Thumbnail improvements

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Timur Born
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Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

Hello.

Here is an open list of thumbnail improvements that I would like to see:

1. Logical page numbers:


Thumbnails (and everything else) should use logical page numbers when the option is enabled.
Image

Edit: I only just noticed that thumbnails do use logical page numbers, but the search results do not. So use the suggestion for search results (and everything else) instead to remove these kind of UI confusions.

2. Non square sizes:

If the whole documents consists on non-square pages then thumbnails should not use square ratios, but use the currently selected print page ratio or ratio of the document pages instead. The current implementation leads to unnecessary problems.
Image should be Image

Image should be Image

3. Only display thumbnails corresponding to search hits (optional):
Various iOS PDF viewers offer this and it makes finding the right search result much easier for PDFs with easily discernible formatting (that the reader already has seen before).

Image should be Image

4. Don't put thumbnail of currently jumped page at the bottom of the list:

When you jump forwards to a page then its corresponding thumbnail is put at the end of the thumbnail list (all the way down). When you jump backwards then it is put on top instead. It should always be on top or maybe second/center to get some context of the surrounding pages.

Image should be Image or maybe Image
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Paul - Tracker Supp
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Hi Timur,

thanks for the suggestions. I've passed these suggestions on to the Editor UI development lead. We'll have to see what he does with it.

cheers :-)
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Paul O'Rorke
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Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

And to keep thumbnail related suggestions in one thread, here is a copy over from the search index thread:

Editor could put thumbnails into its search results instead of the currently used same sheet icon for search results in page text.

This Image instead of this Image

Currently Editor does little to help me find the correct page for a search result *fast*. Instead I have to scroll and read through results and often just click through many of them once I am in the vicinity (expected page range), because it is faster to find something by seeing the actual page (layout).
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Timur Born

Thank you for the added suggestion, I have created a ticket for this request, but I cannot promise that it will be implemented, only that the dev team will consider it in the future.

RT#6079: FR: Add page thumbnails to search pane

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Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
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Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

Timur Born wrote: Sat May 07, 2022 8:33 am Edit: I only just noticed that thumbnails do use logical page numbers, but the search results do not. So use the suggestion for search results (and everything else) instead to remove these kind of UI confusions.
This keeps getting in the way for documents that reference page numbers within their own content, because search results use different numbers than what the document refers to.
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Hi Timur,

indeed search seems to ignore the logical page numbers. I assume the want here is that if "Use Logical Page Numbers" is set in the preferences that the search results do as well.

Is that what you are looking for, the search results to reflect that setting in it's results? I am not sure how the devs would feel about using page labels there instead of page numbers but I'll float the suggestion to see what comes.
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Paul O'Rorke
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Paul - Tracker Supp »

Hi again Timur,

the suggestion has been accepted. We will make it so that when "Use logical Page numbers" is enabled they are also used in the search results. The ticket it RT#6259: Feature request :: Editor :: option to use logical numbers in search results and as usual, it is for internal use only so ask here if seeking an update.

enjoy
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Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

Great, thank you. Having it everywhere makes for a more consistent experience. Now we also need it for the print and page extraction dialogs (often stumble over the latter). :-)
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Thumbnail improvements

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

:)
Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

This one still irks me the most:
image.png
image(1).png
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Timur Born

I dont understand what you mean here with those images? But as per the main discussion in this topic, the search pane has been updated to show the logical page numbers:
image.png
image.png (10.04 KiB) Viewed 227 times
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

41% of the space is empty due to thumbnails following a strictly square box format while most pages are either portrait or landscape.
image.png
image.png (49.79 KiB) Viewed 222 times

The second thumbnail row only appears once the window has been dragged wide enough to accommodate not only for the divider space + thumbnail, but also for the space to the right of the 2nd thumbnail.
image(1).png
image(1).png (25.16 KiB) Viewed 222 times
Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2024 7:13 pm... the search pane has been updated to show the logical page numbers:
Yes, I noticed that. Thanks a lot for this change, it makes working PDF files easier that contain a cover page (or even more leading pages). :)
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Timur Born,

Yes - we are using square boxes for the thumbnails pane as it is possible for a file to have a mix of portrait and landscape pages - so we need to have provisioned a fixed area for each thumbnail so that we can then fit the actual preview in there in a consistent manner.

Kind regards,
Stefan
Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

It would already help if Editor didn't insist on not displaying the 2nd row until all of the square fits in. One workaround is to first resize the thumbnail window until the 2nd row is displayed and then resize it back a bit. Editor will still show both rows then. But unfortunately that only works until the next restart of Editor where it will turn the 2nd row into all empty space again.
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello Timur Born,

I will pass your comments to the devs!

Kind regards,
Stefan
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by MedBooster »

+1
Wishlist
Bookmarks with page numbers
Optional fixed small icon size in the toolbar
Shift to UNLOCK aspect ratio/i]
Allow more "toolbars" to the title bar
AltGr issues with character input and keyboard shortcuts
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Tracker Supp-Stefan »

Hello MedBooster, Timur,

I've just taken a look at other PDF software - and they all seem to use square areas with uniform size dedicated for each page. That ensures that we can then space these squares evenly, and I do not believe this can be changed.

We are already using up the full height of the box for portrait pages, and the full width for landscape ones (with a few pixels left over for gaps and separation):
image.png
image.png (29.66 KiB) Viewed 199 times
So while I do get your point if ALL the pages are horizontal or vertical - imagine a scenario where they aren't - to utilize the same width for portrait and horizontal pages - you would then have different heigh:
image(1).png
And if it so happens that you have two pages side by side that are portrait + landscape - you still get a 'jagged' look
image(2).png
The request has it's logic, however implementing it will not really help, and for now we are staying with square rectangles of equal size in the thumbnails pane.

Kind regards,
Stefan
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello all!
A quick followup to stefans post, regarding this comment,
Timur Born wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 12:16 pm It would already help if Editor didn't insist on not displaying the 2nd row until all of the square fits in. One workaround is to first resize the thumbnail window until the 2nd row is displayed and then resize it back a bit. Editor will still show both rows then. But unfortunately that only works until the next restart of Editor where it will turn the 2nd row into all empty space again.
I cannot seem to reproduce this particular issue. The Editor does record both the thumbnail window size, and the "scaling value" for the thumbnails within between application restarts. So what you describe here should not happen. Perhaps you are restoring you settings from a backup, or the editor was running "as admin" and could not record the change to the correct location?

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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Timur Born
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by Timur Born »

Thanks for looking at this. What happens is *not* that the side-panel or thumbnail size isn't restored. What happens is that upon restart Editor remembers that it doesn't like to display partially visible thumbnail squares (including free space to the right). If the thumbnail pane is not wide enough to accommodate for both the thumbnails *plus* free space inside the square toward the panel border then this happens.

Before restart:
image.png
After restart:
image(1).png
Currently the thumbnail pane insist on the whole 2nd/right square being visible before displaying a second row. Maybe this should be changed to only half or two-thirds needing to fit in to display the second column.
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Thumbnail improvements

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, Timur Born

I see, it looks like when the pane is resized, the scrollbar overlap is not included in the calculation, but on app restart it is. To be quite honest, the likely outcome of me reporting this is that the scrollbar will always be considered part of the border, and it would prevent this overlap in the first place, instead of allowing the overlap to be retained, like you are requesting. Unless you really want me to, I would be inclined to not report this "feature" to the Devs, giving you the option to take advantage of it.

The Thumbnail pane needs some sort of restrictions on the placement/size of the tiles to allow ease of use and clear-cut scrolling. These are the restrictions we have put in place at this time. If you need more space for these items, you can either reduce the size of the thumbnails, or you can increase the size of the pane.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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