PictView

Code-Breaker · Post by **Code-Breaker** » 01 Mar 2006, 15:14

A few features that would make PictView very useful to me:

- Resize
- Sharpen
- Tighter integration within Salamander. How about a context menu to perform rotations, sharpens, and other types of edits in-place (without opening the viewer) on one or many selected files. The menu could be activated by a ctrl-right-click.

JohnFredC · Post by **JohnFredC** » 01 Mar 2006, 22:34

I originally thought about asking for this stuff too, but since PictView only shows in a floating window, it really behaves the same way as (but with *much* less functionality than) XnView, IrfanView, PhotoFiltre, et al, under the same circumstances.

So until PictView displays directly in the opposite panel, in my opinion there is no compelling reason to use it for bitmap viewing.

Try one of the mentioned tools instead! They are very powerful.

After installing the viewer of your choice, go to Salamander's Configuration->Alternate Viewers, start a new item with the extensions you require ("*.jpg;*.png;*.bmp;*.gif", for instance) and fill in the appropriate values for viewer, path, etc. Remember to move the entry ABOVE the default "*.*" entry or it won't work!

Then close the configuration dialog, find a file with that extension, and press Alt-F4 (or hold down Alt and click the AltViewer button on the bottom button bar).

Voila!

PS. Or you could put the viewer in the user menu instead (too).

Post by **Jan Rysavy** » 02 Mar 2006, 06:51

I would miss several PictView functions in the mentioned viewers. For example:

1) Speed (other viewers starts as separate process)
2) Open Next/Prev File (iterates through files from panel)
3) Select/Unselect Opened File in Panel or Find window (using it for making selections)
4) Focus (focusing opened file in panel)

We will improve the PictView functionality in further versions of Servant Salamander.
Please keep posting ideas and requests so that we can decide what to do.

KNUT · Post by **KNUT** » 02 Mar 2006, 09:13

Jan Rysavy wrote:I would miss several PictView functions in the mentioned viewers. For example:
1) Speed (other viewers starts as separate process)
2) Open Next/Prev File (iterates through files from panel)
3) Select/Unselect Opened File in Panel or Find window (using it for making selections)
4) Focus (focusing opened file in panel)

These are the most advantages over external viewers!
Therefore PictView is my first choice for viewing and basic editing of graphics (There're already some tools within Pivtview - explore it!)

Resizing and sharpening would be very nice - indeed!

JohnFredC · Post by **JohnFredC** » 02 Mar 2006, 14:11

Many viewers do #2. Try one of them with Alt-F3.

For # 1, especially with large files, PictView just isn't fast enough. For instance, just now (and to reprove my previously formed impression), a 44Mb PNG image on my system took 25 seconds to complete loading into PictView, whereas using Alt-F3 with XnView took only 10 seconds to complete. Not a scientific test, and only one sample, but I selected two different 44 Mb png files of the same scene with the same compression ratio and made sure XnView was not already resident.

Perhaps working on speed should be a first priority for PictView development!

Only items 3 and 4 are unique to PictView. Obviously if you need them, it's good to have them.

KNUT · Post by **KNUT** » 02 Mar 2006, 14:37

JohnFredC wrote:a 44Mb PNG image on my system

Wow

44MB

png

I'm really impressed...

That's not the kind of graphic I'm using frequently

Post by **Jan Patera** » 02 Mar 2006, 14:52

JohnFredC wrote:Not a scientific test, and only one sample, but I selected two different 44 Mb png files of the same scene with the same compression ratio and made sure XnView was not already resident.

Fred, filesize is unimportant (unless loading over a _slow_ network), and I assume you meant 44MB and not 44Mb

.
However, this topic has been discussed already but unfortunately in Czech. I'll make a small resume:
There are two approaches to displaying an image and they make a big difference:
1) load entire image into memory
2) shrink during load to requested size. When the user zooms in or out, the image needs to be reloaded. This obviously may need *much* less memory.
PV uses the first approach.
So, now the question I actually have to you - could you please describe the size of the images(s)? I mean the width, height and number of colors (or bits per pixel)? And how much memory do you (actually your computer

) have?

Post by **Jan Rysavy** » 02 Mar 2006, 15:50

KNUT wrote:
JohnFredC wrote:a 44Mb PNG image on my system
Wow 44MB png I'm really impressed...
That's not the kind of graphic I'm using frequently

Exactly.

I agree that PictView is not fastest viewer, but for common images (~3MB JPGs) you will get instant response from PictView plugin where you will wait for IrfanView/XnView process startup. Image is displayed real-time in the PictView window, so you can go to the next/previous image during loading stage.

Btw: compare following two screenshots from latest versions of PictView and XnView. Is there a way how to get smooth image view in the XnView?

What I really like in XnView is images pre-loading (for Next command). I hope we will implement it in PictView too.

JohnFredC · Post by **JohnFredC** » 02 Mar 2006, 15:56

Hi Jan...

...never can get that MB and Mb straightened out.

Also I'm embarrassed... don't know where I got that 44 number from... the files were almost twice that size!

I hadn't had my coffee yet!

Properties for the first image (opened in Pictview) in my informal little test are here:

The second image (XnView) had these properties:

XnView opens and hesitates a short interval, then displays the image instantly. PictView opens and starts displaying the image a line at a time, slowly down the screen. I might speculate that the round trips through the code for line by line load/display have something to do with PictView's slowness...???

Jan, I'd be happy to help in any way I can off list if you'd like.

JohnFredC · Post by **JohnFredC** » 02 Mar 2006, 18:10

2Jan

Is there a way how to get smooth image view in the XnView?

Yes:
Tools>Options>View>HighZoomQuality

There are three choices. You can also smooth the browser preview:
Tools>Options>Browser>Preview>Use high quality

I agree that smart image caching is the way to go!!!

PS: 1GB of RAM

Post by **Jan Rysavy** » 02 Mar 2006, 18:33

JohnFredC wrote:2Jan
Is there a way how to get smooth image view in the XnView?
Yes:
Tools>Options>View>HighZoomQuality

John, could you please try to turn on High zoom quality - Reduce option and open your big PNGs (how long it will take)?

JohnFredC · Post by **JohnFredC** » 02 Mar 2006, 19:11

Hi Jan

From your inquiry, my guess is that PictView automatically smooths the image when fitting to the window. I already had the XnView smoothing option "Fit to Window/Desktop" set to on for the previous "test"... that's standard for me.

After setting XnView's "reduce" to on, though, there was no perceptual change in XnView's loading behavior/speed. Of course with "reduce" on, zooming out in XnView hestitates for a couple of seconds before showing the next incremental zoomed view.

Setting the XnView high quality "enlarge" option to on, however, slows things enormously. I never use that on large images... don't really need to, either.

The on-screen quality of images presented in PictView and XnView at any zoom ratio looks identical to me.

IMHO, the best strategy for smoothing a large image is to load and display the unsmoothed image immediately, then overlay/replace the initial view with the smooth version when it is ready.

Post by **Jan Patera** » 02 Mar 2006, 20:48

JohnFredC wrote: Jan, I'd be happy to help in any way I can off list if you'd like.

Looks like poorly compressible images containing random noise

Do you have a fast connection so that you could send me one
of the PNG images via http://www.yousendit.com ?
(or some other way if you have a server where to put it)
My address is patera at pictview dot com.
Thanks!

Code-Breaker · Post by **Code-Breaker** » 03 Mar 2006, 19:08

Please keep posting ideas and requests so that we can decide what to do.

For me, the integration issue that I mentioned in the first post of the thread is the most important.

The main advantage of a plugin is how it integrates with the host program. Making a plugin that essentially acts as a standalone program defeats the purpose...Other than a menu entry in the host, there is no advantage to using it over another standalone program, and so the choice comes down to a simple comparison of feature sets. But other programs cannot integrate into Salamander, and that's what makes me want to use the plugin. A tightly integrated plugin will modify SS's behavior, not simply pop up another window, and this is what makes a plugin valuable. A good example is the thumbnail view of pictview.

Please consider the ctrl-right-click option I mentioned, to perform operations that do not require the pictview window to be open. Editing multiple images in place by simply selecting them, and choosing from a context menu will greatly enhance the value of pictview by providing a set of features that other viewers cannot.

My 2¢.