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Program to display pics in a web browser?
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:02 am
by TsunamiZ
Is there a good program that can instantly put full sized images from a folder on display in a web browser? Similar to when you view a forum topic with a lot of images posted, and you can scroll down/up through them on the page. I like browsing images in this webpage manner because you can scroll dynamically to any full sized images instead of having to view images one-by-one as in a slideshow.
If not, can XnView implement a feature similar to this? It's great to be able to scroll dynamically through a bunch of loaded full sized images. Similar to the experience of browsing images laid out on a table in real life [no need to click on thumbnails each time].
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:25 pm
by TsunamiZ
The following programs do basically what I described, but these each still need work. But to give you guys a taste of what I mean and see how useful this can be:
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PicWalker
http://www.oma-penny.com/
I tried that program and sent these following improvement suggestions to the creator. It already has the basic functionality that I'm looking for, but it can really use these improvements:
[* Use of scroll bars are very important in allowing users to navigate precisely on the "timeline".]
1. All scroll bar updates are buggy. They jump around a lot and can't be dragged properly in real time. Vertical scroll bars are the most buggy.
2. Dragging all scroll bars are buggy and causes images to not scroll/update normally.
3. Have option to hide hand cursor when dragging through images.
4. Have option to change background color to dark gray.
5. Give more horizontal space to options dialog, so users don't need to use arrow buttons to navigate only a few tabs.
6. Have option for blank screen startup.
7. Perhaps update the GUI to completely support WinXP style GUI/skins.
8. Bug in continuous mode: When double clicking an image to focus on, it doesn't focus on the correct iamge if the double clicked image is partially moved "forward" off the screen. This causes the focus to be on the next image instead.
9. Have option for centering vertically in horizontal continous mode.
10. Have option to hide all cursors in fullscreen mode.
11. Have option for scroll bars to auto hide unless user moves mouse cursor to screen edges. This will allow users to have scroll bars quickly when needed, and hides quickly when not needed.
These would greatly improve the usability of the program.
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:29 pm
by TsunamiZ
I was lucky enough to get someone to write a quick app that can do basically what I'm looking for. You can simply run it without installing, so you can see what I mean if you don't get my description.
imageview.zip (50.0 KB)
http://s23.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3IL3 ... LXT8KEONZC
What the creator told me:
I'm attaching a very simple compiled windows app that'll do this. Can't give any guarantees on speed or stability, but its been working fine in all of my tests. Requires the .NET Framework.
No support for formats like PSD, TIF, TGA, etc. Those would take some extra work. And really, the overhead of preloading hundreds of files from those formats would probably make the application pretty worthless anyway.
I have suggested to the creator to make these improvements [fingers crossed]:
1. Have option for the background color to be changed and remembered. Or at least let users choose between dark gray, black, or white, since white is not a good background color for viewing images.
2. Have option for images to be centered horizontally or vertically in display.
3. Have option for images larger than displayable area be resized to fit [if possible].
4. Have hotkeys for commands.
5. Put the open options directly under "file" without a subcategory. Perhaps toolbar these commands for even quicker access [but not necessary].
6. Have window size remembered or option to start maximized.
7. Have option for images to be loaded in the order of either: name, date, type, dimensions, file size.
8. Have fullscreen option. Perhaps toggle by doubleclicking the screen.
9. Have option to not display scroll bars in fullscreen mode. But page can still be draggable.
10. Have an unintrusive status bar to show the progress percentage of a folder's image done loading into the viewer [for folders that take some time to fully load all the images].
Hopefully XnView can have a function to display images this way in an upcoming version. I've been told this functionality was very quick and easy to code.
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:30 pm
by TsunamiZ
Another person also gave a try making a quick app. This one works a bit differently and creates an HTML file for viewing in the web browser [which would be a useful feature for XnView to have, as well].
plainview_gen.zip (178.2 KB)
http://s6.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=12P67 ... NSD9AYBXR2
What the creator told me:
put the program in the folder where you put your images awaiting to be viewed.
and run it.
you'll see a file called "viewer.html" generated.
open it and have fun
hope it meets your requirement.
ignore the file "plainview_gen.cpp"
data type supported: jpg/jepg, bmp, png, gif
I have suggested to the creator to make these improvements [fingers crossed]:
1. Default to dark gray background color, or option to choose background colors?
2. Ability to generate HTML pages without having to copy the program to folders, by allowing users to point the program to a directory?
I know the app you made is a bit more limited in features than Vormav's due to no GUI.