XnView Software

REM: i moved this section of my text from a topic under 'XnView MP "Bugs"', titled 'SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics - Adobe SVG Viewer, etc.', realizing this is more commentary, and more appropriately placed as 'feedback'

okay. here's the scoop, in a nutshell. XnView MP rocks. it rocks on SVG -- for viewing, because... [we haven't any other practical choice for viewing, for example, a folder-full of SVG, not to mention, pleasing to use XnView, for its universal viewing options, powerful features, etc., makes for an easy transition to view all 'stuff' from one GUI ]. {edit [fullstop here]}

{edit} Additionally, it looks to me like it's using Adobe SVG Viewr (not to mention, i was prompted to update the Adobe SVG Viewer component, upon one particlar SVG viewing session from within XnView MP-- which probably helps to explain my curiosity, which follows, for it seemed to me a sort of revelation as to Why i was enjoying such clearly rendered SVG, vs the effective, albeit -- simple rendering observed in older / 1.9x versions XnView SVG capabilities... [wishing now that the 1.9x thumbnails could mix w/ the XnView MP SVG Viewer clarity / precision rendering integrated ).

i question: is this because of a system issue (i.e. for some reason, Iexplore is being used, vs gecko, wherein the Adobe plugin would activate? -- or -- why is the Adobe viewer being used? rather-- i see-- adobe svg viewer not used in xnview 1.96, which also seems to relate to the fact that 1.96 will display thumbnails-- but what about the Inkscape, "Inkview" component? opensource, and likely "available", no? ... )

it's awesome that i could view these crystal clear SVG images; browse through my various designs, within a single folder however as the browsing / viewing capability seems not yet-- how should i say... quite ready for "prime time"-- but when it works, oh-boy! does it work nicely-- in fact-- there is no other viewer capable of viewing SVG, while also offering the great power we are accustomed to from XnView (e.g. we can use Opera, or html viewr for trying to browse one's own svg designs, etc. but it's a frustrating, [whats the word...? .... TEDIOUS!] -- a tedious effort!)

I agree completely! There is no decent SVG viewer for *quick* browsing and for me it's must have. Using librsvg only (instead of full Inkscpae) would be OK for XnView. It would be even nice to have plugin based on that.

fenixproductions wrote: Using librsvg only (instead of full Inkscpae) would be OK for XnView. It would be even nice to have plugin based on that.

Ah-ha! Thank you for your reply. I've been waiting for someone who knows, and appreciates, both the advantage of XnView MP's SVG capabilities, and something more than I, about the particulars of the only imaging app which is second only to XnView for "up-time" in my daily work/ play / graphics / imaging / creativity rituals.
Inkscape, the Scalable Vector Graphics creativity canvas. It's one thing for me to <em>know</em> of Inkscape being an open-source project, but quite another to actually know some details about it, and the components used. (i.e. i'd mentioned incorporating Inkview, vs Adobe SVG viewer-- but, what i was really thinking was the concept of &#2020;…perhaps-- the same lib which powers the viewer for inkview, might-- in the end-- be a more accessible, not to mention, perhaps downright better choice for rendering SVG in XnView…&#2021; .

probably that same library, which fenixproductions mentioned, librsvg, which makes possible the thumbnail-sized previews (i.e. file, open, browsing) , much better than the older, Inkscape-Win, GTK-based browse dialogue! While the new, snazzy less-/ no-GTK version‡ may not be as tweak'd as, for example, the Adobe alternate dialogues, it is quite nicely fit into a sort-of modified, native Win file browser dialogue [a preview box which began appearing, i believe, only after the .46 'release'-- meaning-- you'll find it only in more recent Inkscape nightlies, methinks

‡ (please see Inkscape Nightlies , where i recommend the user be sure to examine file-sizes, dates, etc., before selecting the ultimate d/l -- as these files are not small, and-- if i recall-- in no hurry to move along the network, dig? i could be wrong. either way, good luck!)

@fenixproductions: [at risk of skewing this topic] what do you know about thumbnail-viewing SVG's w/ the inkscape / inkview svg renderer (i assume, using the lib you mentioned)? Any tricks up your sleeve in terms of SVG on Windows? Are you a Linux user? oops-- there's a lot of questions!



ps. sorry if this is all convuluted, or nonsensical in parts. i probably edited it, different bits, 20 or more times / sessions. doh! one grows weary, and wishing to 'get it up there', i must concede.


:EDIT: oh geez, here's another edit! but i just noticed...
@fenixproductions: your forum participation, and date of joining... makes one ponder. did you only recently discover XnView? / XnView MP? Was it a search engine thing, where you found the thread on SVG? just curious. sorry, y'all

2adesigninteractive

It is hard to say what I know but I will try…

Unfortunately, SVG files seems to be ignored on Windows by many software developers and the only people who care about it are those related to web browsers. There is strange "rule" among image viewers that they are supposed to work with raster graphics only and votes for SVG are simply non-existent or killed down. I've also read on some forum board that "the best" way to preview SVG files is to open them i.e. in Firefox and… make screenshot if you need to save it as PNG. We can skip discussion how ridiculous that answer is and should rather focus on bigger problem: there is no decent (if any) vector graphics viewer at all! It is understandable since much more raster formats exist than vector ones but it is still surprising that no one is even willing to write plugin for that.

Of course, few applications exist but none of them are good and offer pleasant browsing experience (i.e. with thumbnails support).

What choice Windows users have?

There is Batik converter which works pretty slow (Java) and is not suited for noobs. There is also abandoned Adobe Viewer or unstable (on my PC) Renesis components (player, ActiveX, Explorer extensions). What else? Inkscape or rsvg-view. Two last are based on rsvg library but they have pros and cons which makes things harder:

- InkView - gives nice preview with great quality but it is very slow for bigger images,
- rsvg-view - distributed with rsvg-convert tool, very quick but chokes on more complicated SVGs.

Additionally we have the same shareware plugin for XnView and IrfanView which gives badly rendered thrash as preview. I suppose that if I pay for it I can expect something better but… come on, current results yells to me not to do so.

Using rsvg as built-in module is not really wise because of its GTK dependencies but delivering it as plugin instead could be swollen easily. People who truly wants to preview SVG files wouldn't mind to get additional 5MB.

You've asked for tips. I have none other than using my own plugin for Total Commander. It's not the best possibility in the world but at least: I can find needed files quicker. It is always better than opening and closing each file separately.

I think that it should be very easy for someone oriented in XnV SDK to create something similar to my TC plugin: simple tool which could call converter and load its results as thumb. It might be slow for the first run but should be OK after landing in XnV cache database.


Oh! And I am Windows user without patience for Linux. Tried few times but always brought down

Last answer: I know XnV for a long time. After resigning from IrfanView, XnV was the only reasonable choice for me, because of its co-operation with Total Commander. I've use to stalking this board from time to time and never bothered to register / post anything due to lack of the time. Your post was just right in time to motivate me somehow. It was right after few hours spent on searching for SVG viewer (once again). No decent vector graphic support and non-existing good icons browsers were always bugging me and you've just hit the spot. That's all.