XnView Software

1) You can move the slider/preview window to the side and still see part of even a medium image.
2) You can move the window offscreen to check the image then pull it back.
3) If you don't maximize the image's window, it won't have to be centered, then you can simply move the image off to one side and the preview window off to the other side.

Having a choice between preview/no preview would be good, but I don't see what the fuss is about.

From my perspective the best approach for floating adjustments would be the method used in PaintShop Pro. Here are two images of the PSP gamma corrector:

1. PSP adjustment dialog without thumbnails (30k):
http://www.jfcinc.net/Interfaces/XNView/pspfloat.jpg

Notice the ability to either lock the image to the adjustment, or just "apply" whenever. Also notice the ability to name, save, and recall adjustments.

2. PSP adjustment dialog with thumbnails (49k):
http://www.jfcinc.net/Interfaces/XNView/psppreview1.jpg

Here I have shown the thumbnail view. Notice that the dialog is now resizeable. Resize the dialog and the thumbnails also resize. You can even maximize the dialog. Notice the zoom in and out buttons. Also, see that little "4-arrows" button below/between the thumbnails? That's the image overview/navigator. See the next image:

3. PSP adjustment dialog with thumbs and navigator (51k):
http://www.jfcinc.net/Interfaces/XNView/psppreview2.jpg

Of course, you can always drag the thumbnail contents to reposition the image.

The flexibility shown here is insanely great and brings me back to PSP over and over again. The only things missing are the ability to specify the initial zoom (always 100% in PSP 9) and show only the adjusted thumb a la Corel PhotoPaint (whose adjustment thumbs are NOT adjustable in size).

This approach to the adjustment dialog is de rigeur in my opinion. Any other design for a floating adjustment dialog with thumbs (but see below) is substandard and lacking.

Another approach:

PhotoFilter allows adjustment directly from the toolbar. This is what I really want to see in XNView, though in addition to the dialog, not instead of! For most purposes, this the most efficient way for me to tweak an image.

4. PhotoFilter Toolbar (12k):
http://www.jfcinc.net/Interfaces/XNView ... ttools.jpg

Finally, I also really like Raw Shooter's approach:

5. Raw Shooter Essentials (40k):
http://www.jfcinc.net/Interfaces/XNView/rs1.jpg

Adjustment controls live in the sidebar and affect the image directly as in PhotoFiltre (and many other apps), that is: no adjustment dialog with thumbs. What is cool about Raw Shooter are those tabs (numbered 1,2, etc) at the top of the image. They store different sets of adjustments (even between sessions!!!!) that have already been applied to the image. I can adjust, save the adjustment to a tab, then make another adjustment, save it also to a tab, then switch back and forth between tabs to compare. Adjustments rendered to the actual file are delayed until you decide (even if it is next week or after a reboot), so everything is undoable.

I realize Raw Shooter is a RAW utility and adjustments to RAW files follow different paradigms from jpgs, tiffs, etc. Nevertheless...

Some combination of ALL of the above approaches in XNView would be absolutely the cat's meow.

Just an update.

Corel bought Paint Shop Pro recently and a new version is out.

They completely removed the gamma menu option (go figure) so you have to use the histogram, but other than that changes are minor.

However, my hope for additional functionality for the adjustment previews has been rewarded:



I am not encouraging XNView to infringe on the PSP "look and feel" but I DO think that these functions, implemented in the XNView "way", would be an important improvement to the XNView adjustment preview dialog.

Perhaps some of this functionality has already been implemented in the Compare dialog and could be reused...?

Thanks for listening!

I agree that these previews are particularly annoying and useless (to me at least). I'm wondering how hard it would be when introducing such a critical change to an important function like this that has worked the same way for a long time, to include an option in the tools -> options menu to keep the original way of doing things (or if you will, disable the change)?

I had the same problem with another option when it was changed around version 1.3x, and there is still no way to disable the new way things work since then. I very much wish there were! This will be the subject of a new question in fact...

Please Pierre, consider my suggestion for future major changes to our beloved XnView

Lightspeed
http://oldfiles.org.uk

Lightspeed

Good evening,

- You might consult this twin-thread where Pierre promised options to disable these hellish previews

[OT] You might join the Forum as a member, I like your messages very much ! They make sense ! [/OT]

Kind regards,
Claude
Clo

Hello Lightspeed !

- Like Clo points out above, we have another thread (made by the Moderator who split another) about these new boring previews.

- We hope that Pierre'll choose nice means to perform a preview hidding, following the good information given here from several eminent users.

Aside : I would like to see you as a member here too

Regards

Paul