PreviewScanner is a utility designed for people who keep a large number of graphic files on their hard drive.
Many graphic applications allow you to create "Previews." Previews appear in the "Open" dialog and allow you to view the contents of the file before actually opening it. Previews are what PreviewScanner reads and displays.
PreviewScanner allows you to quickly and easily:
• select a folder of graphic files
• display the preview of any file in the folder
• display PICT files (even if the file does not contain a preview)
• browse through the files using the left and right arrow keys
• open the file using the application which created it
• delete files
• file pictures into subfolders
PreviewScanner makes it easy to manage your favorite graphic files!
Starting PreviewScanner
When you run PreviewScanner for the first time it will ask for the initial folder of graphic files you wish to browse. Locate the folder containing your graphic files and press the Select "<your folder name>" button. The next time you use PreviewScanner it will automatically return you to the last folder you used.
As a shortcut, you can drag and drop any folder or file icon onto the PreviewScanner application. (You may have to rebuild your desktop in order for folder dropping to work.) If a folder is dropped onto PreviewScanner, it automatically sets to that folder. If a file is dropped onto PreviewScanner, it sets to the folder containing that file, and jumps to that file's location within the folder.
Using PreviewScanner
The following is an example of the PreviewScanner window and a description of each of the controls.
Displays the previous file. As a shortcut, use the left arrow key on your keyboard. Holding down the option key selects the first file in the folder.
Displays the next file. As a shortcut, use the right arrow key on your keyboard. Holding down the option key selects the last file in the folder.
You may also jump to a file quickly by typing the first few letters of it's filename.
Delete the file which is currently displayed. As a shortcut, use the delete key on your keyboard. Hold down the option key while clicking on this button to disable the confirmation dialog. Also, holding down the command key will cause the file to be moved to the trash instead of being immediately deleted.
Select a new folder of graphic files to browse. PreviewScanner remembers the most recently used folder when you quit.
View (Open) the file which is currently displayed using the application which created it. As a shortcut, use the return key on your keyboard. PreviewScanner does not actually open the file itself, it sends a message to the Finder asking it to use the owning application to open the file. (For example: If you were currently viewing the preview of a "GraphicConverter" file, and you clicked the "View" button, "GraphicConverter" would be launched to actually open the file.)
Folder Navigation
The folders on your hard drive can be navigated with ease using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard. If the preview window shows a folder icon, pressing the down arrow key (or return) will go into that folder. Pressing the up arrow key at any time will go up one level. This allows you to quickly and easily navigate through several folders of graphics without using the "Select New Folder" button.
Resizing the PreviewScanner Window
You can resize the window by clicking in the lower right corner and dragging, even though there is no "grow box".
Setting the background color
The "Background Color…" menu choice in the "File" menu allows you to select the color to be displayed as a background behind the picture preview's.
Size Menu
This menu allows you to scale the preview that is displayed on the screen. It does not alter the file in any way.
Slide Show
By selecting "Slide Show", PreviewScanner will constantly flip through all files in the current folder, and show their previews. The "Slide Show" will continue until you click on the picture area of the window.
Favorite Folders Menu
The "Favorite Folders" menu allows you to store a list of your favorite folders. To add a folder to this menu, select "Add Current Folder" from the "Folders" menu. The folder you are currently previewing will be added to the bottom of the menu. You man then return to this folder at any time by simply selecting it from the "Folders" menu. To remove a folder from this menu, hold down the "command" key, and select the folder you wish to remove. Note: This does not delete the folder from your hard drive, it simply removes it from the menu.
Organizing your pictures
For this example, say you have several folders on your hard drive, each dedicated to a particular type of picture. Cars, boats, and planes for instance. Now, say you have another folder that has tons of pictures that have not been sorted. PreviewScanner will allow you to sort these pictures easily. The first step is to add the cars, boats, and planes folders to your "Favorite Folders" menu. Next, go to the folder containing the unsorted pictures. As you come to a "car" picture, hold down the "option" key, and select "Cars" from the "Folders" menu. By holding down the "option" key, you tell PreviewScanner to move the currently displayed file into the folder selected from the menu. This will not change the folder being previewed - you will be left previewing your folder of unsorted pictures. Currently, this only works when all folders reside on the same volume. This is something that will change soon.
Creating Previews in other Applications
When creating previews, the bigger they are, the better they will look in PreviewScanner. (The bigger they will make the graphic file, and the more hard drive space they will take also.) I would recommend making your preview's at least 160 X 160.
Updates:
To download the latest version of PreviewScanner, go to the PreviewScanner Home Page at: http://www.sky.net/~jcollins
Contacting me:
Jason Collins
Rt. 1 Box 25
Wellington, MO 64097
You may mail in any bug reports or feature requests, or send them to jcollins@sky.net. Please put PreviewScanner in the subject.
This application may be distributed freely to any online service, as long as it remains unchanged in any way, and is distributed along with this Read-Me. It may also be included on any CD as long as I am notified in advance.
Thanks
Thanks to the following people for their contributions:
Doug Troxell - help with this readme file
David Weis, Mitch Fry, Jeff Backes - testing and new feature ideas
MetroWerks - for writing such a cool development environment!
Revision History:
1.1b4
• Added the ability to move files to the trash instead of deleting them. (Hold down the Command key while clicking the Delete button.)
• Added picture#/out of# to the display in the upper left corner.
• Upon launch, PreviewScanner no longer forces you to select a folder if the last one scanned can't be found.
• Fixed a small bug that would cause it to go to the wrong file when typing a filename.
• Cleaned up the small application icon and the black and white trash can.
1.1b3
• Added "Favorite Folders" menu. Holding down "option" while selecting a folder causes the current file to be moved into that folder. Holding down "cmd" while selecting a folder causes that folder to be deleted from the menu.
• Fixed a bug that would force you to select a different folder if the application was launched, and the last folder selected was empty.
• Fixed a bug that would cause the name of the folder to be drawn twice if it was an empty folder.
• Switching out of PreviewScanner and back into it now does not cause it to completely rescan the folder unless files were added to or deleted from the current folder.
1.1b1
• Fixed a bug that would cause the left/right buttons to be incorrectly enabled after bringing the application to the foreground.
• Fixed a bug that would cause the "Select New Folder" button to remain disabled after a context switch.
• Added "Slide Show". (Click on picture to stop the Slide Show.)
• Added "Size" menu with scaling percentages of 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400.
1.0.3
• Filename search by typing has been extended to support multiple characters
• Delete key deletes current file (if it's not a folder)
• If the folder name and filename combined are too long to display in the window, the text is truncated
• Up Arrow goes out of the current folder (ie up one level)
• Down Arrow enters a folder if it is the current file in the display
• Supports Drag and Drop launching - drop a file or a folder onto the PreviewScanner icon. (You may have to rebuild your desktop go get folder dropping to work.)
• Return key - Enters a folder if it is the current file in the display, otherwise views the current file
1.0.2
• Left/Right arrow keys are now supported
• Delete and View buttons are disabled when the current file is a folder
• Option-Left arrow button selects first file in folder
• Option-Right arrow button selects last file in folder
• Preferences are now stored in a preferences file instead of inside the application itself.
• Typing a letter will go to the file that starts with that letter - or the one just past that letter if no file starting with the typed letter is found
• Invisible files are no longer shown
• Fixed a bug where the picture display would go blank under low memory conditions
1.0.1
• Fixed a bug where the display would not update correctly after deleting the last file in a folder
• Now remembers last folder selected
1.0
First public release
Future Plans
Add ability to create previews for JPEG and PICT files from within PreviewScanner.
Add ability to view JPEG and PICT files from within PreviewScanner.
Add "Slide Show" of full images instead of just previews.
You expressly acknowledge and agree that you use this software, PreviewScanner, at your own risk. This package is provided "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind.
