Improve browser thumbnail default, thumbnail-size choice and/or thumbnail-scaling function

[KLE-France]

Let's talk thumbnails. I know I'm not the first, and that's just a sampling.

Subject 1:
XnView MP's default thumbnail is landscape oriented.

This, in and of itself, is, in principle, problematic, as a landscape-oriented thumbnail cell makes landscape-oriented images appear bigger than portrait-oriented ones in the browser. Thus, landscape-oriented images are "favored" in the browser, drawing the eye more readily over their portrait-oriented counterparts. Down with favoritism!

Suggestion 1 (but see discussion below): The default thumbnail cell should be a square.*


Subject 2:
All choices at View > Thumbnail size are also all landscape oriented.

Suggestion 2 (but see discussion below): Keep, say, three of the landscape-oriented choices (some people do prefer that), but replace the others with three square and three portrait-oriented choices, all representing "small," "medium," and "large" options.


Subject 3:
There is also a Custom thumbnail size available at Tools > Settings > Thumbnail > Appearance, thereafter choosable at View > Thumbnail size.

Suggestion 3 (but see discussion below): Add the possibility of multiple custom thumbnail sizes.


Subject 4:
Finally, there is a thumbnails scaling tool available on the browser toolbar (Tools > Settings > Browser > Toolbar).

Its performance is odd though. When set to "thumbnails per column" (button pressed) the slider will respect the custom thumbnail aspect ratio—at least when it is a square—as one moves the slider. However, set to "thumbnail size (pixels)", it does not, forcing instead the thumbnail cells to a landscape orientation.

And nowhere does this scaling tool offer a "reset" button to return the browser window to where it was before.

Suggestion 4: The thumbnails scaling tool should always respect the aspect ratio and orientation of the user's normal setup (whatever their choice is at View > Thumbnail size, including custom) and it should offer a reset button (or some other method) that returns thumbnails to the state they were in before the tool was used.

Note that if Suggestion 4 can be implemented the others become less important, especially Suggestions 1 and 2 but in different ways.

Suggestion 1 is philosophical; users can already make a custom square thumbnail cell if they so choose. Suggestion 2 is only needed if Suggestion 4 can't be implemented. But even if Suggestion 4 can be implemented, Suggestion 2 could still be useful, notably as an alternative way to have smaller or larger thumbnail cells "on call," for example, for users who don't use the toolbar. Suggestion 3 does have independent interest for those users who may want a landscape OR a portrait OR a square orientation according to what they are looking at in their browser. But I do think that would be rare? Sound in if you want to have different custom aspect ratios and/or orientations at your disposal.

In any case, Suggestion 4, which is just a refinement of the current tool, by itself would give users the thing they're looking for most, that is, a quick and easy way to change the size of thumbnails, without forcing upon them an orientation or aspect ratio they do not want, and an easy way to return to their normal window.

But all four of the suggestions together, well, that'd be really cool, providing an exquisite ability to customize thumbnails and thumbnail cell behavior to one's liking.


* Note that this need for square image containers extends to other elements of XnView.