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    Requested Area selection

    With IrfanView one can make a rectangular selection 'inside' an image in several ways.
    1) It can be done in freestyle manually by clicking left mouse at one corner and dragging the mouse to the opposite corner.
    2) It can be done with the Shift+C command, 'Create Custom selection' by editing size-values and offsets.

    Both methods produce six specific coord values, the four corners of the area, and the possible 2 x-y offsets.
    Both methods can have their advantage, according to the goal of the desired action.

    The re-use of these two sets is in IV quite fuzzy. Sometimes values are still available, sometimes not.
    This selection setting is active in several dialogs :
    'Create custom selection' - 'Add overlay text' - some advanced settings in the Batch dialog, like 'Crop' and 'Add text'.
    I will exclude command-line options here for the moment.

    My issue is, that there is little consistency between the dialogs. Sometimes existing values are transferred, sometimes not.
    Some selection settings are saved in the INI file on-the-fly, others not.
    So I think some more elegancy can be achieved here.

    I don't want to simplify things by merging 1) and 2) together. Both sets should be available as unique methods of
    selection, but a communication between the two sets could help a lot.

    So my first suggestion : Transfer Manual selection values to Custum selection. And one for vice versa.
    0.6180339887
    Rest In Peace, Sam!

    #2
    Originally posted by Sam_Zen View Post
    So my first suggestion : Transfer Manual selection values to Custum selection. And one for vice versa.
    I agree with that 110%. It has been asked for many times and, for the Custom selection dialog anyway, looks as if it could be implemented very simply.
    My suggestion. If a selection box is on screen when the Custom dialog is opened then the values from the manual selection (X,Y, Width and Height) are automatically transferred into the dialog box. This already happens for the Insert Text dialog, so the code must exist. If no manual selection has been made, the saved values in the INI file are inserted instead, as at present. If required, values can then be adjusted using any of the editing tools in the dialog. Pressing the Apply to Image button then creates the selection box on the screen and re-saves the values in the INI file.
    I cannot see how this could adversely affect anything existing users do. If no selection has been drawn, operation is exactly as at present. If the dialog is opened in error with a selection drawn, then the Cancel button can be pressed without changing any values stored in the INI file.

    The Insert Text dialog is a little more complicated though. I suspect that it could work in much the same way, but there are unknowns such as why the Custom selection features are grayed out at present, can custom values be saved other than in the INI file and will batch processing be affected.

    Comment


      #3
      Good that you mention the role of the INI file in this. When to transfer new values and when to retrieve the existing ones.

      One of the reasons for this was another thread, specific about this Insert Text dialog and the disabling of the Custom selection features. Strange is, that it's greyed out, but the actual values of the selection, whether done manually or with Custom, are there.
      In the same dialog of Batch processing/advanced in the Add overlay text dialog this section is enabled, but the selection values are not transferred. So Batch processing will not be affected.
      0.6180339887
      Rest In Peace, Sam!

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Sam_Zen View Post
        So my first suggestion : Transfer Manual selection values to Custum selection. And one for vice versa.
        I wouldn't want that to happen automatically. It would make it difficult to reuse custom selections. Every time you accidently drag with the mouse the custom selection would be lost.

        This would be better:
        • Drag to create manual selection
        • Shift C to create custom selection
        • Values of manual selection are transferred to the dialogue

        I don't know what you mean by vice versa. Shift C, OK, already does this, doesn't it?
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          #5
          Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala View Post
          I don't know what you mean by vice versa. Shift C, OK, already does this, doesn't it?
          Yes Bhikkhu, from the Custom selection dialog, OK (Apply to image) takes you back to your manual selection, so that you can review any changes you made before using it. The OP of a previous thread however wanted some form of custom selection within the Insert text dialog also. When you press OK there the task is done immediately without any opportunity to preview the selection you have made.

          Comment


            #6
            2 Bhikkhu
            Of course I didn't mean it to happen automatically. I prefer having control over things.
            So such options should have checkboxes. And your 3 step procedure is exactly what I had in mind.
            Vice versa was indeed a fuzzy expression, but Mij translates this right.
            In "Manual selection values to Custum selection", Manual is the 'sender' of values. In the case of the Insert text selection, it's the other way around. Custom is the sender of values to the (otherwise) Manual selection.
            0.6180339887
            Rest In Peace, Sam!

            Comment


              #7
              So perhaps we need to combine the insert text and custom selection dialogues? Insert no text to create an empty custom selection.
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                #8
                Originally posted by Bhikkhu Pesala View Post
                So perhaps we need to combine the insert text and custom selection dialogues? Insert no text to create an empty custom selection.
                Oh no. That would be a step too far. Each of the dialogs have many features not required by the other and combining them would IMHO be horrid. What I hope we are discussing here is just achieving some consistency in how the selection box values are specified and used.

                This is the present situation and the issues as I see them;
                1. Import custom values:
                (a) Custom selection imports these from the Edit section of the INI file and allows them to be changed.
                (b) Insert text imports these from the batch section of the INI file during batch processing but has no means of importing custom values when used normally. If this feature were included are these shared values imported from the Edit section or the Batch section, or new values in the Addtext section of INI ?
                2. Import manual values:
                (a) Custom selection does not have this feature but (I think) needs it. It could be automatic when a manual selection exists, or by pressing a (new) button.
                (b) Insert text has the feature and displays the values but does not allow them to be changed within the dialog. At present there is little purpose in allowing them to be changed. If a preview box were added to the dialog to allow the user to see how the text will actually fit within the box then there is a purpose in allowing values to be changed.
                3. Export values:
                (a) Custom selection exports values when the Apply to Image button is pressed and the selection is re-displayed over the image. The values are also saved in the Edit section of INI.
                (b) Insert text uses the values to place the text onto the image when the OK button is pressed. The values are not saved. You cannot correct errors (such as text being too big for the specified box) other than by undoing everything and starting again. The selection is re-displayed after OK is pressed but if reused without an undo you end up with 2 copies of the text.
                Last edited by Mij; 21.09.2007, 08:00 PM. Reason: Factual error in 3(b)

                Comment


                  #9
                  Nice overview of the options.
                  I think both perspectives are a bit too simple. Combining it all into one huge general dialog, or making local enhancements in one of the existing related dialogs. Maybe the number of dialogs could be decreased by merging some elements.
                  As is stated, consistency and mutual exchange of values, are the key things here.

                  As Mij in 3.(b). A complaint I made earlier. If the selection values would be saved somewhere, one only has to choose another font-type to try again in the same area.
                  0.6180339887
                  Rest In Peace, Sam!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I have edited 3(b) from my previous posting because it was incorrect - the selection is re-displayed but is of little use other than to write down the values for use later.

                    Actually I have been asking myself why I hate the Insert text function so much. I know that the text never comes out the size I expect but I had not realized why.
                    I need to see the whole image to judge how big I want the text to appear, so I use Fit to window. I draw a selection on screen to show the area I would like the text to fill when the image is displayed or printed, but the actual screen area needed for the text depends on 3 quite different factors
                    (1) The amount of text entered
                    (2) The font size
                    (3) The current zoom ratio

                    It is (3) that is the problem. Some images are high resolution from a camera or a scan, others are low resolution from the net or an e-mail, so the zoom ratio varies and I have no idea what font size I need to set without doing a complicated calculation. That is why I constantly get it wrong.
                    What is really needed is an option for an auto font size that adjusts to give a best fit for the specified text into the selection area. Why use a computer and do all the difficult sums yourself ?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Good points.
                      I could enter another complicating factor : (4) The alignment, left - center - right. Because it influences the results of using automatic linefeeds within the selection.
                      Apart from auto-calculations, it would be nice to have a real Preview of the result within the selection in one of those dialogs.
                      0.6180339887
                      Rest In Peace, Sam!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        It sure would.
                        Its: Belongs to "It"
                        It's: Shortened form of "It is"
                        ---------------------
                        Lose: Fail to keep
                        Loose: Not tight

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                        Plurals do not require apostrophes

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