Solved Only way to step through open images_Use thumbnails? Clumsy

[imajezz]

I've had recent problems getting IV to step through images that I selected, then opened at once in IV. Except by enabling thumbnail icon on toolbar, then click it, then select the next desired from the "explorer like" pop up window. Then repeat all that for the next opened image & next...

I've searched help file & gone over & over the properties screens many times.

Hope I've missed something, because this seems like a basic function (most basic image viewers allow progressing through opened images easily).
If it will do this, should NOT be that hard to find out how.

It WILL step sequentially through image files in a FOLDER, but if I select 3 NON sequential files, then open, I can't step through those 3. Can only do it by clicking the task bar icon, or using thumbs (clumsy & time consuming for this procedure).

EDIT: OK, now it made an f g liar out of me. Something must've been jacked up, but can't see what. Tried for several days to step thru SELECTED, opened files. No way, Jose. No beep or msg. Then w/o rebooting, all of a sudden, the R / L arrow keys started working to step through opened image windows.

Maybe it was opening / closing IV about 20 times that did the trick. I don't know there IS an option to make IV step thru opened images using arrow keys (or to NOT allow that behavior), but between time it DIDN'T work & when it DID, I didn't change any options. Only opened / closed IV for umpteenth time.

Now, because I guess it knew what was good for it, started steppin' just fine - for now.

Thanks.

[Mij]

No, what you describe is how Irfanview works. By default when you open an image the images in the rest of the folder are automatically loaded too and you can browse through them using the toolbar or keyboard arrows. I believe that is how most Viewers work. What you are thinking of is Editors. Although Irfanview will do some editing it was designed primarily as a Viewer.
You are actually opening 3 instances of the Viewer program, with the windows all on top of each other, not 3 windows of the same program instance. To switch between the windows you need to use one of the Windows system methods like pressing Alt+Tab.

There is no easy way of doing what you want to from the normal Irfanview GUI, other than going through Thumbnails as you have discovered. However there is a Command line option that allows Irfanview to be opened from a file list and I have made use of that option in the script that I posted in the Scripts section of this forum here.
The idea is to edit the normal Irfanview desktop shortcut to point to this script file instead of directly to Irfanview. It operates just like the normal shortcut except that it also allows you to make a selection of files from a folder and drag and drop them onto the shortcut icon. It then opens the normal single instance of Irfanview but with the selected files only, not the whole folder.
It might be just what you want.

[imajezz]

I was clearly NOT speaking of opening ONE file in a folder, then stepping through the rest, in THAT folder. I said:

but if I select 3 NON sequential files, then open,

meaning, I ONLY want to view files I SPECIFICALLY SELECTED, not all files in a folder.

But, if you read the entire post (I edited), you'd have seen that it "magically" started doing what I thought it should. That is, select 3 to 33 random files from a folder, open them, then use arrow keys to step through them. Why didn't IV 4.36 do that the 1st 15 times I tried (opened / closed it, rebooted, blah, blah)? NFC! I made no pref changes between time it didn't work & time it did. Like many apps, it's got gremlins.

[Mij]

but if I select 3 NON sequential files, then open,

OK. If you want me to believe that what you think happened really did, then you need to be a lot more specific. Where did you select these 3 files, in the File> Open dialogue in Irfanview, in Windows Explorer or somewhere else? Then how did you Open whatever you did open, clicking something, double clicking something, drag and dropping something? If you opened only one copy (instance) of Irfanview, as you seem to think you did, there would be just one icon on the taskbar with a file name shown on it. Is that what happened?

I clearly need to be a lot more specific too when I talk about loading the rest of the files in the folder. To the best of my knowledge in a single instance of Irfanview it is only possible to have one single file open at any one time. When Irfanview displays something like [5/30] in the index box at the right hand end of the toolbar it means it has prepared and sorted into a list a total of 30 files and the file that is open is number 5 on that list. Clicking on the Right arrow will close file 5 and open file 6 in its place.
So what is displayed in that index box after you have "opened" ?

[imajezz]

Hee, hee, hee...

If you want me to believe

Good one! LOL. "Do yoooou Be-leeeeeive?!" "I believe, brother! Hallelujah! Amen. Pass the Plate.

You're missing the point - (I think) - it now works.

I selected 3 - 4 non sequential files, from Explorer window, out of 1 folder - all .jpg, then R clicked Explorer & selected Open (IV is default prgm for image files).
In past versions, that worked fine & at the moment (after some problems) it's working in IV 4.36.

For long time, it wouldn't step through those files (or even open all 3 or 4). Then, after ONE MORE time of closing IV & restarting explorer, it worked. End of story.

Right now, I'm not spending any more time on it. Was one of those strange things. I've seen much stranger.

[Mij]

Thank you for telling us the method. I for one have learned a new Windows explorer trick.

It seems you can indeed in an Explorer window select up to 15 files, all associated with the same application, right click and Open them all together. If you select more than 15 or they are not all associated with the same application the "Open" option changes to "Print".
However each of the selected files opened in a new window. I am afraid my Faith was not strong enough for the "magic" to work. They always did the same thing. The selected Irfanview images always opened in their own, individual window. However many times I tried they never suddenly switched to all opening in the same window or letting you just step through the selected images rather than the whole folder.

I suppose I shall just have to keep on writing Script files to do that.

[imajezz]

Happens every time I open my big mouth. Irfanview 4.36 started acting out again - could NOT open select, NON sequential files in same folder from Explorer, then step thru ONLY the files selected / opened.
It "seemed" to work for a bit, but maybe I was wrong???

So, decided to do complete uninstall / reinstall. Went fine.

Problem still remains. I CAN * open * several non sequential files from one folder. If I select 4 non sequential files in explorer, then R click & open (if you set IV to be default handler for that file type).
Sure enough, IV opens 4 windows in task bar (can believe it's not using tabs - it's all the rage in Europe!).

BUT...a BIG OL' BERTHA BUTT... even though the 4 files are open & sitting in task bar, IV will NOT just step thru THOSE 4 OPENED FILES. It wants to step thru all files in the folder, beginning w/ the 1st one I chose to open. But not all files in the folder are images. So, it throws up errors.

Looked thru settings till blue in... well, SOMEthing turned blue. Unless I'm missing a very obscure setting (to me), it just won't step thru ONLY the selected files you open. Maybe it will, but I've not found the secret. Almost any viewer has that capability - even Windows Photo Gallery will let you choose say, images 1, 3, 7, 12, 18 - then open ONLY those & step thru ONLY those.

I find it hard to believe IV won't do this. Like, I must be missing something. Without this ability, it's severely crippled as a file VIEWER. I'd rather use photo gallery for this task, if IV can't be made to handle it. Someone, please tell me I'm wrong & there's a setting to make it step thru non sequential images.

Your friend,
Imajezz

[imajezz]

Well, I looked around some more - to see if maybe I'd missed something (may well have). Searched the web some - didn't find much on opening selected, NON sequential file, then being able to step thru them.
Not finding much doesn't mean a lot.

But, no - I don't think I'm "thinking of an editor," to choose select files & view only those. Even Photo GAllery does that. Doesn't seem to be much traffic on this forum. Could be good or bad, depending.

I looked at another viewer w/ similar features, just to see how it handled NON consecutive multiple images. It begins w/ an 'X.'

Like IV, has a browser (thumbnails), but once select a few non sequential images, then click open (just like IV), it only opens one (visible) window. It steps right through them w/o trying to show every file in a folder (viewing all files is definitely is useful, at times). Other than that, can't compare it to IV. Dunno - Maybe some one will wander by & tell me what I'm doing wrong, or maybe that I should file a bug report.

[Mij]

I have now edited the description and renamed the post I referenced in #2 as Opening multiple files in Irfanview using a script.
This I hope makes it clearer how the script file can be used to - Open selected, non sequential files, then step through them in Irfanview -