Requested Save Button Behaviour

[quatermass]

Personally I hate that 'Save as..' icon on the tool bar.

To me its useless as it always open the last opened directory rather than the one I'm currently editing files in.

I'd prefer the action of the 'Save' where it opens the directory where the file currently being viewed lives.

So if I wish to edit an image and save over it or in the same directory I can do so quickly and easily. :-)

You can't do that with the 'Save as...' icon as you need to navigate first.

For example: double click on an image on the desktop.
Edit it and then save it by clicking on that floppy disk icon. The 'Save as...' icon opens a directory I'm just not interested in!

So I propose the user be given the option of having either the Save or 'Save as...' icon on the tool bar.

Comments?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

I mostly use IV for saving screen-shots or images opened from the web, or scans. I invariably save images as PNG in the same \My Pictures\ folder, then sort images later if necessary.

If editing existing images, e.g. to add transparency, then I use the Control S shortcut. Offer the user options is usually best as people have different working methods.

A Save button instead of Save As would result in a lot of inexperienced users overwriting files that they wanted to keep. The way that Photo-Editors work is different to Word-processors. They generally save imported images of all file types in a proprietary format, then you have to Export the image to standard graphics formats. Save As is used only for changing filenames, not file types.

Save As in Irfan View performs this export function. It retains the filename, but exports the image in a different format; whereas save (Control S) is used to overwrite the existing file with the same name and in the same format. I therefore think that the current icon is the best.

[quatermass]

I see your perspective.
But inexperienced users don't remain so and so the largest base of IrfanView users must therefore be experienced (at some level).

I mainly edit and trim jpegs given to me, I don't want to change filetype, just the name. But I do wish to put the new file into the same directory as the old one.
So the Save function really annoys me by presenting me a folder I've never used.

Therefore the ability to change the icon to Save rather than 'Save as' would be of benefit to me.
Actually a customised toolbar with user icons. I could then write a script using things like Imagemagik to perform operations upon an image. A bit like how Gimp allows.

[derniwi]

Hi,

it should be possible to put both icons into the toolbar. They could be selected like all the other icons from the options page.

Regards, Nils.

[quatermass]

Yes but overwriting a file is always a danger in any program, be it Windows Explorer or a FTP program. But that's why we have overwrite warnings options on. :-)

Having to spend time navigating back to the directory of choice is however a consistent irritation that never goes away in IrfanView.

Allowing the user to choose the preferred action shows that the Author cares about removing 'rough edges' to the design of their product.

If I use WordPad or any program in Microsoft Office, its Save icon performs a 'Save' action not 'Save as...' on a file opened by that app.

So surely this is how all other programs running on Windows should behave?
:-)

[derniwi]

Hi,

but this is the behaiviour of the most programs i'll know...

So if you use photoshop and change a file, you also have "save" and "save as...". And the "save" button may destroy your picture if you have changed something you would undo...

So the option "ask before overwrite" is a good point and shouldn't be changed, even for a "save" button.

Regards, Nils.

[quatermass]

I'm not asking for an overwrite option to be turned on or off.

I just want the same directory I'm currently working in to pop up. Is it too much to ask for?

The trouble is I'm in the habit of dragging and dropping files from Windows Explorer onto IrfanView. The save window isn't reset to the directory of that dropped file.

[matera]

An option to specify the current directory as the save-as one would probably make a lot of people happy.

[derniwi]

Hello,

I'm not asking for an overwrite option to be turned on or off.

I just want the same directory I'm currently working in to pop up. Is it too much to ask for?

The trouble is I'm in the habit of dragging and dropping files from Windows Explorer onto IrfanView. The save window isn't reset to the directory of that dropped file.

I'm sorry, I hadn't understood you.

Yes, this would be a nice feature.

Regards, Nils.

[Sjef]

I see your perspective.
But inexperienced users don't remain so and so the largest base of IrfanView users must therefore be experienced (at some level).

As an experiences user I've unchecked the Save As button (among others) at Properies»Toolbar and use the S and Ctrl+S keys.

[quatermass]

I dislike using the keyboard for this sort of thing.

But I've managed to get a solution for my problem.

I use the free AutoHotKey (AHK) program to remap keys and mouse clicks.

I've already got a menu I've created that pops up on pressing the middle mouse button over Irfanview and this makes Iview perform various preset actions.
So I've added a further action.

Whenever a IrfanView 'save as' window opens, my AHK gets the path to that image from Iview and then forces the save as window to change to the image directory. It then strips off the filetype and adds _copy onto the end so there is no way to overwrite it!

This forces a click on the IrfanView SAVE icon to always open within the image source directory. Very neat and saves me a lot of grief! :-)

So I'm happy.

[Jon]

Save Button Behaviour

Such as "Save As" and "Preferences"

[Sam_Zen]

I think using 'S' or 'P' with the keyboard is faster anyway than navigating the mousepointer to a button..

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

I think using 'S' or 'P' with the keyboard is faster anyway than navigating the mousepointer to a button..

It is if you remember them, but they're non standard shortcuts. If you use IrfanView only occasionally it is quicker to use a toolbar button. I use Control S for save (which is a standard shortcut), but the toolbar button for Save as. Presumably Jon wants an additional button for "Save" not "Save as", which is already there.