Implemented Effects Undo Button

[Sjef]

An “Undo” button next to the button “Apply to original image” at the effect dialog (Ctrl+E) would be a handy feature! When I apply more than one effect and the last one isn’t to my taste, the only way is the Cancel button. Further back to IrfanView I have to click the Undo button of IrfanView itself, but now my previous effects are gone so I have to start all over again...

[Sam_Zen]

Support ++

[WellOiledPC]

An ?Undo? button next to the button ?Apply to original image? at the effect dialog (Ctrl+E) would be a handy feature! When I apply more than one effect and the last one isn't to my taste, the only way is the Cancle button. Further back to IrfanView I have to click the Undo button of IrfanView itself, but now my previous effects are gone so I have to start all over again...

My workaround is to save, after every major change I make to my images. Now, if I want to go back by more than 1 step, I invoke the File/ Reopen (Shift+R Hot Key), thus losing minimum work alone!

But yes, Multiple-level Undo would be wonderful: I don't know what the programming overhead would be, but it would certainly enhance IrfanView's already-great usability, a great deal more!

[Sjef]

A nice workaround. On the other hand, it depents on the effect(s) one uses and the way you save the file. When any compression is used while saving JPG, every time pixels will be lost.

[Foxy]

The ”Undo”-Button are realised since v4.10.

[Sjef]

Earlier I wrote: When I apply more than one effect and the last one isn't to my taste, the only way is the Cancle button.

Try for instance 'Metallic' (Apply to original image) and after that 'Find Edges' (and Apply to original image). Then hit Undo (I know it was there all the time) and BOTH effects are gone.

[Skippybox]

Yes, this is quite unfortunate. Cancel should do what Undo does now and remove all changes. Undo should simply work like it usually does in Irfanview by removing the last change only. The current Cancel is rather useless and behaves very much like OK, which is silly.

[Mij]

Yes, this is quite unfortunate. Cancel should do what Undo does now and remove all changes. Undo should simply work like it usually does in Irfanview by removing the last change only. The current Cancel is rather useless and behaves very much like OK, which is silly.

I don't see how you can do that with only one level of Undo. If you Apply to Image you make a change to the image and the original is saved to the Undo buffer. If you Apply to Image a second time you can either move that first change to Undo or you can still keep the original there. You cannot do both with just a single buffer.
In practice the program appears to retain the original in Undo, leaving nowhere to save the previous change. So the Undo button could only take you back to the original.

I agree that Cancel is a bit odd, behaving differently to dialogs like Color correction where Cancel both closes the dialog and restores the original from Undo if the image has been changed. This Cancel button should really be labeled Close because that is all it does.

[Sjef]

I'll make my request more clear:

When you [Apply to original] for instance 'Pixelize' and push Cancel after that action, nothing will be Canceled. You have to Ctrl»Z the action after leaving the effects dialog.

So I'd like the Undo button to undo the LAST filter that is applied to the original and the Cancel button to put back the buffer into the original (not leaving the effect dialog!)

After leaving the effect dialog (Esc-key!) I could still not be satisfied about the filtered outcome (with possibly more than one effect or several of the same). Than I can always use Ctrl»Z or Edit»Undo back in IV.

So that's my request to Irfan Skiljan

[WellOiledPC]

I would like to see Multiple Undo - a single Undo is not too much of a help, especially when working with digital images - hours of work can easily be lost in one fell sweep!

Although I do not know how much programming will go into multiple undo, specially since IrfanView's USP is to keep it simple, small and lightning-fast! However, it should be considered as an option, in my opinion. Not to make comparisons, but even Word Processors have multiple Undos!

[Sjef]

When I think of hours of work I don't think of IrfanView (maybe it could be for the Paint plugin). Hours of work is for cumbersome programs like Photoshop which has a history palette, and produces very big documents.

A multiple undo is in my opinion not necessary for IrfanView as it is a lightwinged little graphics viewer/tool and we all want this to be continued (like you do, even already using W7).

After all I wouldn't mind having 10 or more undos in IrfanView, providing that it wouldn't effect the speed of loading and the use of IrfanView.

[WellOiledPC]

When I think of ours of work I don't think of IrfanView (maybe it could be for the Paint plugin). Ours of work is for cumbersome programs like Photoshop which has a history palette, and produces very big documents.

A multiple undo is in my opinion not necessary for IrfanView as it is a lightwinged little graphics viewer/tool and we all want this to be continued (like you do, even already using W7).

After all I wouldn't mind having 10 or more undos in IrfanView, providing that it wouldn't effect the speed of loading and the use of IrfanView.

I totally agree - Light, quick, small fast... these should continue to be IrfanView's watchwords! If multiple Undos require lots of programming or increases the size of IrfanView or makes it run slow, No No! I already said that, and I quote my first post in this thread: "But yes, Multiple-level Undo would be wonderful: I don't know what the programming overhead would be, but it would certainly enhance IrfanView's already-great usability, a great deal more!"

Oh, my experience with Windows 7 is absolutely wonderful - it loads up faster than my Windows XP Pro SP3 and I am able to run every program under Windows 7 (that which I used to run under Windows XP) too! It is TOTALLY unlike Vista! I'm running Win XPP and Win 7 in dual boot mode, but of late, have completely stopped booting up in Win XPP!

I'm waiting for Microsoft to announce prices - it has Apple OS to compete with and rumor is that Apple OS will be dropping prices sharply, so Microsoft will have to follow suit!

[Mij]

Multiple Undo levels have been requested before quite often but Irfan (probably rightly) has not chosen to implement it.

Sjef, remember that Copy and Paste gives you effectively an extra level of Undo. For your original request you can Copy (Ctrl+C) the original before opening the Effects browser (Ctrl+E).
Choose effect 1, Apply to image and OK. You can now see effect 1 in all its glory with no dialog in the way.
To add another: Ctrl+E, choose effect 2, Apply to image and OK.
If you don't like effect 2 just Undo (Ctrl+Z) to go back to effect 1.
To return to the original: Select All (Ctrl+A), Paste (Ctrl+Z). Note that if you do not use Select All first you lose the file identity.
An interesting feature is that if you keep Select All on you can now toggle backwards and forwards between the final effect and the original by pressing Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+V alternately. Sometimes useful for comparison purposes.

[Skippybox]

Well, when I think of Cancel in a dialog, that usually that means that you can discard all changes made. In reality, dialogs should have their own buffers separate from the program's. But, I think you're right that the Apply to original button interferes with that behavior and integrates itself too much with the program. So, I am fine with your suggestion Sjef. Cancel should just close the dialog and cancel only the current effect from being applied. CTRL+Z should undo all effects applied and Effects' Undo should only undo the last. As good as that may be, it will be a memory requirement for that extra level of undo.

As a side note, I find it interesting that if you enter the Effects dialog, but do nothing and simply Cancel, that it uses up your CTRL+Z Undo, since the current image is placed in the buffer before the dialog opens (thus overwriting the previous). Consequently, the buffer and current image will be the same. I wish this could be fixed.

[Sjef]

There always is the Ctrl»Z buffer.
The effects Undo buffer is filled with data X.
After Applying an effect there's the Undo buffer to put X back.
Applying the next effect (over the first one) will empty buffer X and put Y (which is X+first effect) into the Undo buffer.
Cancel will use the Ctrl»Z buffer to put things back to were they were.
That way there's no need for an extra buffer (in my opinion).