My GUI requests and feedback on XnView MP

[Danny]

On the tabs:
I only care for usability, and the only pro argument for a fixed width tab is that the close button would always be in the same spot. So if you had 3 tabs open, and you closed the left-most one, the others would slide to the left, and the new left-most tab's close button would be in the exact same spot as the one's before. That'd speed up closing multiple tabs. But on the other hand, it may truncate the filename.

On the neutral gray:
A value of 128 being right in the middle of the possible scale makes for good neutrality, doesn't it? It's an equal distance to both ends of the scale. That, and the human eye can differentiate darker values better than bright ones. So having a bright background would make it hard to differentiate dark images. (I do this stuff for a living btw.)

@ JohnFredC: If all color components didn't have the same value, it wouldn't be gray, really. It'd be tinted and only somewhat gray.

[budz45]

On the tabs:
I only care for usability, and the only pro argument for a fixed width tab is that the close button would always be in the same spot. So if you had 3 tabs open, and you closed the left-most one, the others would slide to the left, and the new left-most tab's close button would be in the exact same spot as the one's before. That'd speed up closing multiple tabs. But on the other hand, it may truncate the filename.

"I only care for usability" - and you think I don't If it's only 1 tab open then the resize is fine but the occurrence is not good when there are multiple tabs open. Yes that's right the close button would be centered if the tab width is fixed and a truncated filename would be a bearable consequence. I think hover tooltip info could also be added so that the Entire filename can show when hovering over a tab with mouse over.

You are right to oppose fixed width because when looking at my Opera tabs they adjust to reasonable smaller size as more tabs are opened. So instead, this is what XnView 'MP' could also adopt with an option such as 'adjustable tab width on multiple' - but this proposed option should be kept on default (tickbox).

On the neutral gray:
A value of 128 being right in the middle of the possible scale makes for good neutrality, doesn't it? It's an equal distance to both ends of the scale. That, and the human eye can differentiate darker values better than bright ones. So having a bright background would make it hard to differentiate dark images. (I do this stuff for a living btw.)

You should post the rgb code of the particular colour you find suitable or even quicker post a pic of the grey colour so we could agree and see if others agree too. Btw what do you do for a living just out of interest?

It also seems I had my own version of the use 'neutral' since I have briefly in the past watched home interior design TV shows and have heard designers make use of the word "neutral" when pointing at colours like light greys and beige, apologies for that, I should've learned; http://h41139.www4.hp.com/uk/en/color_b ... utral.html

[Danny]

Well, i'm also not a big fan of even more options. I think they're already filled to the brim and thus overwhelm the average user (an "expert" mode would be good, but that's another issue).

Why wouldn't the "occurrence" be fine without a max-width as you propose?

One tab open -> takes up 100% width
Two taps open -> each one takes up 50% width

...and so on. I think that's better. But your mileage may vary. In the end: whatever...


Like i said, the color i was referring to is rgb(128,128,128). In interior design you may be right, but not for light emitting systems. Think about it: if you have a completely white screen, and you look at an image with very detailed dark areas. Even if your monitor was good enough to display them, the bright white would make it impossible for you to see the small details in the dark image, because your eyes have to adjust to the bright white, or you'd be blinded. So a medium gray is the best compromise - not the optimum, of course. But if in doubt - darker tends to work out better for the reasons i've outlined.

[budz45]

I'm a bit unsure about rgb 128,128,128 especially when I go into fullscreen, but maybe it's ok let see what others say
http://i49.tinypic.com/15he80i.png

Well, i'm also not a big fan of even more options. I think they're already filled to the brim and thus overwhelm the average user (an "expert" mode would be good, but that's another issue).

Why wouldn't the "occurrence" be fine without a max-width as you propose?

One tab open -> takes up 100% width
Two taps open -> each one takes up 50% width

...and so on. I think that's better. But your mileage may vary. In the end: whatever...

Yes 1 tab at 100% and then 2,3,4 etc at auto-adjusted widths. I use XnView in custom windowed size not maximised or in fullscreen and I suspect others do to so that was my reason for the request.

This is how my Opera does it:


The current XnView MP tabs width is not pleasing:

[Danny]

With 100% i mean the program window's width.

What is it that you don't like about the tab with on your screenshot?

[budz45]

Tabs display option to show 16x16 file icon

It's nice that each tab shows a tiny near 16x16 size thumb but personally I find it less useful. Also the current 16x thumb needs to be center displayed on the tab where as you can see it currently positioned slightly on the tab strip.


I would like the option in 'Settings' to instead display a 16x16 file icon on the tabs like this:


I think this small feature should have two options when displaying the file icons:
a. for images, display XnView's own file icon to the file
b. for images, display system associated file icon

It's just an idea I just had

[ramses]

About the neutral grey:
If I have to choose, I really prefer black. But if it's still user configurable, I feel better with a dark grey as 100,100,100.
I agree completely with Danny:

Like i said, the color i was referring to is rgb(128,128,128). In interior design you may be right, but not for light emitting systems. Think about it: if you have a completely white screen, and you look at an image with very detailed dark areas. Even if your monitor was good enough to display them, the bright white would make it impossible for you to see the small details in the dark image, because your eyes have to adjust to the bright white, or you'd be blinded. So a medium gray is the best compromise - not the optimum, of course. But if in doubt - darker tends to work out better for the reasons i've outlined.

[XnTriq]

The “neutral grey” of the Windows Standard theme:

• 
  #D4D0C8 = R212/G208/B200

[ramses]

The “neutral grey” of the Windows Standard theme:

Sorry, it's Windows , not neutral. As you can see it's a little bit warmer than neutral.
On the site COLORLOVERS they use some realy neutral grey :

[JohnFredC]

I think that most of this "neutral" discussion is rendered moot by the default behaviors of the monitors we all use. If everyone used color-calibrated monitors, then... perhaps.

But...

...in my experience, most users do not adjust the warmth of the monitor itself, so there persists an inconsistent mapping between the digital representation of the color and its display.

In the past, most new LCDs were a little "cold" (i.e., blue) right out of the box and I think that M$ may have originally tuned the XP color schemes to "warmify" the interface. If you look at older versions of Windows, Win95 for instance, you'll find the default "grays" are a lot bluer than currently, perhaps reflecting the inherent warmth of the CRTs in use at the time.

I personally prefer a "warm" look over a "cold" look...

[ramses]

I personally prefer a "warm" look over a "cold" look...

So I do.
The question was: what is the better color for the screen, specially in full screen mode, to show my pictures on it ?
For my feeling I said neutral(or quite) and dark. Why ? I prefer to see my pictures on the screen than the screen itself.
But if it's possible to choose, I don't worry.

[gernot]

4. I think 'Settings' could be better renamed to "Preferences" in the final; http://i49.tinypic.com/5w0493.png but this is not a big issue

-- I don't know. 'Settings' or 'Preferences'???

on Windows use "Options"- see "Microsoft User Experience Guide (UX Guide)"
"Preferences Don’t use. Use Options instead.
Settings Don’t use as a menu label. Use Options instead."

on Mac use "Preferences" - see "Mac Aqua Human Interface Guidelines (HIG)"

[budz45]

4. I think 'Settings' could be better renamed to "Preferences" in the final; http://i49.tinypic.com/5w0493.png but this is not a big issue

-- I don't know. 'Settings' or 'Preferences'???

on Windows use "Options"- see "Microsoft User Experience Guide (UX Guide)"
"Preferences Don’t use. Use Options instead.
Settings Don’t use as a menu label. Use Options instead."

on Mac use "Preferences" - see "Mac Aqua Human Interface Guidelines (HIG)"

Yes, "Options..." is fine as the menu name on the Windows builds of XnView MP

[budz45]

4. I think 'Settings' could be better renamed to "Preferences" in the final; http://i49.tinypic.com/5w0493.png but this is not a big issue

I don't know. 'Settings' or 'Preferences'???

6. Please attempt to add a bottom thin borderline as in this picture; http://i47.tinypic.com/2elv59w.png

Ok

7. I like the fullscreen controller. I can say that it maybe still lacking more controls like my two most desired of 'slideshow speed' and 'slideshow effects'. What you can also easily add is some hover tooltip info which would display the names of each control; http://i47.tinypic.com/1zf0v2a.png

Right

8. There SHOULD be options in the settings to set a 'maximum tab width' so tabs don't become too wide; http://i48.tinypic.com/fllcnn.png and by default the max tab width should the same length as of the current first tab now

Yes like 1.97

9. In my opinion the default background colour of the viewer should be at a neutral colour and not black, like in the default Vista image viewer; http://i48.tinypic.com/nxs2ds.png It is fine by me if clear intentions want to keep it black, but it's just my feedback on taste

What other users think?

4. Thanks for changing it to "Options" in xnview mp 0.25. Do you plan on adding the 'Tools' drop-down menu in a next xnview mp release? I miss accessing "options" from that method

6. You still need to add a bottom UI borderline to distinguish the viewer from the status bar

7. I presume much later you would add more features to the fullscreen controller such as tooltip info on controls, more playback buttons etc

8. Thanks for tab size setting in xnview mp 0.25
9. Thanks for new grey deafult background in xnview mp 0.25

........Also the current 16x thumb needs to be center displayed on the tab where as you can see it currently positioned slightly on the tab strip.
http://i48.tinypic.com/2dwhw7k.png

I would like the option in 'Settings' to instead display a 16x16 file icon on the tabs like this:
http://i45.tinypic.com/24ngrhw.png

Thank you Pierre for center-ing the 16x16 thumb icon on that tabs of xnview mp. Yes the second 16x file icon idea for tabs would be nice to see as an option in xnview mp - it could show internal xnview filetype icon OR system assigned filetype icon or offer the choice for both. Pierre, I think for this and more colourful tab features you could create a new Tab called 'Tabs' under Options>Interface and lay all future tab settings there.

[xnview]

6. You still need to add a bottom UI borderline to distinguish the viewer from the status bar

Which borderline?