmmm... ...then perhaps better like this?

Fit buttons_2.png

Beware to update the slider position and min-max range.

[thibaud]

Good point. Exactly.
Though id be curious to know why would someone prefer to use the "old" method (thumbs not fitting the view).
performance perhaps ?

[JohnFredC]

Though id be curious to know why would someone prefer to use the "old" method

Me too. I'd wager that if the "new" method was presented "fait accompli", then no user would complain!

Perhaps the Browser's thumb slider should have integer position increments with markers indicating successive integers (and a larger marker at the default).

Here are two slider examples. The first is from one of my own applications, the second a proposal I made to the forum a while ago.



and



I also like the dropdown menu idea.



If this idea was combined with another idea expressed previously in the forum about adjusting the thumbnail aspect ratio, then perhaps a "splitter" between each row of thumbs could be used to change aspect ratio w/o changing the # of thumbs across.

Or here's another idea: maybe a simple grab handle in the lower right corner of the current thumb would suffice for everything the user needs...

The idea is to simultaneously increase user options for thumbs display while at the same time reducing the number of controls and placing them at the "top surface" of the UI.

[xnview]

So if we set a number of thumbs, the thumbs are square??

[JohnFredC]

So if we set a number of thumbs, the thumbs are square??

Hi Pierre

I don't think so.

Instead, the thumb cartouche aspect ratio should reflect what ratio of height to width the user has set as a preference.

[m.Th.]

So if we set a number of thumbs, the thumbs are square??

Nope (IMHO).

If, as a user, I say: "I want 7 thumbs" I mean "I want 7 columns of thumbs" (see my pseudo-code in one of my prev posts)

Also, perhaps is nice to add the following commands (IDImager have them and are very useful, especially when assigned to a shortcut)

"One more thumbnail column"
"One less thumbnail column"

[xnview]

Instead, the thumb cartouche aspect ratio should reflect what ratio of height to width the user has set as a preference.

Hum, if a user choose 192x128, so i keep this ratio?

[JohnFredC]

Instead, the thumb cartouche aspect ratio should reflect what ratio of height to width the user has set as a preference.

Hum, if a user choose 192x128, so i keep this ratio?

Yes, exactly that!

Keep the aspect ratio!

• 1. Set the width of the thumbnail cell:

  Code: Select all

  thumb_cell_width = (thumb_panel_width - (thumbs_across_slider+1) * spacing_setting)/thumbs_across_slider
  

  2. Set the height of the thumbnail cell according to the user-defined aspect ratio:

  Code: Select all

  thumb_cell_height= aspect_ratio* thumb_cell_width
  

  3. Add the labels at the bottom of the thumbnail "cell" for "thumbs + filename" and "thumbs + labels" mode

• The user-defined aspect ratio setting control should go in the "thumbnail cell" panel of the settings panel. IMO, for new installations the aspect ratio should default to 1:1.

Problem: What happens if user resizes the thumb panel? Should MP resize the thumbs to keep the same number of "cells" across?
Answer: Give the user a choice via a setting in the "thumbnail cell" settings:

• On resize thumb panel:
  
  [x] Resize thumbs

In the future, perhaps MP could scan a folder for the "average" aspect ratio of images stored in the folder and automatically apply it to the thumb panel as part of the user's navigation process.

The user could select this behavior via a setting in the "thumbnail cell" panel:

• [x] When entering folder, set thumb aspect ratio to average aspect ratio in folder

[xnview]

I've added this Request