View and/or Select by Extension

[sfbillm]

It would speed up a number or operations if one could view and/or select by file extension (Windows version). Burning to disk is one good example.

Say you have tagged a number of NEF (RAW) files that you then want to burn to a disk. You can select by tagged to work with just the NEFs you want to extract the JPEGs from, and extract in one batch operation.

You then are left with the tagged NEFs and the extracted JPEGs (also tagged) displayed.

But, since you want to burn only the JPEGs, you can't select by tagged, because you still have the tagged NEFs displayed. So you still have to go back and individually select each JPEG file that you want to burn to the disk.

If instead you could then select by extension (.JPG) for the burn, it would save a good bit of work in that operation. The same holds for copying, moving, viewing, etc.

Any chance of this being added? Thanks.

[Kirk Baker]

It would speed up a number or operations if one could view and/or select by file extension (Windows version). Burning to disk is one good example.

Say you have tagged a number of NEF (RAW) files that you then want to burn to a disk. You can select by tagged to work with just the NEFs you want to extract the JPEGs from, and extract in one batch operation.

You then are left with the tagged NEFs and the extracted JPEGs (also tagged) displayed.

But, since you want to burn only the JPEGs, you can't select by tagged, because you still have the tagged NEFs displayed. So you still have to go back and individually select each JPEG file that you want to burn to the disk.

If instead you could then select by extension (.JPG) for the burn, it would save a good bit of work in that operation. The same holds for copying, moving, viewing, etc.

Any chance of this being added? Thanks.

How would one select by 'extension'?

How about instead creating a custom sort using the {type} variable, then when sorted, the RAW files would be separated from the JPEG files.  Then you could perform your operation(s).

-Kirk

[sfbillm]

"How would one select by 'extension'?"

Well, if you mean how it would be programmed, sorry, but that's outside my area of expertise. But if you mean 'Can it be done?', the answer is "Yes".
I know from experience using it that Nikon's ViewNX will both select and view by file extension. I gather from the manuals of ACDSee Pro2 and idImager that these programs will also do this, or analogs in their respective ways of doing things.

Your suggestion of sorting by {type} is a helpful one. But you still have to do the sort, then click on the first JPEG, then shift-click on the last one you want, then do whatever you want to with the files. Certainly not a major problem, but being able to select by file type would cut out some steps.

Having said all that, PM is still the best browser/organizer for NEFs. Just suggesting a way it could be even better. 

[Kirk Baker]

"How would one select by 'extension'?"

Well, if you mean how it would be programmed, sorry, but that's outside my area of expertise. But if you mean 'Can it be done?', the answer is "Yes".
I know from experience using it that Nikon's ViewNX will both select and view by file extension. I gather from the manuals of ACDSee Pro2 and idImager that these programs will also do this, or analogs in their respective ways of doing things.

How does one choose what extension is selected?  Is there a dialog, a sub-menu?  Basically I am asking how the user experience would work, not how to write the code.

-Kirk

[CLOSEUP]

I also like this idea and mentioned it to tech support last week.

From a workflow perspective I would use this when I am doing quick prints from jpg's and I have NEF's or other file types listed in the the contact sheet.

I think that it would be great to have "custom view" capability; much like you have done with the "Sort by:", where the drop-down list has a "Edit custom" at the bottom. The user could select the "View by:", the last item in the menu would be "Edit custom" and the user could use any of the standard variables to "View by".

I could also use this functionality when I am moving files, especially by file extension. Although I do use the sort functionality, I have missed or included extras because the are actually not eliminated from the contact sheet.

[sfbillm]

How does one choose what extension is selected?  Is there a dialog, a sub-menu?  Basically I am asking how the user experience would work, not how to write the code.

In ViewNX, the 'View' option on the main menu bar has a sub-option on the drop-down called 'File Type to Display'. If you click on that, a list of file types and combinations of types is displayed. Clicking on one of the options will then only display files of the specified type(s). So, for example, you can display only JPEGs.

The 'Edit' option has as a sub-option on the drop-down list called 'Select Image'. Clicking on this displays a list of file types (extensions) - JPEG, NEF, TIFF - and again you can select just one type to work with.

[Kirk Baker]

How does one choose what extension is selected?  Is there a dialog, a sub-menu?  Basically I am asking how the user experience would work, not how to write the code.

In ViewNX, the 'View' option on the main menu bar has a sub-option on the drop-down called 'File Type to Display'. If you click on that, a list of file types and combinations of types is displayed. Clicking on one of the options will then only display files of the specified type(s). So, for example, you can display only JPEGs.

The 'Edit' option has as a sub-option on the drop-down list called 'Select Image'. Clicking on this displays a list of file types (extensions) - JPEG, NEF, TIFF - and again you can select just one type to work with.

Can you post some screen shots of the dialogs, please?

Thanks,

-Kirk

[CLOSEUP]

Attached are some screen prints of the View NX functionality.

Thanks,

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Kirk Baker]

Attached are some screen prints of the View NX functionality.

Thanks for the screenshots.  I'm not sure those interfaces would work well for PM since it can display dozens of different image types.  I think we'd need some sort of checkbox list in a dialog instead.

-Kirk