How to display pictures' aspect ratios in a directory view?

[rsbrux]

Since I am trying to crop most of my photos to 16:9 (for display on my HTPC monitor) it would be helpful to have an overview of the aspect ratios of pictures in a given directory.
I couldn't find aspect ratio in Windows 10 properties and I haven't been able to get it in XnView MP's thumbnails. I do have a custom label in XnView MP displaying width, height and file size, but custom labels apparently can't do arithmetic (e.g. width/height) and I am too lazy to do the arithmetic in my head for each photo.
Does anyone know of a way to get such a directory view, whether in Windows Explorer, XnView MP or some other photo browser?

[jkm]

You can do this in XnViewMP. Here's how:

In the browser window, change to Details view. (View->View As->Details).
At the top of the file list, you'll see column headers. Right click on this, and you will see a menu presenting all the Columns/Headers available to you.
One of them is Ratio. Put a check mark next to it.

You can uncheck any columns you don't want to see, or add others.

The column headers can be dragged to reorder them.

You will have to be satisfied with the fact that 16:9 images are shown in the ratio column as 1.8. It's better than nothing. The app properly displays some ratios, like 4:3, and not others like 3:2 which is shown as 1.5. (You can request an enhancement to fix this in the Suggestions forum.)

You can also sort by the ratio column by clicking on its header, and that will have the effect of grouping like-ratio images together.

If you want to see Aspect Ratio in a thumbnails view, just put {Ratio} in one of your label lines. You must have missed this when constructing your custom labels. The >> button to the right of the label field gives you a menu to insert lots of things. Ratio is right on there, in the Image submenu.

Does this help?

[rsbrux]

Many thanks for the detailed explanation! That's just what I needed.
Ratio was already enabled, but so was everything else, which had pushed it off the right edge of the screen.
Apparently all columns are enabled by default. This is a bit annoying: I am rarely interested in more than a few items from the EXIF and IPTC properties, and it is painful to have to disable them one by one. Is there some better way?

[jkm]

Welcome to the forums, collins…

Is there an easier way to customize or save a simpler default column layout?

This thread was 6 months old. XnViewMP is frequently updated with new features. Details View has been significantly enhanced since September.

Get the latest version of the app, and then please read the documentation posts to learn how to use the new capabilities of Details View and customize it.

https://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?t=50370

I'll point out that you can also show all the images with a particular aspect ratio without using details view at all. If you look in the Catalog Filter, you'll see the Properties tree, and one of items in it is Aspect Ratio. Simply select the one you want, and you can filter for that across a single folder or all folders in your catalog. You don't need to visually scan a column in Details View to find them.

The new features of the Catalog Filter are also described in the post I linked to.

[rsbrux]

Collins post seems to have disappeared, but I found your tips very useful!
Having just read the summary of new features, I didn't realize how extensive they are.
Catalog view is nice, but I like to work one (sub-)folder at a time, and it seems not to respect the folder selection.

[jkm]

Collins post seems to have disappeared, but I found your tips very useful!
Having just read the summary of new features, I didn't realize how extensive they are.
Catalog view is nice, but I like to work one (sub-)folder at a time, and it seems not to respect the folder selection.

Yes his post does seem to have disappeared. This was an old thread that collins unfortunately resurrected. Anyway, I'm glad it helped you.

But to address what you said, actually you're mistaken about the Catalog Filter and the folder selection.

If you look at the very top of the Catalog Filter, you'll see a menu to change the scope. Change it from Global to "Current Folder" or "Current Folder (Recursive)" and the scope will be just the currently selected folder or it with its subfolders. The meanings of the three options should be self explanatory. The little menu to its right (AND/OR) sets the boolean matching mode when you select multiple items in the Catalog Filter.

There was no explanation in those posts of scope, because it's not a new feature; it's quite old, so it is expected people know it by now. I merely mentioned that the menu had been made more visible for clarity; it was only a cosmetic change.

Unfortunately most of the app is undocumented. I only started those guides recently with the new app improvements. Going back to document everything would be a herculean task. So you're just going to have to experiment like everyone has always had to do and post questions as needed. The vast majority of the time people underestimate what the program can actually do.

Hopefully this helps...