Author Topic: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection  (Read 4920 times)

Offline icurate

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Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« on: April 17, 2019, 02:20:03 PM »
I am running PM 6 Build 2818, on a Mac Pro running OS 10.12.6.

On my contact sheet, say I have image 141 selected and then go to move 136, when I click and drag on 136 it simply creates an expanding selection around 136 instead of moving it. I end up having to click, release, and then click-drag to get it to perform correctly and allow me to move it. I have tried this with 3 different HIDs (Wacom, trackball, regular mouse) and it does the same with them all.

I hope that is clear, the way it is written makes sense in my head. I don't think just a screenshot will help.

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2019, 02:34:02 PM »
I am running PM 6 Build 2818, on a Mac Pro running OS 10.12.6.

On my contact sheet, say I have image 141 selected and then go to move 136, when I click and drag on 136 it simply creates an expanding selection around 136 instead of moving it. I end up having to click, release, and then click-drag to get it to perform correctly and allow me to move it. I have tried this with 3 different HIDs (Wacom, trackball, regular mouse) and it does the same with them all.

It sounds like it is working the way I designed it to work.  Photo Mechanic isn't the Finder.

A click on a thumbnail without holding down one of the selection extending qualifier keys (Shift or Command) selects the image and if you don't release the mouse button it starts a drag selection in the direction of the drag, selecting items as you continue to drag the mouse around.  Clicking and dragging an existing selection starts a drag and drop operation.

-Kirk

Offline icurate

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Re: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2019, 04:28:06 PM »
Coming from Adobe's Bridge and Lightroom I am used to a new click starting a new selection.
Canto's Cumulus photo database software works the same way.
It would be nice if there were at least an option to make this work like every other software I use.
« Last Edit: April 17, 2019, 04:45:15 PM by icurate »

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2019, 04:56:22 PM »
Coming from Adobe's Bridge and Lightroom I am used to a new click starting a new selection.
Canto's Cumulus photo database software works the same way.
It would be nice if there were at least an option to make this work like every other software I use.

But it is starting a new selection on your new click.  It just doesn't happen to also start a drag of that newly-selected item when you keep holding down the mouse button and move the mouse.

-Kirk

Offline icurate

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Re: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2019, 05:10:29 PM »
The behavior in the 3 software programs I named (Plus the Mac Finder and Windows Explorer) is click and drag to select and move an item.
The behavior in PM is click, click and drag to move an item.

Offline Kirk Baker

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Re: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2019, 06:23:46 PM »
The behavior in the 3 software programs I named (Plus the Mac Finder and Windows Explorer) is click and drag to select and move an item.
The behavior in PM is click, click and drag to move an item.

I take it then that you can't drag select multiple items in those programs?  That's certainly a feature I wouldn't want to lose.

-Kirk

Offline Hayo Baan

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Re: Rearranging Thumbnails Expands Selection
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2019, 02:06:41 AM »
Hi Kirk, yes, you can select and drag multiple items in e.g. LightRoom just fine and that actually works exactly as in PM (make multi selection, let go of mouse button, click in selection, drag). However, what in e.g. LightRoom is also possible is to select a single image (outside the current selection, if any was active) and immediately drag that. Better, this dragging leaves the current selection (if there was any) intact. Quite nice if you're used to this, I think (and it is the same behaviour as in Finder).

Like described, PM on the other hand does not allow this and clicking an image outside the selection immediately kills the current selection and drag results in growing the selection. Hmm, so I guess therein lies the problem, drag on a not-previously-selected item is interpreted as grow selection.  The normal (?) behaviour in this case, however, is to drag the item instead.

This never bothered me, but now I'm thinking about it, I think it would be better if PM followed the “normal” behaviour here too. Perhaps add this as an option (though to be honest I think the contact sheet options to change the behaviour of the modifier keys is very much redundant; I can't think of anyone who would change the meaning of the keys to something other than what is normal for the OS (i.e. cmd toggles, shift extends).
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