IV 4.10 - Zoom increments not working properly

[Steerpike]

In all prevous versions of IV, I could press the '+' key (shift =) and zoom in on the image in 10% increments (eg, if image is currently at 32%, each press of '+' would take me to 40, then 50, then 60, then 70, 80,90, 100%. Great feature - I use this all the time to check out the '100%' quality of my shots (my settings are to shrink large images to fit the window on initial launch; I also have 'zoom step' set to the default of 10%).

In IV 4.10, I just did a test: image starts at 23%; + takes me to 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, (which looks like it's taking 10% OF the current zoom value, unlike before when it was 'adding 10% TO the current zoom value). As I get closer to 100%, here's how it behaves:
81%
89%
98%
108%
Now, I hit '-' to try to get back down to near 100%:
97%
Now I hit '+' to go up again:
107%
and minus again:
96%
and plus again:
106%
...
after NUMEROUS plusses and minuses, I finally arrive at 100% where I want to be

If in fact it was an intentional change to use the 'zoom step' as a % of current zoom, as opposed to a delta addition to zoom, then can you provide a way to quickly go to 100% view?

Thanks!
Update: IV 4.10 on Vista Business (though I believe same issue occurs on XP Pro).

[Leif]

Ctrl+H takes you back to 100 %.

[Steerpike]

That's great to know! Thanks!

Is it an intentional change in 4.10, to change the way the 'zoom step' is used? As I said, it USED to basically ADD the zoom step value to the current zoom value, and now it seems to be taking the 'zoom step' percentage and adding that to the current zoom value. I personally prefer the former behavior, but now you've shown me the Ctrl-H trick, I'm less concerned!

Thanks.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

It is an intentional design change, that is why I moved this from the Bug Reports forum.

See this other thread.

IMO, the design is good because it reduces the number of key presses when zooming in and gives finer control when zooming out on large images. However, there are several bugs in the calculations. It would be much better to use fixed steps in a geometrical progression, rather than trying to calculate it.

Better still, would be a slider control like DrawPlus, which gives very fast and smooth zooming. There is no need for a setting in properties to change the zoom step if we have a geometrically progressive zoom function.

[Steerpike]

I see the logic in all you are saying, and can see some benefits to the new design. I still like the old way, though, for the following reasons.

When quickly reviewing a directory full of newly uploaded images from my digital camera, I first go to 'full screen' (hit enter), and then step through the images (hit 'space bar'). Often times, if I'm taking a hand-held shot in low light, I'll take 4 versions of a scene to ensure at least one is in sharp focus. So my goal is to quickly determine which of the 4 is the sharpest, and dispense with the other ones.

For these images, I hit "Shift, +" to zoom in. I know, from experience (with the previous versions), that at full screen and with my camera's resolution, if I hit "Shift, +" say, 5 times, I'm at 100% zoom (in full screen, the zoom is not readily visible). I think it's important (when evaluating an image) to view the image at 100% zoom ('actual pixels') to eliminate any degradation or artifacts due to resample/resizing, even when using lanczos.

With the new design, I have no idea what my zoom level is, and even if I were to be able to view it, it's not easy to reach 100%. Now, if your reference to 'geometric progression' would include a guaranteed 'hit' at 100%, that would hit the spot.

Also, in Full-Screen mode, Ctrl-H does not give me 100% zoom, so I can't rely on that shortcut. Maybe you could implement Ctrl-H in full-screen mode?

For now, I'll just do my work in non-full screen mode, and use the Ctrl-H key (which does obviously work in non-full screen mode).

Love the program, thanks for the insight!

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Also, in Full-Screen mode, Ctrl-H does not give me 100% zoom, so I can't rely on that shortcut. Maybe you could implement Ctrl-H in full-screen mode?

In fullscreen mode you can still use the F shortcut, and “1” will zoom to 100% . From the help file:

1 Full screen mode: Show images/movies with the original size (1:1)
2 Full screen mode: Fit to screen: large images only
3 Full screen mode: Fit to screen: all images/movies
4 Full screen mode: Stretch all images/movies to screen

Left button click Load previous image in the directory
Right button click Load next image in the directory
Left button click ... in the upper left or right screen corner = close full screen.
F Change/loop the full screen display/fit option
> Load next image in directory
< Load previous image in directory

[Steerpike]

In fullscreen mode you can still use the F shortcut, and Control 1 will zoom to 100% . From the help file:

Ctrl+1 worked as expected - thanks!

'F' is odd; at first, I was going to say, it's not working but here's what is happening for me.

First, open my image in windowed mode (ie, not full screen). Hit 'enter' to get to full-screen mode. I have it set to shrink the image to the screen. I hit 'F' once; I see a brief hourglass; then no change. I hit 'F' again, same thing. But on the THIRD 'F', image goes to 100% zoom as expcted. 'F' again, back to fit-to-screen. 'F' again - nothing; 'F' again - nothing; 'F' again - 100% zoom! Highly repeatable.

It's as if it's cycling through several modes.

Anyway, Ctrl-1 works for me so I'll use that.

Thanks!

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Control 1 also works, but there is no need for control, just 1 will do. I corrected my error in the previous post.

F cycles through four options:

1) Fit to desktop width
2) Fit to desktop width and height
3) No fit 100%
4) Fit only big images to the desktop

If you are viewing an image that is smaller than the desktop, then nothing will happen.

[Steerpike]

Control 1 also works, but there is no need for control, just 1 will do. I corrected my error in the previous post.

Awsome! That's even better than my previous method of hitting "Shift, +". Thanks.

If you are viewing an image that is smaller than the desktop, then nothing will happen.

Not that I'll ever use this now that you've given me better ways, but - in case it matters ...

Hitting 'F' when viewing an image that is smaller than the desktop, in full screen mode, does the following (using an image that is 400x284 in my case, with a screen res. of 1024x768):

On first display, image is smaller than the screen, centered, and 100% zoomed.

On first press of "F", the image goes to full screen (but respecting aspect ratio - in my case, with black bars at top/bottom) - zoom is much bigger than 100%, obviously. On second press of "F", the image goes to full screen 'stretched' - distorting aspect ratio because my image is not in the same proportion to the screen. On third press of "F", it returns to 100% zoom (small, centered, etc). On fourth press of "F", nothing changes. On fifth press, the cycle begins again.

Thanks again! I also appreciate your signature links to faststone Image Capture; that's the best little utility I've seen in a while!