Selecting Images in Photomechanics

[fnphoto]

Hi:

I am test driving PM and cannot figure out how to change some settings. It is so basic that I am sure that the feature exists somewhere in the program .

- When selecting from the contact sheet, the difference between "selected" and "not selected" is just a shade of gray. The difference is not clear and can be confusing. I'd rather have a black/white ratio or very different colors.

- When selecting "Slide Show" from the menu or ctrl-s, I would like to bypass the "Slide Show Settings" menu. It do not need it every time. It becomes a nag after 30 times.

- When tagging or labeling the pictures in slide show mode, there is nothing that indicates the status, color or tag. There must be a way to get the background taking the color of the label or have a colored frame around the picture when the picture is selected.

- In preview mode, the only indication of the label color is at the bottom right. It is ok when viewing a few pictures but it slows down  the workflow  and it is tiring for the eyes (up and down, up and down)  when trying to view thousands of  pictures quickly.

- In preview mode, I can view, move forward/ backward and select quickly with left finger on 1,2,3,4 ,5 and right finger on the scrolling mouse but I cannot find a quick way to zoom at 100% and back to 50%. The only way I can find is to press + or - several times. Fine for a few pictures but a drag when working on a lot. There must  be a faster way like right click.

- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

- In contact sheet mode, how I can see a list of the filenames instead of the thumbnails?

Thank you


Frederic Neema



 

[Kirk Baker]

I am test driving PM and cannot figure out how to change some settings. It is so basic that I am sure that the feature exists somewhere in the program .

- When selecting from the contact sheet, the difference between "selected" and "not selected" is just a shade of gray. The difference is not clear and can be confusing. I'd rather have a black/white ratio or very different colors.

You can customize the colors from the Contact Sheet tab in the Preferences dialog.

- When selecting "Slide Show" from the menu or ctrl-s, I would like to bypass the "Slide Show Settings" menu. It do not need it every time. It becomes a nag after 30 times.

When you choose the menuitem for "Slide show", hold down the Option key on Mac, (Shift key on Windows) and the dialog will be skipped.  This same "shortcut key" idea works in lots of dialogs like Copy, Rename, FTP As, Save As, etc.

- When tagging or labeling the pictures in slide show mode, there is nothing that indicates the status, color or tag. There must be a way to get the background taking the color of the label or have a colored frame around the picture when the picture is selected.

Yes it is true that there is no indicator.

- In preview mode, the only indication of the label color is at the bottom right. It is ok when viewing a few pictures but it slows down  the workflow  and it is tiring for the eyes (up and down, up and down)  when trying to view thousands of  pictures quickly.

What visual element are you looking at in addition to the color class indicator that causes your eyes to look up and down all of the time?

- In preview mode, I can view, move forward/ backward and select quickly with left finger on 1,2,3,4 ,5 and right finger on the scrolling mouse but I cannot find a quick way to zoom at 100% and back to 50%. The only way I can find is to press + or - several times. Fine for a few pictures but a drag when working on a lot. There must  be a faster way like right click.

Mac: Command-click on an area of interest and it will zoom in to your current zoom setting.
Win: Control-click on an area of interest and it will zoom in to your current zoom setting.

- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

True, there is no quick way to do that.  Suggestion?

- In contact sheet mode, how I can see a list of the filenames instead of the thumbnails?

There is no 'list' mode in the Contact Sheet view.

HTH,

-Kirk

[fnphoto]

I am test driving PM and cannot figure out how to change some settings. It is so basic that I am sure that the feature exists somewhere in the program .

- When selecting from the contact sheet, the difference between "selected" and "not selected" is just a shade of gray. The difference is not clear and can be confusing. I'd rather have a black/white ratio or very different colors.

You can customize the colors from the Contact Sheet tab in the Preferences dialog.

- When selecting "Slide Show" from the menu or ctrl-s, I would like to bypass the "Slide Show Settings" menu. It do not need it every time. It becomes a nag after 30 times.

When you choose the menuitem for "Slide show", hold down the Option key on Mac, (Shift key on Windows) and the dialog will be skipped.  This same "shortcut key" idea works in lots of dialogs like Copy, Rename, FTP As, Save As, etc.

- When tagging or labeling the pictures in slide show mode, there is nothing that indicates the status, color or tag. There must be a way to get the background taking the color of the label or have a colored frame around the picture when the picture is selected.

Yes it is true that there is no indicator.

- In preview mode, the only indication of the label color is at the bottom right. It is ok when viewing a few pictures but it slows down  the workflow  and it is tiring for the eyes (up and down, up and down)  when trying to view thousands of  pictures quickly.

What visual element are you looking at in addition to the color class indicator that causes your eyes to look up and down all of the time?

- In preview mode, I can view, move forward/ backward and select quickly with left finger on 1,2,3,4 ,5 and right finger on the scrolling mouse but I cannot find a quick way to zoom at 100% and back to 50%. The only way I can find is to press + or - several times. Fine for a few pictures but a drag when working on a lot. There must  be a faster way like right click.

Mac: Command-click on an area of interest and it will zoom in to your current zoom setting.
Win: Control-click on an area of interest and it will zoom in to your current zoom setting.

- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

True, there is no quick way to do that.  Suggestion?

- In contact sheet mode, how I can see a list of the filenames instead of the thumbnails?

There is no 'list' mode in the Contact Sheet view.

HTH,

-Kirk

[Kevin M. Cox]

Quote from: fnphoto
- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

True, there is no quick way to do that.  Suggestion?

Would this work: once you have the 2 photos selected hit F2 and it will only show those. When you're done hit F1 and it will switch back to showing all photos.

[fnphoto]

Thanks Kirk for gettign back to me that quickly.

You can customize the colors from the Contact Sheet tab in the Preferences dialog.

Great. I don't know how I missed it.

When you choose the menuitem for "Slide show", hold down the Option key on Mac, (Shift key on Windows) and the dialog will be skipped.  This same "shortcut key" idea works in lots of dialogs like Copy, Rename, FTP As, Save As, etc.

Perfect

- When tagging or labeling the pictures in slide show mode, there is nothing that indicates the status, color or tag. There must be a way to get the background taking the color of the label or have a colored frame around the picture when the picture is selected.

Yes it is true that there is no indicator.

Any chance to have it in a future version?

What visual element are you looking at in addition to the color class indicator that causes your eyes to look up and down all of the time?

Ideal would be a frame around the picture that takes the color of the label or tag. Thickness of 10 pixels would be enough. The goal is to not move the eyes when browsing though tons of pictures to detect one aspect of the picture like focusing on the eyes of the portraits.

Mac: Command-click on an area of interest and it will zoom in to your current zoom setting.
Win: Control-click on an area of interest and it will zoom in to your current zoom setting.

Perfect

- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

True, there is no quick way to do that.  Suggestion?

When selecting two pictures and pressing enter, the program understands that it needs to enter in view side by side mode with these two pictures.

There is no 'list' mode in the Contact Sheet view.

Any other way to see a list of the filenames? (other than going to another program)

Thanks a lot


Frederic

[fnphoto]

Quote from: fnphoto
- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

True, there is no quick way to do that.  Suggestion?

Would this work: once you have the 2 photos selected hit F2 and it will only show those. When you're done hit F1 and it will switch back to showing all photos.

To return to the two selected pictrues, I will need to select one the two pictures before hitting F1.

This involves too many keys and mouse clicks. It is ok for a few pictures but when browsing through a lot, it slows down the process.

[SteveMcN]

I shoot a lot of 3d stereo images and have always found PM's side by side preview incredibly useful for working through stereo pairs. I've just found that the latest version no longer allows independent progression for the two images. That is, if I'm looking at image 1 on the left and image 100 on the right, I used to be able to click the right arrow to progress the left image to Image 2 and then select the right image and click the right arrow to progress to image 101.

Now a right arrow click progresses either image to the next image from the last one selected. So Image 1 will progress to 102 on a right arrow click... so I'm no longer looking at stereo pairs.

This may work better for other people, so I don't know whether it's a bug or a feature: if it's a deliberate implementation, it would be great to be able to choose between the two methods.

This is my first post here and I apologise if this has been covered before, but I tried a search, to no avail.

Thanks

Steve

[Kirk Baker]

I shoot a lot of 3d stereo images and have always found PM's side by side preview incredibly useful for working through stereo pairs. I've just found that the latest version no longer allows independent progression for the two images. That is, if I'm looking at image 1 on the left and image 100 on the right, I used to be able to click the right arrow to progress the left image to Image 2 and then select the right image and click the right arrow to progress to image 101.

Now a right arrow click progresses either image to the next image from the last one selected. So Image 1 will progress to 102 on a right arrow click... so I'm no longer looking at stereo pairs.

This may work better for other people, so I don't know whether it's a bug or a feature: if it's a deliberate implementation, it would be great to be able to choose between the two methods.

It was deliberately changed from the way it did work to the way it works now.  As far as making it a preference, I don't know how you would even describe the way it used to work so that I could make it a checkbox.  Suggestions?

As far as searches go, this is a very new forum, (less than a week old) and searches won't find much.

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

- In contact sheet mode, when I select 2 pictures I cannot find the command to see them side by side. The only way I can find is to select one, preview then find the other one. Too long. There must be a shortcut somewhere.

True, there is no quick way to do that.  Suggestion?

When selecting two pictures and pressing enter, the program understands that it needs to enter in view side by side mode with these two pictures.

But what if a top/bottom arrangement would be more appropriate?

-Kirk

[SteveMcN]

It was deliberately changed from the way it did work to the way it works now.  As far as making it a preference, I don't know how you would even describe the way it used to work so that I could make it a checkbox.  Suggestions?

As far as searches go, this is a very new forum, (less than a week old) and searches won't find much.

-Kirk

Thanks for the speedy reply: I guess stereo pair photographers are a minority here! I'll just have to keep 4.3.8 on my drive to preview 3D... is there any risk involved by having two different versions of PM on one machine?

Maybe you could call the two modes "linked selection" and "independent selection"? Like in Final Cut where you can link and unlink video to audio or unlink stereo audio to twin mono audio? I know it's a lot to ask if I'm the only one requesting it!

Thanks again!

Steve

[fnphoto]

I wonder if there is a chance to see this feature (a more visible color tag in preview mode) in PM soon? This is what would make me switch from my current workflow made of Fotostation, iView and Acdsee.

Thank you

Frederic Neema

[Kirk Baker]

I wonder if there is a chance to see this feature (a more visible color tag in preview mode) in PM soon? This is what would make me switch from my current workflow made of Fotostation, iView and Acdsee.

There is already a selection ring around the photos when in either of the two-up modes.  Having a large colored border around the photos would lend a color cast to the previews which would be distracting.  If you can come up with another idea for making the color class more visible in Preview mode, I'm all ears.

-Kirk

[fnphoto]

I wonder if there is a chance to see this feature (a more visible color tag in preview mode) in PM soon? This is what would make me switch from my current workflow made of Fotostation, iView and Acdsee.

There is already a selection ring around the photos when in either of the two-up modes.  Having a large colored border around the photos would lend a color cast to the previews which would be distracting.  If you can come up with another idea for making the color class more visible in Preview mode, I'm all ears.

-Kirk

I am not sure what you call "two-up mode". Anyway, no need for large colored border, a thin one would work or just the actual label with the same height but all the way across the screen. The goal would be to avoid having to take off the eyes from the picture on display to check the color or tag.