* Zooming Media images

[Little.auk]

Hi,
When using the media window is there any way of zooming in on the image? I can't seem to find it if there is.

Deciphering words on old documents like census images can be quite difficult without being able to zoom in. It would be good to be able to do this within FH rather than have to use a separate image viewer.

[Jane]

Yes you can zoom in the Media Window Workspace.

Press the + or - keys, use the +/- option on the icon bar or select the zoom from the dropdown box at the top.

You can also use the Autosize icon or the 1:1 actual size icons.

[davidf]

Or Ctrl-Scroll Wheel?

[Little.auk]

O.K. that works if I am working in the Media Window, and am showing the Display Pane.

However, there is a glitch here. If I try to select the image from the List Screen the image opens in the property box, where I can find no way of resizing the image. I have to open the first media item from the Display Pane and then picking subsequent images from the List Screen updates the image in the Display Pane.

However If I am working in the Media Tab in the Records Window, I can't see an option to open the Display Pane. Clicking on a media item displays it in the property box - where there are no sizing buttons at all.

So let me rephrase my question - is there any way to resize images displayed in the Property Box.

[tatewise]

No, you cannot resize directly in the Media record Property Box, but you can use the Media camera icon in the main toolbar and choose 'View Media for Selected Record' and that opens the Display pane.

[Little.auk]

Thanks Mike,

I don't think the Camera option will help as I am trying to tidy up media files imported from Family Tree Maker, so I am not working from records, also I have found that some of the files don't even have linked records.

A lot of these files are downloads from Ancestry.co.uk, and the file names are quite long and particularly unhelpful. For example, there are a number of files with the same file name except for suffixes "Census1841 (1)", "Census 1841 (2)", etc. This usually indicates duplicated copies, but they are actually completely different images!

A second issue I mentioned was that if you click on the "Media" Icon on the top ribbon and select "View all Media" this opens the Media List on the left and the Display Pane on the right - O.K. so far.

I now see a list of 40 or so media files in the Media list and 20 small images in the Display Pane.

If I try to open a file from the Media list it still displays in the Property Box, not the Display Pane, even though the display pane is visible.

However, if I open a file by clicking on it in the Display Pane, then as I highlight a file in the Media List it appears in the Display Pane.

Is this a glitch in the software? Is there not a way of switching the default focus for media to the Display Pane?

[tatewise]

I'm getting a bit confused about the various scenarios you are describing. Some screenshots would help us understand.

You asked about "working in the Media Tab in the Records Window" and I replied that the Media camera icon opens the Media Window with the Display Pane showing the image that can be resized.

You say that won't help with media files imported from Family Tree Maker for various reasons.
With any imported Project, such problems with the database, including the media, need to be resolved first.
Then you can tackle media resizing using the standard FH features rather than fighting the media problems.

The suffix such as (1) or (2) on filenames is nothing to do with the file contents.
It is the Windows technique for differentiating files that would otherwise have the same filename.
It may be associated with the Family Tree Maker import process saving various files in the same Media folder.
I suggest you start another thread to investigate FTM import problems separate from this Media zooming thread.

In the Media Window, there is a View icon in the main toolbar that toggles between full Picture and Thumbnail modes.
After selecting full Picture mode, selecting any Media entry in the List Pane displays its image in the Display Pane where it can be resized many ways as discussed earlier.
However, this might be at odds with your FTM import that you say does not have a Media Record for every media file, and if that is so then those media file images have no Media Record in the List Pane. That needs resolving first as mentioned above.

[Little.auk]

Sorry - when you said "view media for selected record" my blinkered view took record to mean an Individual record, I had not considered a media record. Without a media file selected in the media list "view media for selected record" is greyed out, which is not an issue as for what I am doing "View All Media" is the better choice as it gives me a full listing of media files - see attached image.

At the moment I am working on adding missing dates, so you can see some "Year" records are blank.

Also there are files that show no links. This is because I am uploading media files that I might not want to link to a fact, but do want to index. I have a query to export to Excel for this. One example in the attachment is the Birth Certificate Copy for myself (ROLLIN Peter), the paper version is filed away, but, as it is a copy, I don't want to link it, as it is a more recent copy, and my original birth certificate is already linked.

Regarding suffixes, I appreciate that these differentiate files with the same name, and not necessarily the same content. The synchronising process between Ancestry and Family Tree Maker takes this to the extreme. For example the first downloaded image file from the 1939 register is given the file name "1939 England and Wales Register.jpg", subsequent files then get the numbered suffix. Not very helpful when you have 20 or 30 images.

Another issue was that the Ancestry generated source citations in Family Tree Maker were not very good either, so when I uploaded the FTM Gedcom into FH I decided to exclude Sources and Media from the upload. I have created a "Work In Progress" folder in the Public folder and put all the FTM media files in it. I am now working through the Media Import process of renaming these files to something meaningful.

[tatewise]

That is interesting background but is straying away from Zooming Media Images.
Have the image resizing problems been suitably resolved?

[Little.auk]

Not completely,

In my last post I said that "View All Media" is the better choice for me than "view media for selected record" as it gives me the full listing of all uploaded media files. I can display files in the display pane and can zoom the image and edit the title there.

Almost doing the job, but not quite, as I also want to change the file name to match the title, which is easy working in the property box, but doesn't seem feasible in the display pane.

So the process using the Property box is more efficient if I open the Media file in Windows Photos viewer where I can zoom and get the data I need, I can then use the FH Property box to edit the Media file title, and I then copy and paste this to change the file name.

Another advantage of the Windows Photos viewer is that the zoomed image can be realigned by dragging, whereas FH uses less efficient scroll bars, where right/left and up/down movements have to be done independently.

[tatewise]

Rather than manually adjust the Media filenames to match Media Titles, use a plugin to automate the process.

See posting https://www.fhug.org.uk/forum/viewtopic ... 2&p=107471 with Rename Selected Media Files plugin attached.

The plugin renames Media files to match the Title of the Media record plus the Media Record Id to ensure it is unique.
i.e. It changes both the File Link and the filename.
e.g. If the Media Title is Census 1841 and its Record Id is 321 the filename becomes O321_Census_1841

If that is not exactly what you required then it is easily adjusted by editing the plugin.
e.g. The attached plugin omits the O Rec Id prefix.

[Little.auk]

Hi Mike,

Thanks, I will try the one without the Record ID prefix. My titles have the format "Census 1841, ROLLIN Peter, [IND-0001]", where the square brackets contain the Custom ID (Individual or Relationship), which ensures a unique Title / file name and gives a sort order that makes it easy to find the file I want.

The prefix would create a "sort by Record ID", which is of no use to me.

[tatewise]

The only snag is the symbols you have used in the Media Titles.
Certain symbols ( \ / : * ? " < > | ) are invalid as filename characters.
So to be on the safe side the plugin replaces all non-alpha-numeric characters with underscore (_).
Thus your Title Census 1841, ROLLIN Peter, [IND-0001] will produce the filename Census_1841_ROLLIN_Peter__IND_0001_

The symbols in your Title are actually all valid filename characters so don't really need replacing.

I am considering updating the plugin to only replace the eight invalid symbols and provide the following user options:

• Allow the Record Id to be excluded, or included as a prefix or a suffix
• Allow the substitution character to be underscore or space

The original Author was Jane Taubman and the (No Id) variant was modified by John Morrison, so I need their approval to develop the updated version.

[Little.auk]

Mike,

IGNORE THIS POST !!! You sent yours while I was still writing this.


I have tested the plugin on the Media Title "Baptism (PR) Children of CHAPPELL John and ROLLIN Mary [FAM-063]", where (PR) identifies the media source type, in this case Parish Register.

Unfortunately the plugin is doing a bit more than it says on the tin when it claims that it "Renames Selected Media Files to the Name in the Title excluding characters not allowed in file names.".

The file name I got from the plugin was "Baptism_PR_Children_of_CHAPPELL_John_and_ROLLIN_Mary_FAM_063".

It has actually removed ALL characters that are not Alphanumeric, including those that ARE allowed in file names.

I have never seen a "disallowed characters" listing that included square or round brackets, and some guidance sources recommend the use of hyphens rather than underscores.

[johnmorrisoniom]

Mike,
I am happy for you to modify the plugin again, as I would much like the modifications that you are suggesting

John

[Jane]

That's fine Mike.

[tatewise]

Ok, I have adopted the Rename Media to Match Title Field plugin Version 1.2 Date 26 Feb 2022 attached below.

It now asks you to confirm you have a Full Backup to allow the file renames to be undone.
( I did consider providing an UNDO option in the plugin but thought that was excessive. )
It offers to Omit the Rec Id or add it as a Prefix or a Suffix to the filename in the format O99
It allows space, hyphen, or underscore to be substituted just for invalid filename symbols \ / : * ? " < > |

After selecting the desired Media records a progress bar appears (if more than 50 were chosen).
It should cope with any Media including those that use extended Unicode characters in the Title or File path.
It should run in FH V6 and FH V7.

On completion, it reports how many of the selected Media have successfully had their files renamed.
If any failed then they are listed in a Result Set.

I suggest you test the plugin on a Copy Project initially.
Remember that Edit > Undo Plugin Updates will only reset the Media record fields and NOT the renamed files.

Let me know of any problems or any extra features that might be needed.

BTW: Using a Rec Id Prefix such as O99 unfortunately does not sort the Media files into Rec Id order, because the order will be such as:
O1
O10
O100
O11
etc...
There would need to be leading spaces or zeros to pad all Rec Id to the same length such as:
O 001
O 002
O 010
O 011
O 100
Is that if any interest?