Why won't Viewer stay on top? (ver. 5.6.18)

Panther · April 09, 2016, 11:26:01 PM

Finally had some time to get back into this after updating my PC to Windows 10, and bought some 5.6 licenses today to update my older 5.something versions. Started up a test database of new images just to play around and get used to the new version before trying it on my "real" database, and I've encountered a problem I hope someone can help with.

The new images I'm cataloging are photos of WWI combat reports that I need to be able to read in order to assign them to the categories I want. So, I'm trying to create a situation on my monitor where iMatch's main screen is full screen and the viewer window is overlaid top of it on the left side, leaving the category pane visible on the right so I can assign categories as I'm reading the report in the viewer window. It works great, EXCEPT that for some reason I can't get the viewer window to stay on top (so, every time I click on the iMatch category pane on the right, the rest of the iMatch screen comes to the fore and covers up the viewer window.

Right clicking on the viewer window gives me a setting that looks like it's going to make the viewer window stay on top, but having that setting clicked (as shown below) isn't working - even with it checked, the viewer window still goes behind the iMatch screen when I click on the category panel on the right.

What am I missing? - this constant clicking back and forth between these two windows is getting really annoying.

jch2103 · April 09, 2016, 11:57:16 PM

Did you try 'Toggle Categories Panel' in the Viewer?

Panther · April 10, 2016, 12:40:33 AM

Quote from: jch2103 on April 09, 2016, 11:57:16 PM
Did you try 'Toggle Categories Panel' in the Viewer?

No, I had not, but I have now - thanks for the tip

That works pretty well for most of these files (I didn't think about being able to do the category assignment right from within the viewer window, so that was good to learn).

For some, I still need to select multiple files to assign the same categories to them (e.g., when they turn out to be subsequent pages from the same report/document), and that seems to be easier to do from the main iMatch window's preview pane (or whatever that big window in the middle is called), but that doesn't happen all that often with these images and it's pretty easy to switch back over to the main window when I need to do that.

I still haven't figured out exactly why certain files are highlighted/selected in the main screen's preview pane when I switch back from the viewer, but I'll play around with it some more till I figure out the pattern. And it still puzzles me why the "Stay on top" setting doesn't make it stay on top, but in the meantime, this has been a big help - thanks again!

Mario · April 10, 2016, 07:43:35 AM

I suggest trying to use the Quick View Panel for your purpose. Maybe this works better for some steps of your workflow. The QVP can be sized freely, docked or moved around on your monitor. It is always visible and can be docked side-by-side with the Category Panel to make it quick and easy to assign categories while looking at large representations of images. The QVP allows you to move the selection quickly as well. Other 'speed' tools are Favorites which allows you to assign categories or entire sets of categories with a single mouse click or keyboard shortcut.

The Viewer's main purpose is to, eh, view images in full screen <F12>,<F> mode. It can be used to assign categories when you use the categories panel, or to work with collections. But if the current step in the workflow is to assign many files to many categories quickly, keeping the file window, the QVP and the Category Panel visible is usually much faster.

Panther · April 10, 2016, 05:38:47 PM

Thanks for the response Mario - I'll give those options a try.

Your continued support, both with updates to the software and with responses on these forums, is the reason I keep buying updates to iMatch even though the first 3.x version I bought really did everything I needed to the program to do for my limited purposes.

Mario · April 10, 2016, 05:56:42 PM

Very good

IMatch 3 is no very old and I have officially ended support for it on January 1. 2015. I don't have it installed anymore.

Panther · April 10, 2016, 07:27:26 PM

OK - I played around with using the Quick View panel instead of the viewer, and got something really close to what I was looking for, but I can't seem to get the various panels/windows to go exactly where I want them. It's probably just that iMatch is so flexible that I can't figure out how it works, so I'm hoping somebody here can give me a tip as to how I can re-arrange the panels/windows to put them where I want them (the basic problem is that I haven't been able to figure out how to dock/position two panels (Quick View and Categories) so they are both displayed to the right (or the left, for that matter) of the main category/preview picture window and be next to each other instead of stacked on top of each other).

Basically, this is as close as I've been able to get:

When what I really want is this (although ultimately I'd like to be able to move the right side of the main/preview picture window over to the left so that it wouldn't be partially hidden behind the Quick View panel like it is in this PhotoShop mock-up):

Any ideas whether this type of layout is possible, and if so, how?

Mario · April 10, 2016, 08:49:09 PM

Please read the Workspace section or search the help for panel.
It explains how to dock panels, group them, make them float etc. I could only repeat the info here.

Panther · April 11, 2016, 02:49:21 AM

OK - I'll look again. You've got such a voluminous help file that sometimes I get lost in there trying to find what I'm looking for (but that certainly beats the alternative - so many "help" files these days seem to just repeat screens you're going to see without explaining anything about them, so "too much" info is better than that, for sure).

[EDIT] - LOL - that didn't take long. I finally found the right part of the help file, and the explanation was perfect - I got it working exactly like I wanted to in very short order. I knew there had to be some significance to that little symbol with all the arrows that I kept seeing, but I couldn't figure out how to get to it - I thought you had to click on it and of course every time I stopped dragging the panel to try to click on the arrow symbol, it went away. But the help file made it clear that you just keep dragging the panel till your cursor is on the arrow you want, and bingo!

Sorry for the noob question(s), and thanks for your patience.

Mario · April 11, 2016, 08:19:46 AM

Quote(...) so many "help" files these days seem to just repeat screens you're going to see without explaining anything about them, so "too much" info is better than that, for sure).

This is to be expected. Most help files are now written in 'cheap labor' countries, where the people writing the help don't know anything about the software. They get a crash course and then, as you observed, mostly explain what they see in the dialog boxes and screen shots. There is no deeper understanding. Companies rely on 'the community' to help each other, 'socializing out' support cost to increase profits. It's iced up a bit by the PR and marketing department, but basically it's just reducing cost.

Quote[EDIT] - LOL - that didn't take long. I finally found the right part of the help file, and the explanation was perfect - I g

Excellent. And once you have used it. it's intuitive. Problem for me is to find the right keywords to allow users to find stuff. I'm constantly updating the help file (there is a feedback link at the bottom of each help topic if you want to make suggestions).