PopUp QuickView

[ben]

I would like to propose an additional quickview, which is independent of any iMatch panel.
The quickview should pop up in the file window and be shown as overlay over the thumbnails in the filewindow.

This way we could have a quick view of the image without opening the viewer or the quickview panel.
Ideally we could configure the size of the preview.

This could be very helpful if you work with a single (small) screen.

Please vote if you like the idea.

[sinus]

Hm, this is quite near to the FR, was just ubacher did wrote, just one post before you, I have to think about this.
I liked ubacher's idea, because for me it makes sense and it is based on a already window here (quick tip). 

[ben]

Are there any further comments?
Or on ubachers FR?
Mario asked to vote for open FR.

I tried using the file window hint, but it is not really the best solution (hin with the other hint-text gets really big or the image is not big enough).

Having the quick view is great but if it is not shown due to lack of screen space, then this idea would come very handy.

[Mario]

Only 1 Like since March.
I think most people are satisfied with the Quick View Panel, the Viewer and the Slide Show in IMatch.

Implementing your simple sounding idea would require me to re-implement large chunks of the complex Quick View Panel / Viewer code, the render pipeline, DirectX integration etc. Quite complex.

Preload and caching would be impossible since there is no way to tell which image the user will click.
If no cache file exists, there would be a 2 to 10 second pause for creating the cache image (depending on the file format), and IMatch would have to do that while the user waits. Or cancel the process when the user releases the mouse or clicks on another image to start it all again.

Yes. You may only use JPG files or the images you click on will always be cached already.
But a feature like this would have to work for all users, which means I cannot implement it so it works only with JPG images or already cached files.

And you get this functionality already with the Quick View Panel. Hold down <SPACE> and move the mouse over thumbnail panels in the File Window to automatically load and display the file under the cursor.

The Quick View Panel can be docked, floated freely as a window and you can move it to a second monitor to have a full-size view. Why can't you use the Quick View Panel, which was explicitly designed for this very purpose?

[ubacher]

I often CTRL-Return on a thumbnail to open the external viewer (Irfanview in my case). This is extreme fast.
Downside is that I have to close the display afterwards to get it out of the way.
Maybe this is how this "pop-up" view could be implemented:
Ctrl-clicking the thumbnail opens the file with external viewer, releasing the mouse closes the external viewer.
(But is that closing doable?)

[ben]

Yes. You may only use JPG files or the images you click on will always be cached already.
But a feature like this would have to work for all users, which means I cannot implement it so it works only with JPG images or already cached files.

The Quick View Panel can be docked, floated freely as a window and you can move it to a second monitor to have a full-size view. Why can't you use the Quick View Panel, which was explicitly designed for this very purpose?

I understand the technical difficulties.
The quickviewpanel is either docked and/or quite small on my screen. And I don't have an extra monitor.
If it's floating then i have to move it around all the time to get it out of my way.

[Mario]

Why not use IrfanView at all times in that case? If it works better for you, then use it!
That's why IMatch makes it so easy to open files in the associated application. Or any application via IMatch Favorites.

Do you use RAW files for your test? If so, which kind of RAW files?
See my comment about processing RAW files into the cache above.


Is it really faster on your computer to launch an external application to view an image than it is to bring the very same image into the IMatch Quick View Panel or the Viewer? This would be somewhat unexpected. I would really like to see the IMatch log file of that session in that case.

Windows WIC usually loads an IMatch JPG cache image in 0.1 to 0.2 seconds (just checked on this 5 year old laptop) into the Quick View Panel. If it takes longer on your system, I would like to see the IMatch log file to see where IMatch is wasting your time.

In general: if IrfanView it does what you want, use it by all means. Maybe FastRawViewer would be even faster?

If, on your system, it is faster to launch IrfanView to see an image than it it is so see the file in the Quick View panel or the Viewer, just use <Ctrl>+<Enter> instead of <Enter>.
And please send me the log file. Maybe I can see something.

On my 5 year old laptop it is way faster to click and see an image in the QuickView Panel (docked or on the external monitor) or the Viewer than launching it in IrfanView. 0.2 seconds vs. ~3 seconds to wait for IrfanView to open (launch from SSD) and load the image.
I will do some timings on my regular workstation PC, when I find the time. Is a lot faster than my laptop.

[Mario]

The quickviewpanel is either docked and/or quite small on my screen. And I don't have an extra monitor.
If it's floating then i have to move it around all the time to get it out of my way.

The Quick View Panel can be resized like any other window. And it remembers and automatically restores its size and position.
Just make it bigger once when it is "floating" (not docket) and it will always restore and size and that position.

[ben]

The quickviewpanel is either docked and/or quite small on my screen. And I don't have an extra monitor.
If it's floating then i have to move it around all the time to get it out of my way.

The Quick View Panel can be resized like any other window. And it remember and automatically restores it's size and position.
Just make it bigger once when it is "floating" (not docket) and it will always restore and size and that position.

Yeah, thats how i do it at the moment. My FR was just an idea to improve it. It's ok.
BTW: The comment about IrfanView was not mine; havent tried that