Add Images to Collection

[gonzuller]

Just as right-clicking on selected images brings up a window with an option to "Include Items in Catalog," it would be nice to have an "Include Items in Collection" option.

- Chris

[Kirk Baker]

Just as right-clicking on selected images brings up a window with an option to "Include Items in Catalog," it would be nice to have an "Include Items in Collection" option.

The next build will have this feature in it.

-Kirk

[gonzuller]

Excellent!  Thank you.

[bazography]

Just as right-clicking on selected images brings up a window with an option to "Include Items in Catalog," it would be nice to have an "Include Items in Collection" option.

The next build will have this feature in it.

-Kirk

I was about to suggest this as well, so that's great to hear. It would be so much faster if you could just select thumbnails and right-click "Add To Collection" from the Browse tab, or Filter tab, or Favourites or wherever you happen to be browsing from. Not having to navigate to the Collections tab first will be a big plus.

Along a similar line...
The first time I played around with collections I tried to drag & drop some thumbnails into a collection because that just seemed the most intuitive way to do it. Is that being considered also?

[Kirk Baker]

No, we won't be doing drag and drop.

As for being able to add to a Collection without the Collection tab open, you'll at least have to select a Collection before you move on to Browsing or Filtering but once a Collection is set you can add to it anytime you have images selected in any Contact Sheet, regardless of what kind it is (folder, filter, search, or browse.)

[bazography]

As for being able to add to a Collection without the Collection tab open, you'll at least have to select a Collection before you move on to Browsing or Filtering but once a Collection is set you can add to it anytime you have images selected in any Contact Sheet, regardless of what kind it is (folder, filter, search, or browse.)

I just started testing PM Plus a few days ago, but I can already anticipate working through a contact sheet and frequently wanting to add photos to different collections as I go. Every time I want to do that I'd have to stop, go to the Collection tab, switch collections, then go back to the contact sheet and add the photos. Lather rinse and repeat each time I want to add photos to a different collection.

I had an idea though. Right now if you right-click and select "Color Class", a secondary menu open up with a list of colors to choose from.
So in exactly the same way, how about you right-click, select "Add To Collection", and a secondary menu opens with a list of your collections to choose from? That way you could add to any collection you want at any time without having to constantly switch tabs.

[Luiz Muzzi]

As for being able to add to a Collection without the Collection tab open, you'll at least have to select a Collection before you move on to Browsing or Filtering but once a Collection is set you can add to it anytime you have images selected in any Contact Sheet, regardless of what kind it is (folder, filter, search, or browse.)

I just started testing PM Plus a few days ago, but I can already anticipate working through a contact sheet and frequently wanting to add photos to different collections as I go. Every time I want to do that I'd have to stop, go to the Collection tab, switch collections, then go back to the contact sheet and add the photos. Lather rinse and repeat each time I want to add photos to a different collection.

I had an idea though. Right now if you right-click and select "Color Class", a secondary menu open up with a list of colors to choose from.
So in exactly the same way, how about you right-click, select "Add To Collection", and a secondary menu opens with a list of your collections to choose from? That way you could add to any collection you want at any time without having to constantly switch tabs.

Hi,
I think this would be a good idea.
Regards,
- Luiz Muzzi

[Kirk Baker]

I'm sure that would work OK for a handful of Collections but not very well when the number of Collections is large.

[bazography]

I'm sure that would work OK for a handful of Collections but not very well when the number of Collections is large.

True enough, if there were so many collections that they couldn't all fit on screen you'd have to start scrolling through the list. Seems to me it would still be easier though, since with the current method I'd still have to scroll through a long list, but I'd also have the extra step of switching into the collections tab first.

And there's more to it than just switching tabs. The other part of the current method that I find a bit clunky is that once in the collections tab, I find the collection I want, and then I have to click on it, which means it will open as a contact sheet. That's expected behaviour of course, but in this case I don't actually want to open it as a contact sheet, I really just need to tell the software which collection I want to start adding photos to. But the end result is that every time I select a collection I have to close and unwanted contact sheet and switch back to the one I was working on.

[Kirk Baker]

I'm sure that would work OK for a handful of Collections but not very well when the number of Collections is large.

True enough, if there were so many collections that they couldn't all fit on screen you'd have to start scrolling through the list. Seems to me it would still be easier though, since with the current method I'd still have to scroll through a long list, but I'd also have the extra step of switching into the collections tab first.

And there's more to it than just switching tabs. The other part of the current method that I find a bit clunky is that once in the collections tab, I find the collection I want, and then I have to click on it, which means it will open as a contact sheet. That's expected behaviour of course, but in this case I don't actually want to open it as a contact sheet, I really just need to tell the software which collection I want to start adding photos to. But the end result is that every time I select a collection I have to close and unwanted contact sheet and switch back to the one I was working on.

Having a single click open the Collection as a Contact Sheet is a bug.  It is completely unusable.  The next build won't have this problem.  You'll either need to double-click to open or right-click and choose to open from the contextual menu.

-Kirk

[bazography]

I'm sure that would work OK for a handful of Collections but not very well when the number of Collections is large.

True enough, if there were so many collections that they couldn't all fit on screen you'd have to start scrolling through the list. Seems to me it would still be easier though, since with the current method I'd still have to scroll through a long list, but I'd also have the extra step of switching into the collections tab first.

And there's more to it than just switching tabs. The other part of the current method that I find a bit clunky is that once in the collections tab, I find the collection I want, and then I have to click on it, which means it will open as a contact sheet. That's expected behaviour of course, but in this case I don't actually want to open it as a contact sheet, I really just need to tell the software which collection I want to start adding photos to. But the end result is that every time I select a collection I have to close and unwanted contact sheet and switch back to the one I was working on.

Having a single click open the Collection as a Contact Sheet is a bug.  It is completely unusable.  The next build won't have this problem.  You'll either need to double-click to open or right-click and choose to open from the contextual menu.

-Kirk

Ah-ha!!... I kinda wondered if there was something missing/broken as it seemed uncharacteristically clunky for Camera Bits. Having a right click on the Collection (as opposed to right-clicking the images) changes everything.

So...
I have the contact sheet I'm working on open. I have the Collections tab open. I select some images, right-click on any Collection I want and choose "Add Photos To This Collection" (or whatever) and I'm done... carry on? Perfect!

[bazography]

Having a single click open the Collection as a Contact Sheet is a bug.  It is completely unusable.  The next build won't have this problem.  You'll either need to double-click to open or right-click and choose to open from the contextual menu.

-Kirk

I mentioned earlier in this thread that having to click on a collection (thus opening a contact sheet) in order to add images was a pain, but that was before “Add selected items here” was added/fixed. With that now working, if I’m browsing a contact sheet and I want to drop photos into various collections, I select some images, right-click on any collection (regardless of whether it is currently selected or not) and choose “Add selected items here”. This is brilliant, as it means there is no longer any need to click on a collection first, which means I'm no longer unnecessarily opening contact sheets every time I want to add photos to a different collection. So with that fixed and working beautifully, I can't understand what the problem is with single-clicking on a collection to open it. As I say it WAS a problem, but not any more, and in fact the only issue I see now is the inconsistency of behaviour between tabs.

The way I see it, having to double-click a collection breaks some very fundamental PM behaviour. Whether you click a folder while in Favourites or you click on a keyword in the Filter tab or click on something in the Browse tab, it's always a single click to opens a contact sheet. But now the behaviour is different only in the Collections tab. In my view, having different clicks do different things depending on the what tab you're in just complicates the user experience.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the only reason I can think of for the current behaviour is if you add to a collection by right-clicking images and selecting “Add to collection”. In that case the collection needs to be selected first, and selecting a collection without bringing up a contact sheet every time is helpful. Firstly though, I honestly can’t see why anyone would use “Add to collection” now that “Add selected items here” is working. It does exactly the same thing but it saves you the step of having to select a collection first. Secondly, if for some reason you still want to use “Add to collection”, maybe an Option-Click or Control-Click or something on the collection could select it without opening a contact sheet. That way the single-click behaviour could remain consistent throughout PM.

[Kirk Baker]

Having a single click open the Collection as a Contact Sheet is a bug.  It is completely unusable.  The next build won't have this problem.  You'll either need to double-click to open or right-click and choose to open from the contextual menu.

-Kirk

I mentioned earlier in this thread that having to click on a collection (thus opening a contact sheet) in order to add images was a pain, but that was before “Add selected items here” was added/fixed. With that now working, if I’m browsing a contact sheet and I want to drop photos into various collections, I select some images, right-click on any collection (regardless of whether it is currently selected or not) and choose “Add selected items here”. This is brilliant, as it means there is no longer any need to click on a collection first, which means I'm no longer unnecessarily opening contact sheets every time I want to add photos to a different collection. So with that fixed and working beautifully, I can't understand what the problem is with single-clicking on a collection to open it. As I say it WAS a problem, but not any more, and in fact the only issue I see now is the inconsistency of behaviour between tabs.

The way I see it, having to double-click a collection breaks some very fundamental PM behaviour. Whether you click a folder while in Favourites or you click on a keyword in the Filter tab or click on something in the Browse tab, it's always a single click to opens a contact sheet. But now the behaviour is different only in the Collections tab. In my view, having different clicks do different things depending on the what tab you're in just complicates the user experience.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the only reason I can think of for the current behaviour is if you add to a collection by right-clicking images and selecting “Add to collection”. In that case the collection needs to be selected first, and selecting a collection without bringing up a contact sheet every time is helpful. Firstly though, I honestly can’t see why anyone would use “Add to collection” now that “Add selected items here” is working. It does exactly the same thing but it saves you the step of having to select a collection first. Secondly, if for some reason you still want to use “Add to collection”, maybe an Option-Click or Control-Click or something on the collection could select it without opening a contact sheet. That way the single-click behaviour could remain consistent throughout PM.

I thank you for your feedback, but I respectfully disagree.  It is not always the case that single clicking in the Favorites or Navigator opens a Contact Sheet.  That is a preference that can be set by the user.  I personally have mine set to be a double-click.

Having to remember to press some qualifier keys to not have a single click open the Collection as a tab also sounds non-intuitive.

Having the Collection open on single click is quite annoying when you're trying to build your Collection hierarchy.  Each click opens a Collection when all you want to do is create a sub-collection, or rename a collection, or use any of the other contextual menu functions.

-Kirk

[syncrasy]

Having a single click open the Collection as a Contact Sheet is a bug.  It is completely unusable.  The next build won't have this problem.  You'll either need to double-click to open or right-click and choose to open from the contextual menu.

-Kirk

I mentioned earlier in this thread that having to click on a collection (thus opening a contact sheet) in order to add images was a pain, but that was before “Add selected items here” was added/fixed. With that now working, if I’m browsing a contact sheet and I want to drop photos into various collections, I select some images, right-click on any collection (regardless of whether it is currently selected or not) and choose “Add selected items here”. This is brilliant, as it means there is no longer any need to click on a collection first, which means I'm no longer unnecessarily opening contact sheets every time I want to add photos to a different collection. So with that fixed and working beautifully, I can't understand what the problem is with single-clicking on a collection to open it. As I say it WAS a problem, but not any more, and in fact the only issue I see now is the inconsistency of behaviour between tabs.

The way I see it, having to double-click a collection breaks some very fundamental PM behaviour. Whether you click a folder while in Favourites or you click on a keyword in the Filter tab or click on something in the Browse tab, it's always a single click to opens a contact sheet. But now the behaviour is different only in the Collections tab. In my view, having different clicks do different things depending on the what tab you're in just complicates the user experience.

Maybe I'm missing something, but the only reason I can think of for the current behaviour is if you add to a collection by right-clicking images and selecting “Add to collection”. In that case the collection needs to be selected first, and selecting a collection without bringing up a contact sheet every time is helpful. Firstly though, I honestly can’t see why anyone would use “Add to collection” now that “Add selected items here” is working. It does exactly the same thing but it saves you the step of having to select a collection first. Secondly, if for some reason you still want to use “Add to collection”, maybe an Option-Click or Control-Click or something on the collection could select it without opening a contact sheet. That way the single-click behaviour could remain consistent throughout PM.

I thank you for your feedback, but I respectfully disagree.  It is not always the case that single clicking in the Favorites or Navigator opens a Contact Sheet.  That is a preference that can be set by the user.  I personally have mine set to be a double-click.

Having to remember to press some qualifier keys to not have a single click open the Collection as a tab also sounds non-intuitive.

Having the Collection open on single click is quite annoying when you're trying to build your Collection hierarchy.  Each click opens a Collection when all you want to do is create a sub-collection, or rename a collection, or use any of the other contextual menu functions.

-Kirk

I haven't been able to test Collections yet because my beta's Collections contextual menu won't work, but I do want to make a quick comment on the concept of double clicking vs single clicking. If I understand Kirk's final paragraph correctly, I think he is absolutely correct. The items in a Collection list on the left panel must be editable/manipulable without displaying the actual images in the collection.

This discussion is similar to one I had with a novice Media Pro user: "Why is browsing photo thumbnails set up this way?".

In Media Pro the general concept is: single click to highlight the Collection/Catalog Set name. Single click on the name field again to edit the name, or single click the highlighted name to drag it within the hierarchy. To actually display images you must select the dot next to the name (or double click the name). I assume PM+ follows this general behavior. (And if the PM+ Collection list doesn't employ dots, it might be worth adding it. I don't think anyone has a trademark on selectable dots  . The dots allow for single clicking to display images without highlighting the Collection name. It's the best of both worlds.)

[Kirk Baker]

Mark,

It sounds like the 'dot' is just a fancy check box.  Correct?

-Kirk