Program to display folder of images in web browser?

[TsunamiZ]

Is there a good program that can instantly put full sized images from a folder on display in a web browser? Similar to when you view a forum topic with a lot of images posted, and you can scroll down/up through them on the page. I like browsing images in this webpage manner because you can scroll dynamically to any full sized images instead of having to view images one-by-one as in a slideshow.

If not, can x2 implement a feature similar to this?  It's great to be able to scroll dynamically through a bunch of loaded full sized images.  Similar to the experience of browsing images laid out on a table in real life [no need to click on thumbnails each time].  

[fgagnon]

I'm not sure I understand the question when you say
"on display in a web browser".
If what you mean is to fill the screen with the image, as in a slide show, there are numerous 'slideshow' apps, including freebies bundled with every digital camera you buy or CD of pics you get from any commercial film developer.
But my favorite reasonably-priced commercial software for general purpose image manipulation (and FAST display) is ACDSee, which I use all the time.

[TsunamiZ]

I'm not sure I understand the question when you say
"on display in a web browser".
If what you mean is to fill the screen with the image, as in a slide show, there are numerous 'slideshow' apps, including freebies bundled with every digital camera you buy or CD of pics you get from any commercial film developer.
But my favorite inexpensive commercial software for general purpose image manipulation (and FAST display) is ACDsee, which I use all the time.

That is a common feature and it's not what I'm looking for.  I'm looking for webpage style up/down scrolling through a bunch of preloaded pics.  So as to simulate looking at a bunch of images viewed on a webpage [i.e. the user can scroll to any image without having to go through the next/previous images one-by-one].  I know it's a rather new concept for an image viewer that can do this, and I'm not surprised if no program can do this yet.  I just wanted to see if this was a possibility.

[fgagnon]

How is that different from a thumbnail view with large size specified?
(which you can set for most any of the apps)

[TsunamiZ]

How is that different from a thumbnail view with large size specified?
(which you can set for most any of the apps)

Because for thumbnails, you still have to open the image file to view it in full size.  And you have to open each file one-by-one.  

The idea I suggested opens all the directory's images for you and displays them in a webpage [or similar fashion] so that you can scroll through them at any pace in a non-linear manner.  No need to open each file individually or view them in a linear slideshow.  :D

[fgagnon]

I don't get it.
What do you mean by "full-size"?
Is it
full-screen (stretched or reduced to fill)?
or
pixel-to-pixel mapped 1:1 ? (would be ugly, as pics are various dimensions)
or other (please explain)

And if full screen, then
How do you specify which image to show next "in a non-linear manner"
??

[TsunamiZ]

I don't get it.
What do you mean by "full-size"?
Is it
full-screen (stretched or reduced to fill)?
or
pixel-to-pixel mapped 1:1 ? (would be ugly, as pics are various dimensions)
or other (please explain)

And if full screen, then
How do you specify which image to show next "in a non-linear manner"
??

Full size as in non-thumbnails--the actual image.  

The page would have all images displayed and you just scroll up/down through them like a webpage.

[fgagnon]

TsunamiZ,
We are not communicating on at least two levels.

Let me try to describe how I understand your terms.
(please advise what is different from what you mean) ::::

@ like a webpage -
That's fixed, not re-arrangeable if it's not your own.
& if it's your own, you build/arrange it with a design tool,
after which it its fixed arrangement.
--- How do you see defining a non-linear sequence?

@ Full size ... the actual image.
>> If image is a paper print this is in dimensions of length (inch, cm, ...), which is clearly unambiguous.
>> If image is a file, "size" is usually in pixels, sometimes with metadata to provide a scale factor between pixels and inches. (& external to the pic-file, the display driver settings may provide another scale factor to size the image back to inches/cms as you see on display)
>> Example of pic images I have: In a one of many dozens of directories is a collection of a few hundred family photos from various sources.
pixel sizes range from 240x180 to 2560x2048.
My preferred viewing is to have them all scaled to my 1800x1200pixel full-screen (or to a fixed smaller pane-width)  
--- What is your expectation of "actual image size" for this collection?

[Gandolf]

Is there a good program that can instantly put full sized images from a folder on display in a web browser?

Try "web-images -> html-file" http://www.coolwintools.com/freeware.php3. I knew I had something that might do it but it took me a while to find (it's rather old, but works O.K.). Normally I write my own HTML text to display a set of images, that way I can scale them if necessary.

[FrizzleFry]

TsunamiZ,

Try PicWalker

http://www.oma-penny.com/

It is a freeware pic viewer that has a continuous pages mode that might be close to what you are looking for.

FF

[fgagnon]

Thanks for chiming in, Gandolf and FrizzleFry
(I obviously don't understand the context).

TsunamiZ, I hope their suggestions help.

[TsunamiZ]

TsunamiZ,

Try PicWalker

http://www.oma-penny.com/

It is a freeware pic viewer that has a continuous pages mode that might be close to what you are looking for.

FF

FrizzleFry

Thanks for the suggestion!  I tried that program and sent these following improvement suggestions to the creator.  It already has the basic functionality that I'm looking for, but it can really use these improvements:

[* Use of scroll bars are very important in allowing users to navigate precisely on the "timeline".]

1. All scroll bar updates are buggy.  They jump around a lot and can't be dragged properly in real time.  Vertical scroll bars are the most buggy.

2. Dragging all scroll bars are buggy and causes images to not scroll/update normally.

3. Have option to hide hand cursor when dragging through images.

4. Have option to change background color to dark gray.

5. Give more horizontal space to options dialog, so users don't need to use arrow buttons to navigate only a few tabs.

6. Have option for blank screen startup.

7. Perhaps update the GUI to completely support WinXP style GUI/skins.

8. Bug in continuous mode: When double clicking an image to focus on, it doesn't focus on the correct iamge if the double clicked image is partially moved "forward" off the screen.  This causes the focus to be on the next image instead.

9. Have option for centering vertically in horizontal continous mode.

10. Have option to hide all cursors in fullscreen mode.

11. Have option for scroll bars to auto hide unless user moves mouse cursor to screen edges.  This will allow users to have scroll bars quickly when needed, and hides quickly when not needed.

These would greatly improve the usability of the program.

[TsunamiZ]

Is there a good program that can instantly put full sized images from a folder on display in a web browser?

Try "web-images -> html-file" http://www.coolwintools.com/freeware.php3. I knew I had something that might do it but it took me a while to find (it's rather old, but works O.K.). Normally I write my own HTML text to display a set of images, that way I can scale them if necessary.

Theres not really any content there.  :?

[TsunamiZ]

I was lucky enough to get someone to write a quick app that can do basically what I'm looking for.  You can simply run it without installing, so you can see what I mean if you don't get my description.  

imageview.zip (50.0 KB)

http://s23.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3IL3 ... LXT8KEONZC

What the creator told me:

I'm attaching a very simple compiled windows app that'll do this. Can't give any guarantees on speed or stability, but its been working fine in all of my tests. Requires the .NET Framework.
No support for formats like PSD, TIF, TGA, etc. Those would take some extra work. And really, the overhead of preloading hundreds of files from those formats would probably make the application pretty worthless anyway.

I have suggested to the creator to make these improvements [fingers crossed]:

1. Have option for the background color to be changed and remembered. Or at least let users choose between dark gray, black, or white, since white is not a good background color for viewing images.

2. Have option for images to be centered horizontally or vertically in display.

3. Have option for images larger than displayable area be resized to fit [if possible].

4. Have hotkeys for commands.

5. Put the open options directly under "file" without a subcategory. Perhaps toolbar these commands for even quicker access [but not necessary].

6. Have window size remembered or option to start maximized.

7. Have option for images to be loaded in the order of either: name, date, type, dimensions, file size.

8. Have fullscreen option. Perhaps toggle by doubleclicking the screen.

9. Have option to not display scroll bars in fullscreen mode. But page can still be draggable.

10. Have an unintrusive status bar to show the progress percentage of a folder's image done loading into the viewer [for folders that take some time to fully load all the images].

Hopefully x2 can have a function to display images this way in an upcoming version.  I've been told this functionality was very quick and easy to code.  

[TsunamiZ]

Another person also gave a try making a quick app.  This one works a bit differently and creates an HTML file for viewing in the web browser [which would be a useful feature for x2 to have, as well].

plainview_gen.zip (178.2 KB)

http://s6.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=12P67 ... NSD9AYBXR2

What the creator told me:

put the program in the folder where you put your images awaiting to be viewed.
and run it.
you'll see a file called "viewer.html" generated.
open it and have fun
hope it meets your requirement.
ignore the file "plainview_gen.cpp"

data type supported: jpg/jepg, bmp, png, gif

I have suggested to the creator to make these improvements [fingers crossed]:

1. Default to dark gray background color, or option to choose background colors?

2. Ability to generate HTML pages without having to copy the program to folders, by allowing users to point the program to a directory?

I know the app you made is a bit more limited in features than Vormav's due to no GUI.