Bug 196649 - Very poor usability when browsing JPEG and RAW files
Summary: Very poor usability when browsing JPEG and RAW files
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME
Alias: None
Product: digikam
Classification: Applications
Component: Showfoto-RawProcessing (show other bugs)
Version: 0.10.0
Platform: Ubuntu Linux
: NOR wishlist
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Digikam Developers
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2009-06-15 19:07 UTC by DGardner
Modified: 2022-02-05 04:55 UTC (History)
2 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In: 4.0.0


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Description DGardner 2009-06-15 19:07:40 UTC
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?
Comment 1 Mikolaj Machowski 2009-06-16 00:34:35 UTC
Showfoto is simple, image viewer which has powerful editing possibilities thanks to imageplugins mechanisms.

Most of workflow you described is - or should be in hopefully short time - possible in digiKam - real image *manager*. Many things you wished are already for long time in BKO as wishes for digiKam.

The only thing I think wasn't wished for is canceling of RAW files loading. But I was able to switch to next image by clicking next one in thumbbar - without proper feedback though (the same problem exists for digiKam image editor).
Comment 2 DGardner 2009-06-16 10:03:11 UTC
Thanks, Mikolaj.

I'll fill you in a bit more on my workflow to give you an idea of where I
am coming from and what I think I need from ShowFoto and/or digiKam.

I use digiKam for all my image management, but I've had a few issues
with it (and with me) in the past that make me feel safer if I keep the
unmodified files from my camera in a separate location and then import
renamed copies of those files into digiKam. That way, if anything goes
wrong (either in digiKam or due to a PEBKAC), I'll always have an
original file that I can copy again.

I operate with two completely separate image archives: "Original" and
"Organised". The "Original" archive contains the original images straight
from the camera with no modifications other than the deletion of the
irredeemable images. The "Organised" archive contains the renamed copies
of the original images (I have my own renaming script based on Exiftool
that uses MakerNote information for Canon file numbers that Exiv2 does
not support). It is only the "Organised" archive that I manage with
digiKam. Off the top of my head, I'd guess that there are about 20,000
images in each archive at present.

Perhaps, what I need is to have two separate digiKam configurations for
these two image archives. Each would have its own, independent image
database and different digiKam settings. However, I do not know if this
is possible.

For example, in the "Original" archive, I would not use any tags and would
not set any options that might modify the files, such as the automatic
setting of the photographer's identity and the credit and copyright. In
the "Organised" archive, I will use digiKam just as I do today with lots
of tags and other settings to help me manage my images. The separation of
the two archives means that I will not accidentally modify the original
images when browsing the "Organised" archive and will not be distracted
by duplicates of all of the images there (e.g., when browsing the time
line, etc.).

If I could do that (and maybe I can, but I just don't know how) I would
be happy to use digiKam for both purposes. If this is not yet possible,
then I would guess that making digiKam support two separate configurations
for two separate archives would be easier than trying to support two
different modes of operation for different groups of albums within a
single archive, with all of the extra configuration options, menus, filters,
etc. that that would entail.

Every time I use ShowFoto, it disappoints: digiKam is so slick and polished
that the myriad of immediately obvious problems with ShowFoto come as a bit
of a shock. If digiKam could do what I wanted when just screening original
images, I'd switch to it in a heartbeat.

So, Mikolaj, do you know if digiKam can support separate configurations
for completely separate archives? If not, would I be better off pushing
for this change to digiKam rather than requesting enhancements and fixes
for ShowFoto? Does ShowFoto have any future place in the longer term plans
for the digiKam family of applications and libraries?
Comment 3 Mikolaj Machowski 2009-06-16 21:24:21 UTC
Standard answer: wrapper script which will replace digikam config files when starting. For only basic replacement copy ~/.kde4/share/config/digikamrc for more robust copy of ~/.kde4/share/apps/digikam .

Example of digikam_original (I assume some ground work was done by hand previously, I think you can guess what needs to be done):
-------------------
#!/bin/bash
cp -af ~/.digikam-profiles/digikamrc-original ~/.kde4/share/config/digikamrc
cp -af ~/.digikam-profiles/digikam-original ~/.kde4/share/apps/digikam
digikam
cp -af ~/.kde4/share/config/digikamrc ~/.digikam-profiles/digikamrc-original
cp -af ~/.kde4/share/apps/digikam ~/.digikam-profiles/digikam-original
-------------------
Untested!
Comment 4 Mohamed 2013-12-10 18:38:46 UTC
Hi,

Some issues in here are solved, and I think that no need to show the mime type on the thumbbnail because it's already showed in the tool tip overlay.
The rest of wishes will be considered.

Thanks,
Mohamed Anwer