[Digikam-devel] [Bug 196649] New: Very poor usability when browsing JPEG and RAW files

[DGardner]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=196649

           Summary: Very poor usability when browsing JPEG and RAW files
           Product: showfoto
           Version: 0.10.0
          Platform: Ubuntu Packages
        OS/Version: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: wishlist
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
        AssignedTo: digikam-devel at kde.org
        ReportedBy: dkde at gardnersworld.org


Version:           0.10.0 (using KDE 4.2.4)
OS:                Linux
Installed from:    Ubuntu Packages

I usually shoot images in Canon CR2 RAW and JPEG, upload them to my PC
and delete the images that I don't like before importing into digiKam.
ShowFoto makes this screening process so awkward that I use Gwenview
instead.

When I'm done with the image viewer, I run a Perl script (using Exiftool)
to delete the CR2 images with no corresponding JPG file where the Exif
indicates that I shot the CR2 in RAW+JPEG mode. Only then do I copy the
files, rename them, and import the copies into digiKam.

Here are just some of the issues with ShowFoto:

 o As I have two files for each image, I prefer to look at the JPEG
   images to see what to delete, as these are much quicker to load.
   However, the thumbnails do not give any indication of the type
   of the image and the pairs of CR2 and JPG files do not appear in
   a reliable order, so I usually end up waiting and waiting for a CR2
   image to load.

 o Because both images are in the thumbnail bar, I can't just go from
   one image to the next, as I only want to see every second image.

 o When I delete an image, the next image is shown, and this is likely
   to be a CR2 image that takes ages to load.

 o I cannot browse only images of a particular type. I tried selecting
   all of the JPG images in a folder using the Open dialog and ShowFoto
   opened all of the images, even the CR2 images. I tried passing the
   file names from the command line, but ShowFoto crashed. I tried
   selecting only JPG files in Dolphin and opening them with ShowFoto
   and it opened ONLY the CR2 images! After that, and other display
   bugs, I pretty much gave up.

I used Gwenview because it only handled JPG images, so the filtering
was (sort of) built-in. However, I don't much like Gwenview 2 in KDE4.
They lost a lot of the features I liked in 1.4. However, it is still
an order of magnitude faster to use for this screening step than
ShowFoto.

Is there any chance you could do any or all of the following?

 o Ensure that when pairs of JPG and CR2 (or other RAW) files have the
   same base name that they are sorted consistently, i.e., always X.JPG
   then X.CR2 (preferably JPG first, as it will be shown when ShowFoto
   is opened) and not mixed up pairs like X.JPG, X.CR2, Y.CR2, Y.JPG, etc.
   as it is now. This can get even more mixed up when images are shot a
   high speed, as the modification times of several images can be the
   same and I get a complete jumble of JPG and CR2 images.

 o Make it possible to open a set of files from a file manager, the
   command-line and the Open dialog box without crashes, inversion of
   the selection, or selecting the folder instead of the files.

 o Mark the thumbnails with a file type using any of: a different
   background colour, an overlaid type icon, or just the file extension
   name below the thumbnail (not the full file name if there is a chance
   that the extension of a long name could be clipped), so that I can
   tell the different types of images apart without having to hover over
   every image for a couple of seconds to read the tooltip before I
   click on it.

 o Allow me to filter and/or sort the images by type, so that I can,
   for example, browse all of the JPG images sequentially, without
   having to skip over every second image because it is a CR2 file
   that takes ages to display. When sorted by type, I'd like the
   sub-groups to be sorted correctly by name, as my camera generates
   file names containing sequential four-digit numbers that naturally
   sort in chronological order, even if they all have the same time
   stamp because they were shot in high-speed mode.

 o Provide better feedback when displaying a CR2 image. Most of the time
   I feel ShowFoto has hung, as there is no busy cursor and things go
   unresponsive for 10-20 seconds. A fast first pass to display a low-
   resolution image--even just magnifying the embedded thumbnail and
   sticking "Decoding RAW image! Please wait..." across the middle would
   at least save some time.

 o If I open a folder of images, change the sort order, or otherwise
   do something that might change the currently selected image and that
   image is a RAW file, don't start RAW processing immediately and
   instead put a button over a magnified thumbnail (or something like
   that) to allow me to start the processing only if I want to.

 o Allow the RAW file processing to be cancelled in case a RAW file
   has been selected by mistake.

 o Ideally, identify the pairs of CR2+JPG images and offer to always
   show only one type of image for such a pair and to delete them as
   a pair when one is deleted.

For me, it is the added ability of ShowFoto over Gwenview to show CR2
RAW files that is its downfall. I just cannot browse a mix of JPG and
CR2 files (shot in pairs) efficiently with ShowFoto. If ShowFoto is
such a poor relation to digiKam, perhaps it would be better to drop
it and just allow digiKam to browse images in any location without
importing them to the database and without allowing them to be modified
accidentally (e.g., do not automatically add a copyright or photographer
name entry to the IPTC metadata, even if that option is set for imported
images).

Is ShowFoto likely to improve any time soon?

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