UI, export and crop tool suggestions

DxO PhotoLab Feature requests
,
1

I tend to post to feature request/improvement forums with a certain amount of trepidation, be here goes. Having used PL4 for a few months I’m really pleased with it. The way it deals with the hi-rez files from my Lumix S1R is amazing. I would like to see a few tweaks to the UI that would make working with PL just that little easier.

1. Keyboard shortcuts: can we please have the functionality to be able to assign (and change) keyboard shortcuts to the Hand, Color Picker Crop, Horizon ect. Like C for Crop, H for Hand etc.

2. Ability to resize floating windows. For example: if I have the Preset Editor as a floating window, and I have quite a few presets listed, it’d be easier if I could make the window taller to be able to see more of them.

3. Meta data information in export filenames. I think it’s C1 that allows you to add metadata information to an exported file’s filename.

Eg: P1011140 - DC-S1R - 12 March 2021.JPG
P1011140 - DC-S1R - Panasonic Lumix 24-105mm - F4 - 12 March 2021.JPG
etc

4. Export to a file and maintain the original created date. If I export a JPG from a photo I took months or years ago it’d be great for that file to keep the original date it was created.

5. Crop presets. Would like to be able to save/delete/organise crop presets beyond what is currently available.

2

Hi @smdnetau,
in general I’d like to have an option for customizable shortcuts and resizable windows.

But then, instead of adding metadata (original creation date etc.) afterwards, I think it is more sensible to rename them beforehand AND use it for organization.

Files with a naming convention e.g. YYYY-MM-DD_description_hms_0001.jpg

  • YYYY-MM-DD = to sort by date, when the pic was taken
  • description = short plain text
  • hms = to sort by original creation time / two cameras *)
  • 0001 = pic’s no. given by camera
  • jpg/raw … = file extension

residing in folders YYYY-MM-DD_description have proven for me since some time.

When working on a pic, exporting from PL, maybe editing in a third party program, saving extra versions for print / web presentation …, the file name gets a descriptiv extension,
e.g. 2014-06-20_Frankfurt_9331_DxO_prn_40x50.tif.
Like this, everything stays organized in hierarchical order and the ‘flat’ folder structure allows me to quickly overlook the picture partition.

Some screenshots to illustrate the results, taken from “Total Commander” (Windows) Total Commander - home.
You may find different solutions. – And well, I hardly use keywords / no DAM.

my picture partition with folders

Screen Shot 03-18-21 at 10.45 AM
Screen Shot 03-18-21 at 10.45 AM903×296 21.1 KB

Screen Shot 03-18-21 at 10.43 AM
Screen Shot 03-18-21 at 10.43 AM906×256 26.2 KB

folder + subfolder *)

Screen Shot 03-15-21 at 05.04 PM
Screen Shot 03-15-21 at 05.04 PM742×516 51.7 KB

Screen Shot 03-15-21 at 01.06 PM
Screen Shot 03-15-21 at 01.06 PM742×353 44.2 KB

*) pics taken with 2 cameras, listed in chronological order by metadata ‘hms’

easy multiple renaming

Screen Shot 03-15-21 at 06.25 PM
Screen Shot 03-15-21 at 06.25 PM1082×416 29.8 KB

To rename already processed files with dop sidecars (!), first try out with copies and test, that PL recognizes the renamed files in their new location as developed, while infomation stored in the data base (indexing, projects …) will be lost.

The file manager can be configured to your liking.

  • By default it shows two folders / partitions side by side and allows easy to copy
    / move / delete / rename / synchronize / ftp upload …
  • Copying files to an ‘open’ folder, PL instantly ‘digests’ the new pics in its library.

have fun, Wolfgang

(ed)

1 Like
3

According to me, point #4 is quite useful.

1 Like