GSoC 2008 Picture Browser Concept
This is basically the concept i already posted on the mailinglist, with some minor changes/additions. As discussion evolves, i will update it.
General
- 1.1 All settings savable
all settings can be saved so the user can continue using the browser just as he left it
- 1.2 Option "always on top"
keeps the window always on top
GUI
- 2.1 Clear hierachy of elements from left to right
- 2.2 Divided up into 3 main categories, accessible via tabs
- 2.2.1 Folderbrowser (search through mass storage)
- 2.2.2 Collectionsbrowser (manage collections of images)
- 2.2.3 Documentbrowser (manage images in current document)
- 2.3 Display additional content only on demand
"more" button which shows tabwindow to keep the picturebrowser slim
- 2.4 Suitable for beginners as well as for professionals
for every "hidden" option (drag&drop, contextmenu, qtip etc) there will be a visible control element providing the same function so beginners won't get lost
Previews
- 3.1 Zoom levels
several zoom levels allow to set a custom size of the previewpictures
- 3.2 Actions combobox with actions button
- 3.2.1 "insert into page"
- 3.2.2 "add to collection"
- 3.2.3 "remove from collection"
- 3.2.4 "show in original size"
- 3.3 Sorting
Sorting of the previewpictures by various categories (filename, filesize, filetype, filedate, resolution etc)
- 3.4 Different previewmodes
- 3.4.1 "common previewlist" - only previewimages
- 3.4.2 "previewlist with information" - additional information below each previewimage (filename, filesize, filetype, filedate, resolution etc)
- 3.4.3 "Pictureflow" - Preview using PictureFlow
- 3.5 Individual contextmenu
allows access to sorting/filter, add/remove collections etc
- 3.6 Just in time caching of previewimages
only visible previewimages will be loaded, resulting in faster load times after a set of images has been chosen
- 3.7 Option to show images in original size
on doubleclick, the previewimage is shown in orignal size (or resized to fullscreen) in a seperate window
- 3.8 Drag&Drop
images can be inserted into collections or into the document directly by drag&drop
Folderbrowser
- 4.1 Option "include subdirs"
if activated, subfolders will be included
- 4.2 Editable shortcut combobox over folderbrowser
allows quick access to digital camera, Desktop, My Documents etc as well as entering a path manually. May include auto completion.
- 4.3 Option "manually refresh previews"
if the user is trying to reach a subfolder, loading may be very disturbing if the folders along the way contain many images. This option allows to refresh the previewlist only on demand by pressing a "refresh" button.
- 4.4 Individual contextmenu
allows to perform certain actions with all images of a specific folder (add to a collection etc)
Collectionsbrowser
- 5.1 Editing options
allows creation, editing and removal of image collections
- 5.2 Individual contextmenu
allows creation, editing and removal of image collections
Documentbrowser
- 6.1 "Go to page" Option
jumps to the desired page of the current document
- 6.2 Individual Contextmenu
allows document specific actions
Expanded Picturebrowser
- 7.1 Information
shows all available image information of the chosen image as well as fileinformation
- 7.2 Filter/search
allows filtering/searching of images, since those functions are very similar they are united. Categories include filename, filedate, filesize, filetype and resolution. Use of wildcards and recursive filtering is possible.
- 7.3 Tools
provides basic tools for image editing (already included in Scribus)