Looking for a dual graphic file viewer

R
Posted By
Ramon
Feb 13, 2008
Views
258
Replies
13
Status
Closed
One of the techniques I find extremely useful -and yet underexploited- is based on the human eye’s remarkable ability to detect imperceptible differences between two consecutive images. Heck, the whole Hollywood and TV industries are based on that simple principle. A Scientific American article argued that such evolutionary trait was caused by the need to detect a rapidly approaching beast, human or otherwise.

But I digress… In SCO or Linux machines you can have two screen filled with lots of words and numbers and by quickly alternating the Ctl-Alt-F1 and Ctl-Alt-F2 keys, you can easily spot the tiniest of differences.

An inferior strategy is to load both files, say in Eclipse, and place them side-by-side or separated by a horizontal divider. This works for text only.

Now the question: I could really use a graphic file viewer that allowed me to enjoy this alternating effect. Speaking of inferior: you can open a file with the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, and move to the next image, but alas, it is too slow. In order to achieve the effect, both files have to be in RAM at once, and the program must have been optimized to accomplish the described dual view.

My files are TIFF and huge.

Comments? Suggestions? Pointers?

-Ramon

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R
ronviers
Feb 13, 2008
Hi -Ramon,
I guess I’m missing something here but couldn’t you toggle the visibility of the upper layer?

Ron
TK
Toobi-Won Kenobi
Feb 13, 2008
"Ramon F Herrera" wrote in message
One of the techniques I find extremely useful -and yet underexploited- is based on the human eye’s remarkable ability to detect imperceptible differences between two consecutive images. Heck, the whole Hollywood and TV industries are based on that simple principle. A Scientific American article argued that such evolutionary trait was caused by the need to detect a rapidly approaching beast, human or otherwise.
But I digress… In SCO or Linux machines you can have two screen filled with lots of words and numbers and by quickly alternating the Ctl-Alt-F1 and Ctl-Alt-F2 keys, you can easily spot the tiniest of differences.

An inferior strategy is to load both files, say in Eclipse, and place them side-by-side or separated by a horizontal divider. This works for text only.

Now the question: I could really use a graphic file viewer that allowed me to enjoy this alternating effect. Speaking of inferior: you can open a file with the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer, and move to the next image, but alas, it is too slow. In order to achieve the effect, both files have to be in RAM at once, and the program must have been optimized to accomplish the described dual view.
My files are TIFF and huge.

Comments? Suggestions? Pointers?
Drag image 2 into image 1 and set image 2 layer blend mode to difference. Where the images are identical you will have black, where they differ you will have varying shades of grey to white.
TWK
R
ronviers
Feb 13, 2008
I still feel like I’m missing a key element of what you are asking but maybe you mean you want a low cost alternative to PS for sequentially viewing overlapping images. If this is the case then both IE and Firefox support tabbed viewing. This would allow you to open an image in its own window and use the tabs for toggling.
S
spydersweb34
Feb 13, 2008
Ramon what you are asking for (I thnk) is a viewer that allows you to use the curor to quickly toggle between images. And understandably you wouldn’t want to take the time to load into PhotoShop, make separate layers, etc. You just want something quick and easy, correct?

There is a solution – sort of one, anyway.

Fast Picture Viewer. http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/

This is a new program does exactly what the title says – allows fast browsing of thousands of images. I use it everyday and it is quick and surprisingly, the screen image makes my photos appear more acute and detailed and rich – almost as if they were being viewed on a much higher quality display, like a MAC. (yeah, before my $MS conversion I was a mac evangelista!!) The detail I see when using this viewer, it’s just not there in the Window viewer. Sounds great, right? And it’s free too. But there’s a problem. The current free version doesn’t support TIFF viewing. But the web site says that the new Pro Version will support TIFF and it’s due soon – in Q2 2008. I am very impressed with this ultra simple program that is designed for one thing only – fast viewing.

Hope this helps you

Thom
OR
Owen Ransen
Feb 13, 2008
On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:05:12 -0800 (PST), Ramon F Herrera wrote:

Most windows programs alternate between open documents
using the control-F6 key combination.

If you load the two images, and only those two images,
into the application, and maximise the images within
the appliaction then control-F6 will switch between
the images just as you describe.

Easy to use graphics effects:
http://www.ransen.com/
R
Ramon
Feb 13, 2008
On Feb 13, 1:28 am, "" wrote:
Hi -Ramon,
I guess I’m missing something here but couldn’t you toggle the visibility of the upper layer?

Ron

I had no idea you could do such thing, because I haven’t watched my "Total Photoshop" DVDs yet. :-\

-RFH
R
Ramon
Feb 13, 2008
On Feb 13, 6:56 am, spydersweb34 wrote:
Ramon what you are asking for (I thnk) is a viewer that allows you to use the curor to quickly toggle between images. And understandably you wouldn’t want to take the time to load into PhotoShop, make separate layers, etc. You just want something quick and easy, correct?

Exactly. The Photoshop tips are great, I appreciate and will try them, but Photoshop uses a lot of RAM (which I would rather see dedicated to my *huge* TIFF images) and it uses a lot of valuable screen real state. I would like to see the form from the bottom to the top of the screen, without obstructing palettes or toolbars in the middle of the way. Full-screen mode comes to mind.

I may even tilt my 18" monitor to portrait mode, which more closely resembles a page’s aspect ratio.

-Ramon
R
Ramon
Feb 13, 2008
On Feb 13, 6:56 am, spydersweb34 wrote:
Ramon what you are asking for (I thnk) is a viewer that allows you to use the curor to quickly toggle between images. And understandably you wouldn’t want to take the time to load into PhotoShop, make separate layers, etc. You just want something quick and easy, correct?

There is a solution – sort of one, anyway.

Fast Picture Viewer.http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/

This is a new program does exactly what the title says – allows fast browsing of thousands of images. I use it everyday and it is quick and surprisingly, the screen image makes my photos appear more acute and detailed and rich – almost as if they were being viewed on a much higher quality display, like a MAC. (yeah, before my $MS conversion I was a mac evangelista!!) The detail I see when using this viewer, it’s just not there in the Window viewer. Sounds great, right? And it’s free too. But there’s a problem. The current free version doesn’t support TIFF viewing. But the web site says that the new Pro Version will support TIFF and it’s due soon – in Q2 2008. I am very impressed with this ultra simple program that is designed for one thing only – fast viewing.

Hope this helps you

Thom

(yeah, before my $MS conversion I was a mac evangelista!!

So was I! And deep down, I still am…

-RFH
R
Ramon
Feb 13, 2008
On Feb 13, 1:53 pm, Owen Ransen wrote:
On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:05:12 -0800 (PST), Ramon F Herrera
wrote:

Most windows programs alternate between open documents
using the control-F6 key combination.

Good to know!

Thanks!

-RFH
TK
Toobi-Won Kenobi
Feb 13, 2008
"Ramon F Herrera" wrote in message
On Feb 13, 1:53 pm, Owen Ransen wrote:
On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:05:12 -0800 (PST), Ramon F Herrera
wrote:

Most windows programs alternate between open documents
using the control-F6 key combination.

Good to know!

Thanks!

-RFH
Control + tab is easier on the hand (PS)
TWK
R
ronviers
Feb 13, 2008
On Feb 13, 12:32 pm, Ramon F Herrera wrote:
I had no idea you could do such thing, because I haven’t watched my "Total Photoshop" DVDs yet. :-\

-RFH

If you think toggle visibility is cool you’re about to have your socks knocked off:)
OR
Owen Ransen
Feb 14, 2008
On Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:27:02 -0000, "Toobi-Won Kenobi" <Toobi-won
wrote:

"Ramon F Herrera" wrote in message
On Feb 13, 1:53 pm, Owen Ransen wrote:
On Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:05:12 -0800 (PST), Ramon F Herrera
wrote:

Most windows programs alternate between open documents
using the control-F6 key combination.

Good to know!

Thanks!

-RFH
Control + tab is easier on the hand (PS)

I didn’t know that! Thanks!

Easy to use graphics effects:
http://www.ransen.com/
S
spydersweb34
Feb 20, 2008
Update – Here’s your answer.

I found a nice viewer FastOne Image Viewer (freeware) that lets you view all sorts of images – jpegs, RAW, TIFF, etc. Lots if v useful features too such as lossless jpeg rotate, slide show creator, EXIF edits. http://www.faststone.org/

Thom

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